GSAC SOFTBALL POLICIES (Approved by GSAC Administrative Committee on )

Transcription

1 GSAC SOFTBALL POLICIES (Approved by GSAC Administrative Committee on ) I. SCHEDULING POLICIES A. All conference schools will play a home and home doubleheader schedule with each conference opponent, which will be maintained two years ahead of schedule. B. Conference opponents must be kept in the same order but allow flexibility in changing dates as long as the sequence is followed and it does not give an unfair competitive advantage to any GSAC team. A date change, outside of sequence, must be approved in advance by the GSAC Executive Committee. Any schedule change must also be approved by both Athletics Directors and the GSAC Commissioner. C. An originally scheduled first round doubleheader must be completed before the originally scheduled first date of the second round. ( ). D. Doubleheaders start at 1:30 prior to daylight saving time and 2:00 after daylight savings time. On Saturdays, doubleheaders should begin at 12:00 pm. ( ) E. There is an NAIA maximum of 28 playing dates. 1. Tournament days regardless of the number of games played equals one playing date. 2. Doubleheaders are considered one playing date. 3. Teams are allowed two scrimmage dates over the 28 playing dates. 4. Teams are allowed more than two scrimmages as long as the total dates played do not exceed 30, counting all scrimmages. 5. Any exhibition contest would count against the 28 playing dates. Only one exhibition contest is allowed. 6. GSAC adheres to NAIA 24-week rule. F. Rain-Out Guidelines ( ) The coaches involved in a rainout and reschedule must follow the criteria in order beginning with: 1. The two coaches involved come to an agreement no later than midnight the next school day. If they cannot agree, the respective athletics directors will make the decision. 2. The rescheduling must follow the GSAC policy of utilizing the first available date for a doubleheader (if needed). In most cases, this would be Monday. 3. Conference schedule changes necessitated by rain must be reported immediately to the GSAC Commissioner. 4. The decision to not travel to an out-of-market road contest shall be made by 8:00 am on the day prior to the contest. If there is a 60% chance of rain, the coaches should discuss options. ( ) II. GUIDELINES FOR PLAY A. The GSAC/NAIA follows the ASA & NCAA rules and regulations. B. No conference institution will disclose any information about another conference institution to any non - conference opponent.

2 II. GUIDELINES FOR PLAY (continued) C. The official NAIA Worth/Rawlings softball will be the ball used for all GSAC games. The conference office will negotiate a contract for the purchase of balls. D. The coaches need to have the approved bat list available at all contests. It is encouraged to post these lists visibly for umpires, so they do not have to track coaches down in order to clear the bats for competition. E. Line-ups are to be presented prior to the start of competition. F. A completed game will be called if one team is ahead by 8 runs after 5 innings. G. International tie-breaker will be used in conference play starting with the eighth inning. International tie breaker will not be used in post season play. (1/9/2008) H. Darkness Policy (1/9/2008) 1. Games suspended due to darkness shall be follow the halted game rule and continued at the next scheduled playing date for the two schools or at the next available date. 2. All darkness-delayed games will be made up starting with the same line-up that was in effect when the game needed. Any alteration in this line-up must be in accordance with ASA regulation and approval from the umpire. 3. Any score or inning played prior to darkness must be documented by the host institution. Play will continue from that point. 4. Both schools of the tie game shall be responsible for the paying of the additional umpire fees when the game is resumed. ( ) III. HOST SCHOOL DUTIES A. It is the duty of the host school to provide a safe, competitive environment, regulation softballs, water and an athletic trainer. B. Provide a visual scoreboard and scorekeepers. C. Designate a warm-up area of the field for the visiting team. IV. STATISTICS AND REPORTING A. Game stats will be sent to the Conference SID after each game. B. GSAC game stats are to be posted on the school's website immediately after each game. C. Player of the Week will be announced by the GSAC Sports Information Director. Voting will be conducted by a committee of the league s sports information directors. 2

3 V. OFFICIALS A. There will be 2-person official crews at all GSAC games. B. Schedules are sent to the Supervisor of Softball Officials for officials' assignments by September 1 each year. C. The Supervisor of Softball Officials will: 1. Assign all game officials. 2. Provide evaluation of officials. 3. Prepare preferred list of officials. 4. Handle any disputes, which involve officials. 5. Gather input from coaches on officials. 6. Acquaint officials with any NAIA or conference rules. 7. Provide for the officials' evaluation of coaches' conduct. 8. Provide uniformity of assignment - trust, consistency, conference control. VI. PRE-GAME PROTOCOL A. The starting lineups should be exchanged 20 minutes prior to start of the game. A meeting between the coaches and the umpires should take place during lineup exchange and field stipulations should be reviewed. B. The prayer and National Anthem shall be performed after player introductions. C. Warm-up prior to competition allows for the visiting team to take 8-10 minutes infield practice followed by an 8-10 minute infield for the home team. An equal amount of batting cage time should be made available for each team for those schools that have batting cages. Fields should be open two hours before game time. D. Pregame protocol should be sent by the coaches to the visiting teams one week in advance. Protocols should also be posted in both dugouts. (6-3-15) E. A minimum of 20 minutes and a maximum of 30 minutes should be allowed between doubleheader games. VII. CONFERENCE STANDINGS / PLAYOFF PLANS / TIEBREAKERS A. Six GSAC teams will participate in the GSAC Tournament in a double elimination bracket. B. Athletics Directors need to be available for helping with the management of the conference tournament. Game supervisors will be selected prior to the tournament each year. C. Playoff ticket prices will be determined by the GSAC Executive Committee. D. There shall be no restrictions on the GSAC Tournament dates. ( ) E. Seeding - The GSAC teams will be seeded based on their final GSAC regular season standings. The tiebreak policy will involve the use of three criteria in descending order. 3

