DeKalb /Sycamore Church Softball League By-Laws
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of the DeKalb/Sycamore Church Softball League is to provide for the churches of the DeKalb-Sycamore area the opportunity for fellowship within each church, an avenue for members of the various churches to interface with members of other churches and to pursue the lost with the gospel of Christ. All contests should be played with good sportsmanship, respect for other individuals and teams, and within the context of Christian ideals.
II. MEMBERSHIP
A. Membership in the DeKalb/Sycamore Church Softball League is open to any church, temple or synagogue. Membership is not restricted by denomination.
B. Active member churches shall have full voting rights at any church league meeting. Voting shall be on the basis of one vote per team. Active member churches are defined as any church that has a team actively participating in the league. Between seasons, active members are defined as churches that had a team in the most recently completed season.
C. Any church wishing to compete in the church league shall apply to the league for membership. Membership shall be granted by a simple majority of the Executive Board. Any church wishing to compete should request membership prior to March 1 of any given year. Once membership is granted, a church maintains full league privileges, including full voting rights, until it ceases to be an active member. Executive Board can limit the number of teams from year to year based on field availability etc.
D. Any annual fees shall be set by the board and shall be paid as noted below. Any fees due to the Sycamore Park District shall be collected prior to the start of the season. Every manager shall be responsible for reporting to the Treasurer of the league before the season opener to determine the appropriate choice of payment for said fees. A $100 down payment is due by April 1st, which will hold a team’s spot in the league.
1st Choice – Full payment before the season opener
2nd Choice – ½ payment before the season opener, ½ payment by mid-season
If payment is not paid on time, the team involved shall forfeit all games of regular season play until payment is received by the league Treasurer. Upon receiving payment, the Treasurer shall notify the President of said team’s eligibility. Before any League play, every team shall have informed the Treasurer of their payment status.
III. LEAGUE HIERARCHY
A. Board of Directors
- Shall consist of the Executive Board and Full Board, with responsibilities and individual rules of engagement listed below.
B. Executive Board
- The Church League Executive Board shall consist of four initial members, and at the discretion of the four initial members, other Executive Board Members. The initial four members shall consist of the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Each of these officers will have specific responsibilities as outlined in section D.
- Other Executive Board members may be added for a number of reasons, as specified by the Executive Board, and may or may not be given specific responsibilities. Only members of the Full Board in good standing (having paid previous seasons’ monies on time, no team suspensions etc.) will be under consideration for such a position, and the position(s) may change from year to year, or cease to be necessary, all of which will solely at the discretion of the four initial Executive Board members. Term of the service shall be one year from the initial election date, and be voted upon by the Executive Board at the season’s first Executive Board meeting.
- The four initial officers are automatically re-elected every year unless a motion is made by a member of the Full Board to elect new officers, and as such may only be replaced by either mutual decision of the Full Board members or in another case a decision by an individual officer to vacate his or her position due to sundry other affairs.
C. Full Board
1. The Church League Full Board shall consist of one voting member from each team, normally the manager, but a team may select another individual to represent it to the league. The Vice-President, the Secretary and the Treasurer shall be non-voting members of the full board unless they are also their team’s representative to the full board. The President shall cast a vote only in the event of a tie. However, in the event that an issue directly or indirectly involves the President, it shall be the responsibility of the Vice-President to break the tie. If the Vice-President is directly/indirectly involved, the vote goes to the Treasurer. If the Treasurer is directly/indirectly involved as with every other Executive Board member, the President shall cast the deciding vote. The President may still vote as a team’s representative.
2. Any item voted on by the Executive Board shall require simple majority to pass.
Contradictions: Executive Board investigates, Full Board votes.
- The Executive Board shall be the investegatory authority for any disciplinary action to be taken against any individual or team. A hearing shall be held by the Executive Board to investigate any possible suspension and fines the individual and/or team must be notified prior to the hearing and shall have the right to defend their action at said hearing. The recommendations of the Executive Board shall be voted on by the Full Board.
4. Any voting member of the Full Board may make a motion to amend these bylaws. An amendment to these bylaws may be introduced at any board meeting, but to provide against any rash or emotional judgments, the vote on said amendment must wait until the next meeting of the Full Board. There shall be a minimum of twelve hours between Board meetings.
D. Responsibilities of Officers. Each officer of the league shall have specific assigned duties as listed herein.
1. President: Scheduling (may appoint a rep.), Liaison with the Sycamore Park District (may appoint a rep.), Chair all league meetings, Post Season Tournament Director, Chair Rules Committee
2. Vice-President: Procurement of equipment, Contact for head umpire (may appoint a rep), Fields (may appoint a rep.), Chair for All Star Game, and Chair league meetings in absence of President.
