CHARISMATIC CHRISTIAN SOFTBALL LEAGUE
League Rules & Constitution
Revised 5-11-13
1.0 LEADERSHIP
1.1 The league shall be governed by a board of the following officers:
1 League Commissioner
1 League Treasurer
1 League Secretary
2 Division Commissioners (one per division)
1.2 OFFICE RESPONSIBILITIES
1.2A League Commissioner - This office will chair all meetings. He will have the option of assigning a chairman other than himself, if the need arises. He will represent the league in all correspondence. He will be responsible for field acquisition and for all correspondence with the various umpiring associations. He is responsible for the smooth
operation of the league board. The term of office is 2 years. The League Commissioner must have been a past board member.
1.2B Division Commissioner - This office is responsible for the following:
1 - Scheduling teams, fields and umpires
2 - Reporting and recording league activity
3 - Standings and rosters
4 - Chairing any and all division meetings
5 - Rain out telephone chain and scheduling of make-up games
The term of office is 2 years.
1.2C League Treasurer - This office is responsible for the following:
1 - League checking account, payment of bills
2 - Balanced budget, monthly and annual reports
3 - Purchase of softballs and awards
The term of office is 2 years.
1.2D League Secretary - This office is responsible for the following:
1 - Notification to league members of all meetings
2 - League Directory
3 - Minutes and attendance
4 - Correspondence and league voting polls
The term of office is 2 years.
1.3 All board decisions will be by the majority of it’s members.
1.4 A board of officers is to be held in the beginning of January each year and the first general meeting is to be held the same month. Annual reports from the preceding year and board elections must take place at this first meeting. In order to conduct any general meeting and elect new board members, a quorum of more than 1/2 of the members from the past season must be present.
1.5 Only three (3) or 1/2 of the current board positions shall be put up for election in any given season. The current alignment is as follows:
1.5A Group # 1 - (odd numbered year) - League Commissioner / “B” Division Commissioner
1.5B Group # 2 - (even numbered year) - “A” Division Commissioner / League Secretary / League Treasurer
2.0 ELIGIBILITY - REGULAR SEASON
2.1 Only members or attendants of a given church may play for that church in league play. All players must attend one service, or a regularly scheduled church event, per week with the manager having discretion to determine player eligibility for each game. A player must play for the church he attends as his HOME church. A player is NOT permitted to attend another church, one service a week, just to play for that church. If this occurs, the team will forfeit every game that player appeared in. This rule is to prevent managers from recruiting and players from picking who they want to play for from season to season. The manager has the sole responsibility for insuring that only eligible players participate in league play.
2.1A The one exception to rule 2.1 is that a team is permitted to have up to two (2) players on the roster that do not attend the church he is playing for and also do not attend a church that has a team in the league.
2.2 Only males shall be permitted to play in Charismatic Softball League games.
2.3 Beginning with the 2007 season, the minimum age requirement is Fourteen (14) years of age. Specifically, a player must be 14 or will be 14 on or before the end of the REGULAR SEASON.
2.4 If a player is found to be ineligible, the team that the player played for will automatically forfeit any and all games in which the ineligible player played. Any repeated infraction of player eligibility rules will subject the manager and team to probation or possible expulsion.
3.0 ELIGIBILITY - PLAYOFFS
3.1 Players, in order to be eligible for the post-season action, must conform to the requirements for the regular season eligibility, plus they must appear in at LEAST 1/2 of the regular season games played by that team. All requests to have a player "waived" will be handled by the board on a case by case basis. All requests will be made PRIOR to the upcoming game. If the request is made after the game is played the player shall be ruled ineligible and the team shall forfeit said games. Players will only be "waived" due to exigent circumstances.
3.2 In any game that your team receives a forfeit win, all players on your roster will receive credit for playing the amount of games that were forfeited.
3.3 If a player is injured during the season the manager will notify his division commissioner prior to the upcoming Saturday night game that said player will not be able to play due to the injury so that the player can receive eligibility credit for all games missed due to the injury. The injury does not have to be a result of a league game. The manager must keep the league updated on injuries on a week by week basis. If a player is found to have misrepresented his injury status, the team will forfeit all games the player played in and the player will be prohibited from league play for a period of time to be determined by the board.
3.4 All playoff games will be played until completion. Extra innings will be allowed, no 1- 1/2 hour time limit will be enforced. Teams have 5 hours to play a maximum of (3) three games.
3.5 As of the 2004 season , the team with the highest seed will be the home team in the event that a playoff series goes to three (3) games.
3.6 As of April 1, 2013, player playoff eligibility will include the following. A player who is away attending college, will only be responsible to appear in sixty (60) percent of the games he will be available to play in when he returns from college. The player must show written proof of the school he went to and the date he will be returning and this must be presented by the manager to the board at the beginning of the season to be valid. This is a hard number and there will be no exceptions made. This is known as The Herritt rule.
4.0 ROSTERS
4.1 The team roster will be signed by the Pastor and must be submitted to the league board within the first five (5) weeks of the season. Your division commissioner will approve it and send you a photo copy before opening day. This copy must be in your score book and available for inspection at the request of the opposing manager or a board member.
4.2 If you wish to add a player(s) within the first five (5) weeks of the season, you must call your division commissioner. He will add the player’s name(s) to the original roster and send you a new photo copy with his initials and the date of the new player’s eligibility. You will put the updated roster in your score book. The manager is responsible for having a current roster available for inspection.
