Practice Scheduling Policy Full Policy Contents Policy Statement Reason for Policy Policy Procedures Additional Contacts Additional Contacts Definitions Responsibilities Appendices FAQ Related Information Effective: April 2009 Last Updated: April 2009 Responsible Officer: Kenny Loveless, GMBL President Policy Owner: Kevin Streets, GMBL Vice President Policy Contact: GMBL Board Appointed Policy Statement Field availability has become more and more limited as our league continues to grow. Given this, the GMBL Board of Directors found the need to develop policy and procedures around the scheduling of fields and batting cages. In addition to the scheduling of league assigned practices, GMBL also saw the need to allow for the scheduling of additional, make-up, or swapping of practices by the managers and coaches. Special Situations The GMBL Director of Fields and Grounds may close the fields / cages for weather, field conditions, or maintenance. When the Director closes a Field, he / she will immediately contact the webmaster or his / her designee of the field / cage closure so that the webmaster (or designee), may close field(s) / cage(s) on the website. The webmaster will close the field using the website in such a way that automatic updates are sent to participants of the automated website notification system. Exclusions GMBL Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth Tournament teams will have field priority on Sundays from 12:00 pm 10:00pm. GMBL Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth Tournament teams scheduling scrimmages with outside teams may schedule fields for longer periods of time. At times, fields are closed for a portion of the day; in this case, the webmaster will only place a message on the GMBL homepage of the field closing. A manager s or coach s home or private property is not subject to this policy. Open areas / common areas are not subject to this policy.
Reason for Policy Manage the E.G. Smith athletic fields (also known as GMBL Complex) and any other field assigned to GMBL by the City of Manassas outside of the GMBL complex in a manner to assure equitable distribution and maximum use of facilities by the teams within the GMBL organization. Policy Games and practices scheduled by GMBL supersede any game, practice, or tryout scheduled by individual coaches. A valid, GMBL issued, Field use permit must be in the possession of each team s manager or coach. GMBL will apply for and distribute these permits to all GMBL sanctioned teams. o Practices scheduled off of the GMBL complex (i.e. Round Elementary) must not violate days and times for which the permit is issued. All fields close at 8:30 pm, 10:00 pm for Tournament teams. Batting cages will not be scheduled by the League Scheduler. GMBL sponsored Tournament teams cannot just show up and expect to have exclusive use of the fields. These teams are required to schedule field time on the GMBL website at least 25 hours in advance or lose their priority status for that day. All pre-season practices will be scheduled by the League Scheduler prior to opening day. Pre-season practices will be scheduled to allow at least one practice session per night on ALL fields. League Scheduler will determine start times at the beginning of each season. The League Scheduler will ensure all teams have an even number of scheduled practices on the GMBL complex and on fields where the team will play games. The League Scheduler will submit the practice schedule to the Board of Directors for review approval, and posing to the website before the first draft. No additional practice times on the fields other than those scheduled will be available prior to the first game of the season. Scheduling a field for practice does not entitle a team to a batting cage, ONLY the field. Scheduling a batting cage does not entitle a team to a field, ONLY the cage. Scheduling a batting cage or field for practice requires that at least one-half (1/2) of the teams rostered players attend. If less than one-half (1/2) of a team s
rostered players show up for a practice, the reservation shall be considered void, and the field or cage must be forfeited. Teams may reserve fields on Sundays for a total of 90 minutes per team. Batting cages may only be reserved for a total of 60 minutes per week. o Any batting cage not scheduled or in use may be used until such time a team arrives which has the batting cage scheduled OR others which to utilize the field. o In cases which two teams arrive and both do not have the batting cage scheduled, the batting cage is to be shared and a 15 pitch per player limit honored or the batting cage is to be vacated by both teams. Teams are not permitted to schedule a field for more than 120 minutes per week. A manager, coach, or assistant for any team (to include league officials, may not schedule a team for more than field scheduled at a time. For example, On 4/30/09, the Sandgnats have scheduled a practice on 5/1/09. They may not schedule another practice until AFTER 5/1/09. A team may only schedule a practice field every eight days. A team may only schedule a batting cage every eight days. Teams may schedule a batting cage and a practice field in advance BUT may not have more than one of each scheduled in advance. When games are scheduled, batting cages will be reserved for the teams scheduled to play for a period of sixty minutes prior to the game. Teams must use the cage closest to their field (i.e. field 4 would use the cage between field 4 and 6). In the case of cage closure by GMBL s Director of Fields and Grounds, teams must share the cages available with a maximum of 15 pitches (not hits) per batter. To schedule a practice or batting cage, review the Master Field Schedule on the League website for a day and time meeting your need procedure below. Given our limited resources (fields and good weather), it is critically important to notify your commissioner of all scheduled practice cancellations. The League Scheduler must, on a weekly basis, reviewed scheduled practices and remove practices which do not comply with this policy. Amendment or changes to this policy require a unanimous vote of the Executive Board OR a majority vote of the full Board of Directors. This vote must be published within 24 hours and communicated to all league members via the website. Notice of the vote must remain on the website for 30 days. Any amendment or change to this policy must be documented and posted within 48 hours of the approved change or the change shall be considered void.
