SOUTH ORANGE LITTLE LEAGUE LOCAL GROUND RULES

The following rules are not meant to replace any rules in the Little League Baseball Regulation and Rulebook as published by Little League Baseball, Inc. or regulations or rules put forth by District 3.  These rules shall be considered the policy of this League, and all changes, deletions or additions to these policies shall be voted upon by the South Orange Little League Board of Directors.

GENERAL LEAGUE POLICY

1. South Orange Little League will require a Registration Fee for a child participating in a Little League program. This fee will be collected prior to each season during the registration period. The fee amount will be set by the Board of Directors prior to registration start.  These fees are required, regardless of the program levels. 

    

2.  THERE ARE NO REFUNDS!

    

3. Rosters for Baseball and Softball shall be established in accordance with the Official Regulation and Playing Rules of the Little League Baseball and Softball Regulations and Rules.

    

4. NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR COOLERS (EXCEPTION OF PLAYERS COOLER) ALLOWED DURING ANY GAMES PLAYED AT SOUTH ORANGE YOUTH COMPLEX

    

5. Managers and (2) Coaches of all Baseball and Softball teams shall be appointed seasonally by the League President, with approval of the Board of Directors.   Managers and Coaches must receive a majority vote from the remaining Board of Directors.  Seasonal re-appointment of Managers and Coaches shall occur.  The appointments shall be based on an evaluation by the League Vice President and President with the following guidelines:

• Demonstrated commitment to Little League Baseball Inc. and South Orange Little League (SOLL).

• Attendance at special meetings deemed designated for Manager/Coaches

•  Support of and participation in League activities, including but not limited to:

• Conduct both on and off the field.

• Cooperation with Vice President, Player Agent and President

• Fulfilling all concession and umpire mandatory time

• Fund Raising

• Dugout edict during and after the game (cleaning up and returning coolers)

• Cooperation with Umpire and Chief and umpire staff

• Compliance with Manager/Coach Agreement

•  Adhere to the Three Strikes Policy

PAGE 1

                THREE STRIKES POLICY IS AS FOLLOWS:

A. If a manager or coach is ejected or breaks one of the policies of the Managers/Coaches Agreement: 1-2 game suspension (if a Manager/Coach coaches more than one team it will be 1-2 games for all teams they manage. Ex. Coach X Manages Minor Baseball and Coaches T-Ball, Coach X will miss 1-2 games in Minor Baseball and 1-2 T-Ball) based on severity to be determined by the Board of Directors.  Individual will be brought in front of a committee comprised of Board Members and Non-Board Members selected by the League President.  The Incident will be recorded on the individuals record. **

B. 2^nd Offense:  Automatic 1-2 game suspension based on severity to be determined by a review by the Board of Directors and/or possible suspension for remainder of season including All Stars and the following season.  Individual must submit letter of apology and appear before the Board of Directors for reinstatement. **

C. 3^rd Offense: One year ban or longer from South Orange Little League.  Any players also associated with this person will also be removed from the league. District 3 will be notified. **

**THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO AUTOMATICALLY USE THE DISCIPLINARY ACTION AS WRITTEN IN ITEMS 2 AND 3 OF THIS POLICY ON THE FIRST OFFENSE DEPENDING ON THE SEVERITY OF THE INCIDENT**

                             NOTE: If a coach gets ejected, acting manager WILL ALSO be suspended.  Suspensions will be determined by the Board of Directors but will not be for the same game(s).

                     D. Managers/Coaches not re-appointed shall have the opportunity to appeal to the Board of Directors.

6. Any person, not a member of SOLL. Who volunteers for active participation in any SOLL function, may do so only with prior permission from a current member of the Board of Directors.

     7. Managers, Coaches, Umpires and Any Volunteers, who have repetitive contact with Players are required to complete a Little League volunteer form which grants permission for a criminal background check.

        8. ALL teams & managers will volunteer in the concession stand throughout each season.  The length of time and intervals will be determined by the number of teams playing for SOLL during that respective season and the length of that respective season.  Failure to comply with this policy, will result in the manager and coaches being subject to the disciplinary protocol written herein.

         9. The Board of Directors reserves the right to remove, suspend or ban any parent, spectator, or player that violates any policies or rules within the Parent Code of Conduct, Player Code of Conduct, any policy or rule published by Little League Baseball, Inc and those written within these Ground Rules.