3. Secretary: All League Correspondence, Maintain rosters, Assure Player eligibility – regular season and tournament. Will spot check rosters and player eligibility during the course of the season.
4. Treasurer: handle all league monies, pay bills, provide fiscal report at all meetings, collect all monies due to league (fees and fines).
IV. LEAGUE COMMITTEES
The various officers of the Executive Board shall chair the league’s committees. There shall be several standing committees. They are: Rules Committee, All Star Committee.
A. Rules Committee – All changes in local playing rules or any local playing rule that is to supersede an ASA rule shall be reviewed by the Rules Committee. The President shall chair the committee and it should consist of a minimum of two other members of the Executive Board.
B. All Star Committee – The All Star Committee shall be chaired by the Vice-President. The Vice-President may recruit any individuals he/she deems necessary to the smooth functioning of the All Star game. This committee shall determine the method of selection of players to the All Star squads. Each team will have three representatives for the All Star game. The Executive Board shall select the pitchers for the game, which will be three pitchers from each division. The game will consist of 9 innings and will be played during the middle of the season (June).
V. TEAM MANAGERS
A. The manager shall be the representative of the team for all Full Board activities. The
team may appoint some one other than the manager as the Full Board representative if it should desire. However, this is not recommended on a permanent basis. Each manager shall be responsible for the following:
1. League Duties
a. Shall provide team members with all Church League rule and policy information.
b. Shall provide the League Secretary with the official copy of the team roster prior to the beginning of league play.
c. Shall be the only individual able to make additions to the team roster. The manager shall inform the League Secretary, in writing, of any roster changes.
d. Shall monitor his/her team member’s eligibility to participate under league rules.
e. Shall be held accountable for his team’s conduct within the context of league activities.
f. Shall provide the All Star Committee with any information requested by the specified dates.
g. Shall be present at all league meetings or arrange for a substitute representative for the team.
2. Game Duties
a. Shall exchange line-ups with the opposing manager or representative a minimum of five (5) minutes prior to the game time.
b. Shall provide the opposing manager or representative with any line up changes made during the course of the game.
c. Shall be the only member of a team to discuss any questions with the umpire. If a manager is not present the umpire will select another team member to step in as the designated manger. Other players may risk ejection if arguing with the umpire.
d. Shall, when the team is designated as the home teams: (1) be responsible for positioning the bases, and (2) provide new game ball.
- Shall, when the team is designated as the visitors, provide one good used ball.
g. Shall report to the designated board member with results of the game.
3. All Star Duties
a. The managers of the respective teams winning the preceding year’s division titles shall be designated as Manager for their conference’s All Star Team. If the winning manager is no longer the active manager of his team, the second place manager shall assume the duties of All Star Manager and so on through the conference until a previously active manager is found.
4. The failure of a manager to complete his duties can result in disciplinary action by the Executive Board. First Offense – Warning; Second Offense – $25 Fine; Third Offense – $50 fine and One Game Suspension.
VI. PLAYER ELIGIBILITY
A. Only players listed on a team’s roster may legally participate in any league contest. Rosters shall be completed and an official copy provided to the League Secretary prior to the first game of the league season. Players added to the roster during the course of the season shall not be eligible until the notification, in writing, to the League Secretary, of the roster change(s). Roster additions shall be made only on the form provided by the league.
B. Use of an ineligible player is grounds for the game to be forfeited, even though the use of the ineligible player may not be discovered until after the completion of the game.
C. Use of Professional or Semi-Pro Players
1. Recognizing that the League may encounter an instance in the future where “ringers” are brought into a team, we the Executive Board reserve the right to deny players entry into the League when a player is deemed to be a professional or semi professional player and does not show a record of attending the church for whom he is playing. Some of (but not all) of the qualifications include participating in a higher-level leagues or being ranked as a player in the State. The spirit of the rule is to ensure that teams are not artificially inflating their teams and turning the Church league into just another public league. This rule will apply to any new players on rosters for the 2007 season. All past or present rostered players will be grandfathered into this rule; it therefore will be necessary to prove a player’s past roster spot on a previous team within the Church league if asked for by the Executive Board.