Procedures ADDING A PRACTICE You begin scheduling by adding events. To do this, click the "New Event" choice on the Admin menu. This will bring up the Event Information form where you can enter the following information: Date: Enter the date of the event using the form "mm/dd/yyyy" or "mm-dd-yyyy." Note: This field will default to the date that was last entered using this form. Start: Enter the start time of the event using the form "hh:mm." If the time is in the morning, this is all that's needed. If it's in the afternoon, you need to add a "p" to the end or use 24-hour time instead. Note: This field will default to the start time that was last entered on this form. Finish: Enter the time the event is over using the same form as above, that is, "hh:mm." Again, If the time is in the morning, this is all that's needed. If it's in the afternoon, you need to add a "p" to the end or use 24- hour time instead. Season: Select the appropriate season from the drop-down list. This will populate the "Team" and "Opponent" drop-downs with only teams from the selected season. Team: Select the name of the home team for the event from the drop-down list of association teams that have already been defined. Also note that you should NOT select league names from the list. These are designated with an asterisk at the beginning of their names. They are here only to distinguish the various teams defined for your organization. CANCELLNG A PRACTICE The weekly master schedule shows all the events for a given week. The date range is displayed at the top and bottom of the page with links to the left and right for moving to the previous and next week s respectively. There are also links at the top and bottom for creating new games and for creating a printable version of the page without borders. The body of the page lists all the events broken down by day and location. Each event has an Edit button to its left and a Delete button on its right side. If you click the Edit button,
the Event Information form will be displayed with the event's information ready for you to edit. You can use the Delete button to remove an event from the schedule after being asked if you really want to do this. Additional Contacts Contact Name Phone Email T-Ball Rookie 7 Rookie 8 Minor A Minor AA Majors Babe Ruth Field and Grounds Director Mary Clarke 703 361-2242 baseballmary@verizon.net Joe Daley 703-330-2976 JDaley@JERichards.com Kevin Streets 703-244-8800 tazbear24@aol.com Rick Bill 703.365.8277 Rick.Bill@me.com Erik Kershaw 703-369-6155 kershawe@comcast.net Robert Bell 703 898-2779 draftright@verizon.net Kevin Jennings 703-380-4656 k9draco@comcast.net Ray Walker 703 368-1613 conniewalker@erols.com Webmaster Wendy Jennings 703 380-4531 wjennings@comcast.net Definitions 1. Batting cage 1 Located on the first base side of field 1 Assigned to Field 1 and Field 2 2. Batting cage 2 - Under construction 3. Batting cage 3 - Under construction 4. Batting cage 4 Under construction 5. Batting cage 5 Located on the third base side of field 5 Assigned to Field 5 6. Batting cage 6 Located behind home plate of field 6, right field of field 4 Assigned to field 6, field 4, and field 3 7. Batting cage 7 - Under construction
8. Batting cage 8 - Under construction 9. Batting cage 9 - Under construction 10. Field 1 Primary use for Minor AA 11. Field 2 Primary use for Minor A 12. Field 3 Primary use for Rookie 8 13. Field 4 Primary use for Rookie 7 14. Field 5 Primary use for Majors 15. Field 6 Primary use for Prep, Babe Ruth, and Sr. Babe Ruth 16. Field 7 Blastball Primary use for T-Ball and Majors 17. Field 8 Primary use for T- Ball and Blastball Responsibilities Responsibility Board of Directors Ensure the Policy is updated whenever a contact is changed. Review the document yearly for changes. Ensure all complaints are addresses at the next regularly scheduled Board meeting. Ensure the Code of Conduct penalties are applied consistently and fairly when addressing violations of this policy. Maintain a list of all violations and actions taken with regards to violations and penalties assessed due to violations of this policy. Approve practice schedule submitted by the master scheduler. Notify all parties involved that the Board of Directors has received a complaint and the time / date they should be present to address the Board. Communicate this policy to all Managers, Coaches, and s. Responsibility League Scheduler Ensure all pre-season practices are scheduled without prejudice and are approved by the full GMBL Board of Directors prior to the first draft. Ensure all regular season practices are scheduled without prejudice and are approved by the full GMBL Board of Directors prior to the first draft. Add master schedule to the GMBL website prior to the first draft in a format the website accepts. Responsibility Managers and Coaches In a timely manner, cancel, on the league website, any practice you will not be able to hold. In a timely manner, schedule all practices on the league website.
At least 25 hours in advance, schedule a new practice, which does not conflict with games, other practices, this policy, or the Code of Conduct. Practice good sportsmanship, when possible share the fields or batting cages with other teams. Report, in writing, any violations of this policy to your division. Reporting manager or coach must include the following information when reporting a violation: o Reporting Coach or Manager s name o Reporting Coach or Manager s division (i.e. Majors) o Offending Coach or Manager s name (if known) o Offending Coach or Manager s division (if known) o Offending Coach or Manager s team o Field or cage number o Time and date of incident o Number of players present o Number of adults present o Description of incident Responsibility Webmaster Appoint a designee(s) the Director of Fields and grounds may contact when he / she closes a field or cage. Ensure the designee(s) know how to close a field on the website so that all scheduled practices are automatically canceled and a message sent to all scheduled teams. Responsibility Director of Fields and Grounds Upon closing a field, notify the webmaster or designee ASAP so that a message can go out to all teams scheduled. Responsibility Division Ensure teams within his / her assigned division only adhere to the policy. Investigate all complaints without prejudice. Report, in writing, all violations found, or reported and the results of your fact gathering, to the GMBL Board of Directors. Appendices None Frequently Asked Questions 1. None at this time Related Information None