PAGE 2

MANAGERS, COACHES, AND UMPIRES

1. All divisions of baseball and softball shall have a maximum of two coaches and one team Manager.

    

2. No Volunteer may manage more than one team during any given season.

    

3. All Managers/Coaches will abide by the policies and rules written within the Managers/Coaches agreement

    

4. Managers/Coaches shall notify the respective League Vice President of any problems related to players, umpires, and/or parents.

    

5. If an umpire has problem with a manager, coach, player, parent, or spectator, he/she should notify the League Head Umpire-in-Chief or League President.

    

6. Umpires may only umpire games that are NOT in their division of play (example: Major BB coach can not umpire any other Major BB game, however can umpire Minor BB, Junior BB and any Softball Division Game).  Jr Umpires (that are registered players with the league) can only umpire games in divisions lower than their own division of play. The Head Umpire-in-Chief will assign and schedule umpires to specific games.

    

7. In the event an umpire is not available, each team shall provide a coach or manager to call balls and strikes from behind the pitcher when that team is on the field.  The coach or manager calling the balls and strikes also calls plays at second base and home plate.  The base coaches shall call plays at their respective base.  The home team umpire will be considered the umpire-in-chief.

    

8. The home team manager or coach will line the field prior to each game (Rookie Division and up)

    

9. All trash must be removed from dugouts after games.  The manager is responsible for this.  The manager is also responsible to ensure any visiting team outside of SOLL dugout is also cleaned.  The coaches from the home team will empty and return all coolers and cup holders back to the concession stand after each game.

    

10. All managers, coaches, and umpires must attend clinics sponsored by the District Administrator or SOLL each season.  The Vice President and Coach Coordinator is responsible for giving information on clinics to the managers and coaches.  The Head Umpire-in-chief is responsible for giving information to the umpires.

PAGE 3

PLAYER DRAFT (SPRING SEASON ONLY)

1. Players selected to play in Minors Baseball and up and Major SB and up will be determined using Draft System Plan A of Little League Baseball, Inc. Operating Handbook.

    

2.  The league Board of Directors shall set the age groups for each division based off the regulations and rules set forth by Little League Baseball International.

    

3. The Player Agent shall establish the Placement Clinic (tryouts) dates and a Draft date.

• The Coach Coordinator shall be appointed to work with Player Agent to organize the Clinic, recruit volunteers and run the Clinic

• Members of the Board who are not active Managers or Coaches of the division with the clinic is being held shall participate in running the Clinic

• There will be a minimum of two (2) Placement Clinics per division. 

• Players must attend at least 50% of the Placement Clinics to be eligible to be drafted.

• Players selected for a team who then refuse to play on that team are not eligible to play for another team of their choosing that season. NO REFUNDS WILL BE GIVEN

   

1. After Placement Clinics have been completes all eligible Players, as determined above, shall be eligible for draft at a time and date set by the Player Agent.  The Draft process shall be as follows:

• MAJOR BASEBALL will go first

• All mandatory league age 12 players will be drafted first in the order of last place team 1^st and continue in order to the first-place team picking last. This will continue until all mandatory league age 12 players have been drafted.  Once that is completed, all other eligible players will start being drafted in the same order starting with the last place team picking 1^st and continuing until first place team picks last and continuing until all spots have been filled. All players not selected during the draft process will automatically be put back into the Minor division. Each Major team shall have a minimum of 12 players, no more than 15. Each team will be made even and cannot have more than 8 players of the same age group. All returning league age 12 players must remain in the Major Division.

• Secrecy: Players, parents or any volunteer shall never be told the position in which they were drafted.

• Minor Division will draft next followed by Major Softball and Junior Softball. Junior and Senior Baseball will be last to draft.

• The Board of Directors reserves the right if they so choose to keep the previous season teams together and fill open positions within the roster with draft players

PAGE 4

1. Options on Sons, Daughters and Siblings (only)

1. An option is an agreement between Manager and the Player Agent covering a special condition

2. All options must be in writing and submitted to the Player Agent prior to the draft

3. The waiver options are as follows:

• Brothers/Sisters in Draft

  When there are two or more siblings in the draft, and the first brother or sister is drafted by a Manager, that Manager automatically has an option to draft the other brother or sister by the next round. If this option is not exercised, the second sibling is available to be drafted by any team.

• Brothers/Sisters of Players currently on a team – if desired, a Manager shall submit an option in writing on a draftee if the player candidate’s brother or sister is a member of that Manager’s team.  If such an option is submitted, the manager MUST draft the sibling within the first three draft selections. If the second sibling is not any team can draft that player.