4.3 The only proof a manager has of a new player’s eligibility is the updated roster. If the roster cannot be viewed upon request of the opposing manager or board member, the game will be considered under protest and the proper actions will be taken.
4.4 A player can only be on one team (1) roster per season. Once the season starts, all players must remain with the team who’s roster they appear on for the whole season including playoffs.
5.0 SCOREBOOKS
5.1 Only a score book furnished by the league will be considered official.
5.2 The score book will contain a current copy of the team’s roster.
5.3 Beginning with 1994, each manager will sign or initial the other teams score book at the end of each game. This will certify that both managers agree on the final scores and that all players were eligible to play.
5.4 If a manager has a discrepancy as to the final score or player eligibility or any other problem that occurred, he should NOT SIGN the score sheet. At this point a manager should commence with a protest.
5.5 Players will be listed by first initial and full last name. This is the only format that will be accepted. Any deviance coupled with a protest can result in a forfeit.
6.0 PAYMENT
6.1 The registration fee is due before the first pre-season meeting.
6.2 The total balance is due before a team will be permitted to play.
6.3 Any team that has not paid in full by opening day will not receive an umpire and their scheduled games will be forfeited. This applies until the fee is paid in full.
6.4 The registration fee and subsequent league fee is not refundable.
7.0 TIME LIMITS
7.1 All games are limited to one and 1/2 hours from the scheduled starting time. No new inning shall start after that time and the game will be declared official.
7.2 In the event of a tie in the first game, the first full inning of scoring in the second game will be the tie-breaker. There will be no extra-innings in the first game.
7.3 If the second game ends in a tie, the team with the most runs in one inning will be declared the winner. The teams have the option of finishing the game at a later time with the approval of the league board.
7.4 As of the 1994 season, the 5:00 PM game will be off the field no later than 7:55 PM, if there is an 8:00 PM game. The game will be over no matter at what point it is at. A manager will not pull his team off the field before 7:55 PM. Any manager who attempts to slow down the game to secure a win will forfeit the game.
8.0 RULES REGARDING PLAYING SEASON
8.1 U.S.S.S.A. rules will govern the playing of softball unless stated in general meeting prior to the start of the season.
8.2 Starting with the 2003 season, the batter will begin his at bat with a count of 1
ball and 1 strike. The batter will receive one foul on the second strike before being called out.
8.3 Dudley Elite softballs will be used in game play and will be supplied by the
League.
8.4 The minimum number of players a team must start with is eight (8). All league games are scheduled to start at a prescribed time. Forfeits will be declared by the umpire 10 minutes after the scheduled start of the first game for game number 1 and 15 minutes after the scheduled start of the first game for game number 2.
8.5 In the event of questionable weather, the league board will decide whether or not to call a rain out for the day. If so, teams will be notified by 3:00 PM.
8.6 If a team discovers during the week they cannot make a game that Saturday, they are required to notify their division commissioner at least 24 hours before the scheduled start of that game.
8.7 The additional hitter rule will be used as part of the normal playing rules. The rule reads as follows: “A team may insert an additional hitter into it’s lineup. The batting order must remain constant, however, any 10 of the 11 players can take a defensive position throughout the game. If the AH is used, the team must finish with 11 players. If a player gets injured and there is no replacement, his position in the batting order will be an automatic out only the first time it comes around in the batting order, than it will be absorbed. It is not mandatory that a team use an AH but failure to insert an AH before the batting order is gone through once precludes the use of an AH in that game.
8.8 As of the 2009 season, both managers will call in scores no later than 8pm on the Monday following the game to give the scores as well as positive or negative (if any) feedback to the Division commissioners. Failure to call in your scores by the Monday deadline will result in your team forfeiting the games that were played the previous Saturday. The winning team will receive scores of 7-0 and 7-0. If the winning team scored more than 7 runs, they will keep those runs as a final score. The winning team will get credit for all runs scored. The forfeiting team will get no credit for any runs scored. Example: if you won 10-2 and the losing team doesn't call in and forfeits your score will be 10-0.
8.9 Beginning with the 1993 season, courtesy runners will be limited to two (2) per inning. You may use your two for strategy, injuries, slow runners or whatever you want. The only exception for a possible 3rd or 4th, etc., will be an injury incurred during the game. Be advised any courtesy runner over the two is at the discretion of the opposing manager unless the umpire intervenes. Keep in mind that if you use your two at the beginning of the inning for slow runners, and one of your players becomes injured, the opposing manager is not obligated to give you a 3rd courtesy runner, 4th courtesy runner, etc. This does not make him any less of a Christian. The courtesy runner will be the last recorded out in your scorebook.
8.10 Equipment used must be provided by your team and must meet official rule book requirements.
8.11 The home team for each game will supply two (2) new balls.
8.12 Beginning with the 1990 season, the league will use a re-entry rule. The rule states that only a starting player may be substituted for and may re-enter the game later. The starting player must return to the same position in the batting order, but can play anywhere in the field. Non-starting players may not return to the game under re-entry. The manager is responsible for notifying the opposing manager and the umpire of any and all usage of the re-entry rule. A starting player may only re-enter one time per game. A pitcher may only return to the mound once per game.
8.13 Base lines are 70 feet.