2017 – 2018 SEASON
BY-LAWS AND PLAYING RULES
of the
LAKELAND MIDGET BASKETBALL LEAGUE, INC.
November 8, 2017
CONTENTS
Page
Section 1 – General By-Laws 1
Section 2 – League Operation Rules 3
Section 3 – Team Operation and Rules 7
Section 4 – Award Rules 14
SECTION 1 - GENERAL BY-LAWS
A. Name - This league shall be known as Lakeland Midget Basketball League, Inc.
B. Purpose - The purpose of this league is to:
1. Operate a midget basketball program to benefit the players.
2. Take every advisable precaution to safeguard the physical condition and growth of the players, as well as, encourage the highest scholastic standards of the players.
3. Instill in each player the importance of clean, hard playing and good sportsmanship.
4. Develop the athletic skills and promote interest in basketball for young players and, thereby, improving the quality of basketball in the area.
C. Officers
1. The officers of this league shall be: President, Four (4) Vice Presidents – Division Coordinators, Secretary and Treasurer, all elective duties shall be as normally pertain to such office and as further specified herein. Each Vice President will be responsible for a designated age group. They are to coordinate their particular league.
2. The President will administer the league schedule and reschedule all postponed games. At his/her discretion, the President may appoint someone to handle this duty.
3. Vacancies in elective offices shall be filled by appointment by the President and subject to confirmation by a majority of the League Members present at the meeting when the appointment is made.
D. Members - The sponsoring group of each team shall designate one person as its official representative to the League and who shall then be a Member of the League. Such Member may be, but is not limited to, a team Coach. A Coach, not being a Member, shall be an Ex-Officio Member having all rights of a Member; he shall have no vote and hold no office with the exception that he may vote for the official representative if absent.
E. Voting
1. Each Member Team shall have one vote and must be present to vote on all league functions; the Ex-officio member may cast such vote in the absence of the official representative.
2. Admission of a New Member shall require a two-thirds favorable vote of ALL League Members.
3. Amending these By-Laws and Playing Rules shall require a favorable vote of three-fourths of the Members present at the meeting.
4. All other questions shall be decided by a majority vote of the Members present. The presiding officer may vote on any question.
F. Meeting
1. Annual - The Annual meeting for the election of officers shall be the October regular meeting.
2. Regular - Regular meetings shall be held at least from September through March. All representatives must attend three (3) regular meetings. If a representative misses more than one regular meeting he may be fined $10.00 for each meeting missed, and his team will not be allowed to play until the fine is paid.
3. Special - Special meetings shall be held at the call of the President, and shall be called by the President on request of three or more members. Five days advance notice, issued by the Secretary on request of the President, shall be given each Member.
G. Amending By-Laws and Rules
1. Proposed By-Laws and/or Rule changes shall be discussed during the meeting when presented. All members absent from this meeting shall be notified of the proposed changes. Proposed changes shall then be voted on during the next regular meeting.
2. Each Member shall receive a copy of each amended Rule or By-Law.
H. Quorum
1. The quorum at any meeting shall consist of a majority of the League Members including the President or Vice President.
SECTION 2. - LEAGUE OPERATION RULES
A. Membership - This League shall be limited to the Northern New Jersey Counties of Morris, Passaic & Sussex and their immediate adjacent communities. They shall be:
1. A recognized, established and organized athletic or recreation group.
2. Any other group organized and operated specifically for youth recreation and approved by this League.
B. New Members - Groups desiring League Membership shall:
1. Submit written application indicating: name of sponsoring group; name of league representative; geographical area to be represented; name of Team; teams/levels to be entered; desired color of uniforms; location and availability (days and time) of home court; agreement to comply with present League By-Laws and Playing Rules.
2. Submit a check, payable to Lakeland Midget Basketball League, Inc., in the amount of $100.00 that shall apply against the coming season’s fee if application is accepted. This is non-refundable.
3. Submit application and the $100.00 fee to the League Secretary prior to the October meeting preceding the season.
4. Members, upon first entering the League, may be deemed to be Provisional League Members. At the end of their first year of participation in the League, their Membership application will be reviewed to determine their suitability to continue as Regular Members. The purpose of this Provisional designation is to insure that all League Member Teams meet and abide by the League’s stated Purpose, found in Section B.
C. Territorial Jurisdiction
1. The territory represented by a League Member shall not be changed after one year’s League Membership without written consent of the affected member.
D. Officials
1. All floor officials (referee’s) for official League games shall be either a New Jersey Licensed basketball official or a cadet official.
2. The League will supply officials.
E. Insurance Certificate
1. Each Member, prior to the beginning of the official league season, must submit a certificate of insurance against injury and liability to the Secretary.
2. A notarized statement of Relief from Liability for the League signed by the presiding officer of the sponsoring group shall be acceptable in lieu of an insurance certificate.
F. Home Team Responsibility
1. For each league home game the home team shall furnish: mechanical or electrical timer (not a watch), timer’s horn, regulation basketball, adult timekeeper, scorekeeper, possession arrow and a complete first aid kit. (It is strongly recommended that each visiting team also bring their own first aid kit.)
2. The home team scorebook shall be the official scorebook, and its use shall be in compliance with official basketball scoring as covered in the rulebook.