• Sons/Daughters of Managers

  If the Manager has sons/daughters eligible for the draft, and wishes to draft them, the Manager automatically has an option to draft the player.  Manager shall submit the option in writing.

• Sons/Daughters of Coaches

  New Coach: a new Coach shall not be appointed nor approved until after the draft to avoid red shirting of players through selective Coaching appointments.  The Manager must then obtain the son or daughter through a trade for another player following the Trading Players Rules, below.

  Returning Coach: through the Manager, may exercise an option in writing to the Player Agent provided the Coach has

• Served as a Manager or Coach at any level of the league for the past 2 consecutive years

• The coach is returning to the same team as last year

IMPORANT: In order for the Manager to exercise this option, the Coach must qualify under BOTH conditions above

1. Draft Rounds:

   If the option for sons/daughters of managers or coaches are exercised, the candidates must be drafted in or before the following rounds:

                                   ROUND                                AGE

                                   5                              All Drafting Divisions

                                  

   PARENT/MANAGER OPTION TAKE PRIORITY OVER ANY OTHER OPTION

    

    

    

    

   PAGE 5

1. Trading Players

• Following the Draft, Managers may trade players up until the Final Roster are due to Player Agent (21 days prior to season opening day)

• All trades must be player for player

• All trades must be made through the Player Agent and with approval of the Player Agent

• All trades must be for justifiable reasons and be approved by the Board of Directors

• In the event any team loses a Roster player after the Draft, they will draft another draft eligible player from either the standby pool or the division below if there are no players in the standby pool

• A returning Manager and or Coach (s) have first choice in selecting his or her child for his own team at the League Draft with a waiver provision under option rule.  Once he bypasses this option and his child is selected by another team, he loses all rights to this privilege and can not trade to retain this player.

• Parents of players who become Managers or Coaches after their children have been selected to a team may not automatically claim their sons or daughters but must trade for them at the proper time.  All trades must be player for player only, by mutual agreement of the Managers, through the Player Agent, and approved by the Board of Directors

1. All Players shall come from the Player Agent

    

2. Every player shall present Proof of Age and the parents shall present proof of residency when he/she originally registers for Little League. Ages shall be verified by the League President.

    

3. Medical Release Forms must be obtained from all players in all divisions of the league prior to participation in clinics, practices or games.

PAGE 6

ALL STAR PLAYERS SELECTION (SPRING SEASON ONLY)

1. The rules and regulations for tournament play and player eligibility are outlined in the Little League Regulation and Rule Book starting on Page 121.  All Star teams will consist of a minimum of 12 players.

    

2. All Star Baseball Players age 8-10

Player Selection:

1. Players for this division of play in All Stars will be selected following a tryout by the appointed Manager and Coaches of that All Star team.  Only players that fall within the eligibility guidelines will be allowed to participate in these tryouts.  Players may come from the Major Division and Minor Division if they fall within the age group range. 

1. All Star Baseball Players age 11-12, Baseball age 13-14, Major and Junior Softball

   Player Selection:

1. Players for these divisions of play in All Stars will be selected by their fellow players during the regular season and the appointed Managers.  The players will elect (10) players from all teams in that division or age group by secret ballot.  Only players that fall within the eligibility guidelines will be placed on the ballots. The ballots will be collected by the regular season Manager, placed in an envelope, sealed and turned into the Board of Directors. The remaining players required to complete the All Star team will be at the selection of the appointed Manager once the votes have been tallied.

    

1. Players are considered eligible if they:

1. Reside within the South Orange Little League boundaries or go to school within the boundaries with appropriate documentation to show proof of this.  (Players with waivers do not qualify)

2. Players must have played 60% of the regular season games (minimum 12 games per team). So for example Player X played 7 games out of 12 games that Player X’s team played, Player X is eligible.

3. FOR AGE 11-12 Baseball ONLY – Have played in 60% of Major Baseball games. (All 9-10 year old players that have played Major Baseball must play down with their age group).

4. Must have ORIGINAL Birth Certificate

    

ALL PLAYERS SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN ALL STARS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON JUNE 1^ST AND PRACTICES WILL START SHORTLY THEREAFTER. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS AN ADDITIONAL FEE ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH ALL STARS FOR TOURNAMENT COST AND UNIFORMS.

PAGE 7