CASPA REGULATIONS
A.
DESCRIPTION AND STRUCTURE OF ASSOCIATION:
1.
Shall be know as Central Alberta Slo-pitch Association.
2.
The Association shall be composed of leagues representing
3.
The Association may be divided into divisions depending upon:
i.
Number of teams
ii.
The ability and expertise of teams
iii.
Gender
iv.
Age
4.
The executive officers shall consist of:
President
Vice president
Secretary
Treasurer
Five or more Directors
5.
Each division in the Association shall have one nominated League division
Representative to:
i.
Relate decisions from Board to the leagues
ii.
Relate grievances from leagues to Board
6.
Their will be one general meeting each year:
i.
A spring meeting (March)
7.
Players may play in different leagues as individuals and:
i.
Must follow the rules of the league
ii.
The right to play in different divisions is governed and enforced by the
Board
B.
ELIGIBILITY OF TEAMS AND PLAYERS:
1.
Each team shall be in good standing with no outstanding league fees.
2.
No player shall participate unless registered as a
Associate member with no outstanding fees ( DUE TO LIABILITY AND
INSURANCE REASONS ).
3.
Each team will have a member responsible for the actions of the team
(CONTACT PERSON ).
4.
Players must be the age of 18 or over, unless written consent from parent
or guardian is presented to the Board. The minimum age to play is 16.
5.
A team may only pick up a maximum of
3 players from any other division during a single league game.
C.
ADMITTANCE OF TEAMS:
1.
All new teams shall be admitted to the leagues on a one year probation
period.
2.
The league director and Board has the right to qualify any team in the
league to any division on grounds of caliber, expertise, or division alignment.
D.
SCHEDULES:
1.
Leagues and divisions will be set in the spring following the general
meeting.
2.
Once a
league schedule has been circulated,
the games are to be played on the scheduled dates and can be canceled only due
to extreme weather conditions.
A.
POSTPONEMENTS / RESCHEDULING
I.
Teams
wishing to postpone a match shall make a request to the other team no later than
five days prior to the scheduled match.
II.
Teams which
postpone or reschedule a game are responsible for phoning the City Rec. Dept. at
342-6100 for alternate dates to play. All postponed/rescheduled games are to be paid for by the team asking
for the rescheduling. CASPA leagues are not responsible for payment of
rescheduled games. There will be no
charge for any rain out games on City diamonds. Just contact the City
Recreation Dept. at 309-8411 to reschedule.
III.
If the game
you are rescheduling was to be played on CASPA diamonds at Edgar, phone the
CASPA office @ 309-6364.
IV.
All
postponements must be reported to the
CASPA office or the teams will receive no points for that game.
V.
Rescheduled
dates must be agreed upon by both teams as soon as possible.
E.
REVISIONS OF REGULATIONS:
1.
Shall be done at the Spring General Meeting.
2.
Need support of two thirds of the Association present at the meeting.
3.
Each member in good standing has one vote.
F.
RULES:
1.
League play will be governed by modified SPN rules.
A.
THE
FOLLOWING RULES WILL TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER SPN RULES:
I.
A minimum of
twelve players registered on each team.
MERCY RULE
-The mercy rule (12 runs) is in effect after five or more
complete innings. The
team batting second must have as many
opportunities to bat (to tie or win the game) as the team batting first.
There will
be no more than five runs per inning scored for a team, unless it is the last or
seventh inning which is open.
II.
GRACE PERIOD
FOR LATE TEAMS:
A grace period of a maximum of 10 minutes will be allowed for late arriving
teams & or players. The grace period starts when the game was scheduled to
start. Where a team does arrive in the grace period,
the game will start in the 2nd inning with the on time team receiving the
following score to start the game:
4-0.
III.
TIME LIMIT:
There will be a time limit of 1hr & 30 minutes from the
scheduled time allotted to each game.
If by
IV.
League fees
will be set in the spring.
V.
Games tied
and or called due to darkness shall be considered a game after 5 complete
innings.
Points: WIN
2 points TIE
1 point LOSS 0 points
VI.
Appropriate dress to be worn at all
times.
VII.
Late team
registration shall be set at $50.00 for league fees,
if not received by Treasurer by the date specified on the league entry
form for the current year.
VIII.
If a team misses a game without proper notice, or causes problems such as
fighting, bullying, excessive swearing and name-calling (at the discretion of
the board) they then must post a $150.00 bond before their next game. $50.00 is
for the first offense already committed. If a second offense occurs, another
$50.00 is forfeited. Another $100.00 bond is then required. If a third offense
occurs, they are out, and the whole bond is forfeited. All forfeited bond money
will be put towards prizes at the Year-end Tournament. Teams who have had to pay
a performance bond will have any remainder from their bond returned to them at
the end of the year.