3. The WINNING TEAM will be responsible for emailing the Division Coordinator, the Webmaster, the Referee Coordinator and the Treasurer within 24 hours after completion of a ball game with the game results and the names for the game referees. If this is not accomplished a WIN will not be recorded for either team. The coach of each WINNING TEAM (Mini Pee Wee, Super Pee Wee, Pee Wee, JV & Varsity) should report in.
G. Playing Rules - Playing rules for the official games of this League shall be in official National Federation of High School Rules. All playing levels will utilize a Three (3)-point line (shot).
- Varsity and JV games shall be played in four quarters of eight (8) minutes each. Pee Wee and Super Pee Wee games shall be played in four quarters of seven (7) minutes each. Mini Pee Wee will be 10 minute running quarters.
2. The first game, during weeknights, shall start at 6:30 p.m. and the second game at 7:45 p.m. Both coaches must agree upon any minor changes to these times.
H. Forfeiting Games - An official League game shall be automatically forfeited by the team involved for the following:
1. Playing an ineligible or unregistered player.
2. Failure to floor a team within ten minutes after the scheduled game time unless both coaches agree to a time extension or postponement due to bad weather or other unforeseen conditions.
3. Failure to play all Super Pee Wee, Pee Wee, JV or Varsity players during a ball game as specified in Section 3 and the Grade Specific Rules Addendum to these By-laws. There is no penalty if all games for Mini Pee Wee are not played
4. Physical contact between any coach or team official and either of the referees, will result in the forfeiture of that game by the offending coach’s team.
5. Forfeiture must be claimed in writing by no later than the third day following the scheduled game. Claims shall be made to the President.
I. Playing Season Schedules
1. The League season shall start during the month of December and finish in March.
2. The League schedule shall be established by November 25th. The coaches, League Coordinators and President shall subsequently be in charge of and are empowered to alter the schedule when necessary. Postponed games shall be rescheduled by the head coaches of the two teams involved with approval of the President and League Coordinators. The Web Site Coordinator and Official Assignor shall be notified of all changes.
3. A visiting coach, desiring to postpone a game due to driving conditions shall notify the home coach at least four hours prior to game time and then report same to the League Assignor of officials. If schools are closed due to weather the home team shall immediately notify the assignor of officials, the opponent, the Web Site Coordinator as well as the League Coordinator. The teams will work together to reschedule.
4. Typically, No team shall be regularly scheduled to play more than two games in one week nor shall any team play on two consecutive days, unless a difficulty arises in scheduling.
5. League standing shall be determined individually for Varsity, JV, Pee Wee, Super Pee Wee and Mini Pee Wee Teams.
J. Outside League Competition - The Lakeland Midget Basketball League schedule shall in all cases take precedent over all outside league games or tournaments.
K. Fees
1. League officials at the September meeting will determine a franchise fee annually. It shall be paid by each Member prior to December 1st to register for the season. The fee will be for each team that an organization enters into competition in the League. No team will be allowed to play more than three (3) games if their fee is not paid.
2. A Member that enters a team for the season and subsequently wishes to withdraw that team from competition after the League Schedule has been made out will be charged a fee of $250.00. Teams that are withdrawn prior to the establishment of the League Schedule will not be charged.
L. Protest Committee
1. The League shall select a protest committee composed of three qualified persons, one from each of three different communities. The League shall designate the Chairman; this office shall be rotated annually.
2. The Protest Committee shall be furnished a copy of the League’s By-Laws and Playing Rules, all amendments and revisions.
3. All protests shall be submitted in writing, within three (3) days, to the Protest Committee Chairman, signed by the Head Coach with a copy to the League Secretary.
4. The Committee shall rule conclusively on each protest within one week and submit their decision to the League Secretary in writing. Rulings of this committee shall be final and not subject to review, appeal or alteration by the League.
M. Playing on Division Basis - When eight (8) or more teams register in the League, upon favorable vote of the League in regular meeting the playing schedule may be divided into multiple divisions.
N. Standings and Playoffs
1. The President shall designate dates, time, location and coordinate officials for the playoffs.
2. Costs incurred by the Member for use of facilities and the League for Play-off and All Star games shall reimburse officials.
O. Re-scheduling of postponed games
1. Any game that is postponed, regardless of reason, is required to be re-scheduled, but does not have to be re-played, within the next 5 business days (except for Dec 26 thru Dec 31).
2. It will be home team’s responsibility to supply a few dates that each team can make. If originally scheduled as a double-header, please make every effort to try and re-schedule as a double-header. You will need approval from the Lakeland President if any double-header goes to single games.
3. Each team that is impacted must reply to either an e-mail or confirm via phone call of the revised date, time and location.
4. The home team will communicate to the referee assignor, webmaster and treasurer of the revised date, time and location.
5. Teams/Coaches that are not co-operative or unresponsive will risk forfeiting the game.
SECTION 3 - TEAM OPERATION AND RULES
A. Teams - Each member shall have at least two teams. Any exceptions shall be discussed & approved at a League meeting.
B. Residence
1. Each player shall reside in the geographical area represented by the Member during that portion of the season in which the player represents the Member. Any student attending the Town’s public school system is eligible.
2. Members that are organized within the geographical boundaries of a town or city shall not permit players residing outside that town or city to participate as team players, without the prior approval of the League.