4 VII. CONFERENCE STANDINGS / PLAYOFF PLANS / TIEBREAKERS (continued) 1. The first criterion is head-to-head competition between the teams involved. 2. The second criterion involves head-to-head competition versus the rest of the GSAC in order of finish beginning with the first place finisher(s). Note that if more than one tie occurs in the conference final standings, ties will be broken in descending order. 3. If teams are still tied after the first two criteria, then a coaches' vote will decide the seeding of the tied teams.(1/9/2008) F. There are no complimentary tickets to be issued for any GSAC postseason tournament game. There is a 23- pass limit for GSAC Conference Softball Tournament. These passes include the 20 student-athletes and support personnel. G. NAIA Tournament Berths The GSAC policy for deciding the recipients of one automatic berth in the NAIA National Softball tournaments is the tournament champion. The GSAC policy for deciding the recipients of two automatic berths in the NAIA National Tournaments is as follows: 1. The tournament champion gets NAIA automatic berth #1. 2. The regular season champion gets NAIA berth #2 unless it is the tournament champion, then the regular season runner-up gets berth #2 if not combined with another conference. If conference schools combine with another conference for the tournament and the tournament champion is the same as the GSAC regular season champion, the tournament runner-up will receive berth #2. VIII. AWARDS A. The Conference coaches shall select recipients for the All-Conference first team, as well as the Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year and Coach of the Year. B. Coaches shall not vote for themselves or for their own student-athletes for any of the awards except for Player of the Year or Pitcher of the Year. C. Student-athletes named to an All-Conference first team shall be awarded a certificate from the Conference. Plaques shall be awarded to individuals named Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year and Coach of the Year. D. All-Conference Team Selections (Adopted ) The following process shall be used in selecting the All-Conference team: 1. Coaches may nominate an unlimited number of players for Conference awards. 2. The Conference Office shall distribute to the coaches a voting ballot containing all nominations two Mondays prior to the end of the regular season. 3. The coaches shall meet on a mandatory ( ) telephone conference call on the Monday prior to the end of the regular season to discuss their respective nominations. 4. The voting ballot shall be ed to the Conference Office by no later than noon PST the Monday following the end of the regular season. Players are ranked with highest points being awarded to the player that should be Player of the Year. The final ranking should reflect the order in which the conference submits the All-America nominations. 4

5 VIII. AWARDS (continued) 5. The Player of the Year shall be selected by write-in vote. 6. By 2:00 pm PST, the Monday following the regular season, the Chair and the Commissioner shall review the final tally of votes. 7. The All-Conference team shall be released by 5:00 pm on the Monday following the regular season. E. In the sport of softball, position requirements dictate the All-GSAC team and the recommendations for All- America. The following positions shall be awarded including a conference Player of the Year: 5 Infielders 4 Outfielders 2 Catchers 3 Pitchers 1 Designated Player 1 Utility 4 At-Large The Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year shall come from the student-athletes above. E. All-Conference awards will be given to a maximum of twenty-five percent (25%) of the number of starters for that sport times the number of conference teams in that sport. If the GSAC All-Conference number does not meet the NAIA minimum number of student-athletes to be recommended for All-America consideration, the GSAC will raise its minimum to meet the NAIA limit. The NAIA limit in softball is 18. (Adopted ) IX. CONFERENCE MEETINGS A. All Conference Meeting - GSAC Coaches will meet, via mandatory conference call, on the Monday prior to the last day of the regular season to discuss the All-GSAC team. B. Annual Coaches Meeting GSAC Coaches will meet at the conference tournament or in the fall for their annual business meeting. X. SPORT CHAIR & PROTEST COMMITTEE A. The chair is appointed for a two-year term. B. Protest Committee for GSAC Tournament A rotation alphabetically of three teams (coaches) will compile the protest committee annually. If one or more coaches on the protest committee are involved personally with the protest, then the Softball Chair will appoint the coaches next in order to substitute on the committee. (1/9/2008). XI. RATINGS Ratings will be frozen at the end of the regular season for the purpose of NAIA selection. 5