S.A.A 2013 T-Ball League Rules

Transcription

1 S.A.A 2013 T-Ball League Rules Commissioner Tas Valas (773) cell All normal baseball rules apply except for the following: Scorebooks will not be provided, scores will not be kept, and no references will be made to winners or losers. Everyone will receive a trophy and a Sponsor s T-shirt at the end of the year. Therefore everyone is a winner! Players: Each team will consist of players, with 9 players maximum on the field at a time. If a manager does not have enough players to field a team, he can play without a catcher and then begin pulling from the outfield positions. The opposing players should step in to play open positions. Rescheduled games are at a premium and games should be forfeited as a very last resort. All players must wear a protective cup Coats are allowed on a cold day. (Common sense should prevail) Tee-Ball does not have to cancel games if the Schaumburg Park District deems the field unplayable. Move the games into the grass outfields and play on! Very Important: Please inform your parents that only the 2 scheduled managers can cancel a game or the commissioner. Both managers must agree that the field is unplayable. Then it is the responsibility of the managers to contact their parents. All players will bat equal amounts and field equal amounts. Every player must play every position at least 3 times before the season ends. All players, managers, coaches and parents will behave in a proper manner. Sportsmanship is the only priority! The manager is responsible for all disturbances pertaining to his team. If a problem occurs, the manager is to notify the commissioner before a major incident occurs. A player will not sit out consecutive innings unless he is injured or ill. Try to set up a lineup before game time. The manager is not obligated to rotate a player in an established lineup if that player shows up after the game has started.

2 Fields: The distance between the bases is 50 feet. The home gets the filed first. The visiting team gets the field for the last 15 minutes before the game.(ie: 5:45-6:00 is for the visiting team) The home team is responsible for setting up the bases and tee before game time and cleaning up the field and putting away equipment after a game. The home team is the second team on the schedule (ie: 1 vs. 3 3 is the home team). Games: Games are designed to be 6 innings long but no longer than 90 minutes. Some games however may be shortened due to darkness. Starting times must be prompt. Weekday start times are 6:00 PM and Saturdays as scheduled. Saturday schedules are in 2 hour windows, No new inning shall start on or after 1 hr and 15 minutes from scheduled start time. You start loosing kids if the game gets too long and other teams have the field prior to their start time. Be respectful to your parents and other teams and finish within 90 minutes! Don t forget the treats! Up to 3 coaches/parents are allowed on the field with the team on defense helping the players with their positions etc. At the end of each game, players should lineup and shake hands and congratulate each other. This again is promoting sportsmanship and is your responsibility to instill in these kids. Batting: All players will wear league approved batting helmets. Only approved Tee-Ball bats may be used. Approved means that the words Tee-Ball appear on the bat. The Manager/Coach will pitch to their players. The batter will get 3 coach-pitched pitches to put the ball into play. Throw it over hand as apposed to underhand. After 3 pitches, the ball should be placed on the tee. If the last pitch was tipped, you can throw ONE more pitch.. PLEASE do not start throwing 5 or 6 pitches to each batter The game gets too long and you will loose the kids FOUR

3 pitches is MAX No negotiations, no exceptions.. There s nothing wrong with hitting off the tee. The ball will be placed on the tee by the coach. The defense should be told to get ready, the batter should concentrate on the ball and the pitcher should complete his delivery motion. Do not tell the batter to watch the pitcher s delivery as he/she should concentrate on their swing. A player should be warned only once about bat throwing the bat after hitting the ball. The second time, the player will be automatically out and told why. It is the responsibility of the manager/coach that these kids understand bat throwing is dangerous. They should be taught this prior to any games starting. There are no strikeouts or walks. The batter will remain at the tee until contact is made. After the ball is hit, the coach will remove the tee from home plate. A runner is not allowed to advance to another base if the ball is in the possession of any fielder. It is safe to assume most all hits in tee ball will be singles. The inning ends when three outs occur or 8 batters have come to the plate. Players will be rewarded if they achieve 3 outs! That is a big deal in Tee-Ball! The team batting will supply at least one coach near the backstop to position his batter and to collect the balls that get away from the catcher. This should help keep the game moving along. Put the catcher in a position to try and catch the ball. Do not let him retrieve and throw back each ball. Coaches, Dads & Catcher will retrieve balls after batter moves on. Baserunning: Base runners must wear helmets at all times. Leadoffs and stealing are not allowed. No infield fly rule. Runners cannot advance on overthrows of any kind. Sliding is not allowed. The 8 th batter rule was terminated in 2007.

4 Defense: The pitcher will wear a protective pitcher s or batting helmet at all times. Infielders can make an unassisted put out if they field the ball very close(8-10 ) to the base. We do not want to encourage unassisted outs unless it s very obvious. Outfielders must play positions that resemble outfielders. They cannot stand in the infield or go into the infield at any time. A ball hit to the outfielders is an automatic single and any one on base will advance one base. The OUTFIELDER can not make an unassisted put out. The catcher must wear a mask, a shin guards. Most kids will be afraid of the ball and may be positioned back towards the back stop and catch the balls on a bounce. Catchers must be ready. Have one parent be in charge of getting the catcher ready. Let them know who will be catching every inning by having a line up done in advance. If they are not ready, other teams should not wait to start pitching. They can join when they re ready Only coaches out on the field when your team is on defense, usually 2 is enough. Best place to have them is one behind the short stop and one behind 2 nd base. This allows each coach to help 3-4 players and you re out of the playing field You must have a line up done before game time. If you can get an erase board, you can have all innings on the board and have some parents/ coaches help you direct kids to their spot. I ve seen some mgrs keep an erase board clipped to the fence. If you do this, you may want to only show one inning at a time so you have fewer questions from the kids and the parents. We only have the kid s attention for a short time and it s important to keep them moving. Keeping organized and getting some help is the key. You must rotate your players through out the game. I can send you a SS that will help you rotate your players from game one to game 14. Makes it very easy for you. All kids play ALL positions at this level Even if they can t catch they will still be required to play first base. Get more help from you parents. You need at least 3 or 4 coaches/parents helping. One should be in charge of the batting

5 order. One should be in charge of your catcher. You need one at each base while you are pitching. And one behind the plate to gather the missed balls and to work the tee. If you can t get dads, ask the moms. Parents will help if you ask them. They re there, use them. Keep them out on the field with your team to keep the kids ready and alert Conduct: The commissioner will act against anyone that shows conduct that is deemed detrimental to the S.A.A. We are dealing with 5 and 6 year old children and not reliving our youth. We are role models for these kids and our priority is to create memories that they will have forever. Managers should be first to the field before a game and practice. Managers must take care of the equipment. Make sure the equipment box is locked! All managers must find a sponsor for their team. All managers must have a parent meeting. Smoking and drinking alcohol is not allowed on the fields. Even the smell of alcohol is grounds for dismissal of the manager. Clear out of the dugout when the game is over. Please get the kids out of the dugout when the game is over. Move them to the grass where you can give your speech and hand out a game ball. Don t forget the treats! We have three goals in Tee-Ball: Safety, Fun and Instruction. As you can see fun is ahead of instruction. My only interest is that everyone of these kids wants to return to our Baseball program next year because they had a great season meeting some new friends and learned a little about the game of baseball along the way.

6 The S.A.A. is only as good as their volunteers. On behalf of the S.A.A., thank you very much for volunteering your time and talents for the youth in our community. They thank you as well!