D. Church Attendance
1. All participants in the League are to be regular participants in the Liturgical Services of their church, church activities wherein the Bible is taught, or a team devotional, which would be before or after the game. Regular attendance is defined as participating in one of the three events listed above at least half of the regular season games the player has played. Therefore if a player plays in eighteen (18) games, the player must attend nine (9) events. The spirit of the rule is to both bring unbelievers to Christ and strengthen the faith and camaraderie of the believers on the team. Enforcement therefore should be left to the manager of each team, with both the burden and responsibility and conscience left to all believing members of each team. However, should the Executive Board determine that the letter of the rule is or has been violated, the punishment will be a loss of all wins accomplished using an ineligible player(s).
2. a. If a church has a team(s), attendees of that church are eligible to play for that team(s) only.
b. Individual players who were rostered, during the 2006 season, for a church other than their own church, may continue to play for that church. If the individual leaves that church’s team(s), he/she is only eligible for his/her church’s team(s).
c. Should an individual not have a church participating in the league, he/she is eligible to play on any church’s team.
3. Developmental pitchers will be determined by a ¾ majority of the Full Board. The Executive Board at the end of each season will determine who is eligible to be voted upon.
D. Post Season Eligibility
1. Every participant in the Post Season Tournament shall have played in a minimum of a quarter of regular league contests. If the season is 20 games long the player must participate in 5 games. If the season consists of an odd number of total games, round up.
2. Post Season Pitchers
a. Post Season pitchers are held to a higher requirement than position players due to their effect on the game. Therefore they must either play or be present at half of the regular season games. This prevents the “stacking” of team pitching. If the season is 20 games long, the pitcher must bepresent at 10. If the season consists of an odd number of games, round down. Rainouts will count toward the total.
b. Requirements of an individual added as a pitcher.
1. Must have played in or attended at least 1/2 of regular season play.
2. Present a scorebook that will accurately show statistics to verify participation in required number of games. If the pitcher did not pitch, his name is to be added to the last spot in the game from the scorebookif he is not already listed and the book MUST be signed by the opposing manager, certifying that the player attended the game.
VII. SPORTSMANSHIP TROPHY
There shall be a traveling trophy presented to the team that exhibits the highest degree of sportsmanship during the regular league season. The selection committee shall consist of those umpires who have worked in six (6) or more games. The team receiving the highest number of votes is to be the recipient of the trophy. In the event of a tie, the President will cast the tie-breaking vote. This trophy will be presented to the league by a Board member at Large, chosen by the Executive Board. Each season the Vice-President will have the winning team’s church name engraved on the trophy, until the trophy is full. The team that has been awarded the trophy the most seasons will retire the trophy. In the event of a tie, a lottery drawing will be held to determine the team to retire the trophy. Another contributor, or the current contributor, bearing his/her name, should then present a new trophy to the league. Rock Sandy donated the current trophy.
VIII. SCHEDULING
The President may prepare the season schedule so that each division plays weekend games; this would entail a Saturday/Sunday schedule and a Saturday only schedule to accommodate those teams who do not wish to play on Sunday. The schedule must be prepared for the right number of teams in the league and with the correct number of teams in each division.
SYCAMORE/DEKALB CHURCH SOFTBALL LEAGUE LOCAL PLAYING RULES
A.ASA rules will prevail unless specifically superceded by these local rules.
B.A pitcher may leap, backwards rock or lift his/her foot from the rubber. As of 2007, the Australian hop is legal in this league as nearly every organization (ISC, NFA) allow it.
C.Outfield fences shall be placed at 285 feet from home plate unless control of said field is not under League control. Bases will be set at 60 feet apart unless it is not possible, which in that case they will be set no farther than 65 feet apart.
D.Metal spikes shall not be worn by any participant. A player with metal spikes will not be allowed to continue to play until the metal spikes are removed.
E.Every effort shall be made to avoid contact between a base-runner and a fielder. In the event of a play on a runner at any base, including home plate, a runner may not run into a fielder attempting to make a play. A good, clean slide is acceptable. The intent of this rule is to avoid injury. If, in the plate umpire’s judgment, a deliberate attempt to run through or crash into a fielder without an attempt at sliding, the runner shall be declared out and, if malicious, may be grounds for ejection. NOTE: The catcher, without the ball in his possession, has no right to block the pathway of the runner attempting to score. The base line belongs to the runner and the catcher should be there only when he is fielding a ball (this is an umpire judgment call) or when he already has the ball in hand. To simplify, in almost all cases if the ball beats you to the spot or has a chance to beat you to the spot, either a slide or VERY evasive action should occur. Base coaches and teammates should be aware of this rule and be paying attention to instruct you if there is a potential close play at the plate. Managers, please take not of this and instruct your team accordingly, as we are choosing to err on the side of extreme caution.