Proper notice is defined as making contact by telephone with at least one of the
other teams’ reps no less than 3 hours prior to game time. Leaving a message is
not considered contact. If unable to contact the opposing team, contact must be
made with your division rep. first, or Roger at the CASPA office (309-6364)
within the same time frame
IX.
Mat is
mandatory and size will be 2 X 3 with no cut out. The home team is responsible
for supplying a home plate mat and the bases.
a)
If the ball
hits the mat and the ground it is a
strike.
X.
Scoring line rule applies at home plate:
i. Catcher must be in contact with the plate.
ii. All
baserunners attempting to score a run must do so by touching the
scoring line with one foot or by
placing one foot on the ground past the
scoring line in foul territory, in
order for it to be counted as a run.
XI.
Commitment line is to be in effect at all times.
XII.
Anticipation step is NOT ALLOWED.
XIII.
If the diamond is not up to SPN standards then,
if both teams agree, a standard pitching area can be marked out.
XIV.
Second number on the schedule is the home team ( except the third game
against an opponent where home team is determined by a coin toss). The home team
supplies the balls except with the coin toss games, where both teams supply the
balls.
XV.Batting
line up can be made in any order.
XVI. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES:
There will
be no alcoholic beverages allowed on CASPA or city diamonds.
If a report comes into the CASPA office regarding this infraction then
the board is empowered to
suspend that team.
a) The board has instituted the 2008
Liquor Violation Rule:
If
any team consumes any alcohol at any diamond before, during or after any league
game a performance bond of $200.00 must be posted before their next game.
$100.00 of this is immediately forfeited for the infraction. A second liquor
violation will result in forfeiture of the remaining $100.00 and expulsion from
the league.
XVII. All
scores must be emailed by the winning team within 24 hours of the scheduled
league game otherwise the points will be forfeited.
The same will apply if the office is not notified on any rescheduling of
league games.
REPORTING RESULTS
a) The winning team of the game shall report the score. Scores are to be emailed with date, team names and score to scores@caspa.ca or go to www.caspa.ca/ss and submit your score.
b)
Scores must be reported within 24 hours of game start
time or your points can be forfeited.
c)
If the teams are rescheduling their game it must be reported to the CASPA office at 309-6364
XVIII.
The league has sanctioned the CASPA logo restricted flight ball as the official
ball used in league play and playoffs.
B.
SPECIFIC
LEAGUE RULES FOR ALL DIVISIONS
I.
Extra Player
Modified: A team may have a maximum
of 12 players, 7 men and 5 females,
in the batting line up, all
will bat and may enter the defense ( max. 10 players with a minimum 4 females ).
The substitution rule is in effect only when a player is removed from the
batting order or added to batting order.
A minimum of 9 players, with
a minimum of 3 females, will be
allowed to play the game, but an
automatic out will be called in the batting order where the 4th female would
have been placed.
II.
The CASPA
walk rule is in effect, which states
that “ if a male batter is walked on the
first four balls (if he is followed in the batting order by a female), he is
awarded two (2) bases, and the female batter following must bat.”
III.
There is a
maximum of 5 over the fence home runs per team per game. “Inside the park” home
runs do not count as one of the five allowed.
IV.
The season
will consist of a 21 game schedule.
G.
PLAYOFF AND TOURNAMENT RULES:
1.
Format of the City Championships and playoffs shall be determined by the
Board.
H.
OFFICIALS:
1.
League games will be umpired by the team at bat.
2.
Upon both teams agreeing, a carded umpire may be used. Payment of fees
charged will be the responsibility of both teams and due before the game is
played.
3. It is mandatory for each team, that plays in a CASPA league, to send one representatives to a free umpire’s clinic. These clinic dates are listed on the league entry form.
I.
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE:
1.
Any
infractions of the rules must be reported to the division representative within
24 hours saying that they intend to formally grieve a game.
2.
A written
letter must be submitted by both teams within 48 hours to the office - the
division rep will then review both team’s letters and arrive at a decision.
3.
Both the
above measures must be completed before the division representative takes any
action.
4.
The division
representative can consult with the Technical Director
(if necessary)
5.
If there is
a conflict of interest with the division representative, then the T.D. will make
the ruling in place of the division rep.
6.
The division
representative’s decision is final.
7. If excessive grievances from one team occurs the league reserves the right to set a fee to any further grievances.
J.
PROTEST PROCEDURE:
1.
Submit
protest in writing with $25.00 bond (
refundable if accepted ) to your division representative within 72 hours of game
played.
2.
Division
rep. contacts Technical Director and explains the situation and makes a
decision, if possible.
3.
The T.D.
will contact the President, if
needed, to explain the situation and inform him/her of the decision.
4.
League
Director and Board contact team representatives and umpires of the game, if
necessary.
5.
The
Grievance Committee’s decision is final.
6.
In league
tournaments and finals, grievance must be made immediately after the game with a
$25.00 bond, a decision will be made
by the tournament coordinator and is final.