TRIANGLE CATHOLIC SCHOOL ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

TRIANGLE CATHOLIC SCHOOL ATHLETIC CONFERENCE 2015-16 BYLAWS Items in red were proposed January 24 th, 2015 and accepted by the commissioners and principals June 24 th, 2015 Items in green were added by commissioners and principals June 24 th, 2015 Article One: Name The name of the association is the Triangle Catholic School Athletic Conference Article Two: Purpose Section 1: To organize and direct conference play in the TCSAC that is sponsored by the member schools. Section 2: To promote and uphold policies which encourage good sportsmanship, fair play, and Christian fellowship by athletes, coaches, and parents. Article Three: Membership Section 1: Membership in the Triangle Catholic Middle School Athletic League will include the following schools: Cathedral School, The Franciscan School, Immaculata School, Our Lady of Lourdes School, St. Catherine of Siena, St Mary Magdalene School, St Michael School, St. Raphael School, and St Thomas More School. Section 2: As new Catholic middle schools are added in this geographic area, inclusion in this league will be granted after the Superintendent of Catholic Schools receives notification of intent to join in writing. Section 3: This league is intended to serve middle school students in grades 6, 7, and 8. Section 4: This league is intended to serve middle school students in grades 6, 7, and 8 at their home school. If a school cannot field a team due to insufficient numbers of students for the team, then that school may join with another school in the same situation (insufficient number of home school students to field a team) to form one joint team. Section 5: This league is intended to serve middle school students in grades 6, 7, and 8 at their home school. Infrequently, a student s home school will choose not to sponsor a conference sport and the student still wants to play. A student from one school may play on another school s team, i.e. be a guest student on a team, providing the following conditions are met: a. the guest student s home school does not sponsor a team in that sport; b. the sponsoring team has open spots on the roster; c. the open spots on the sponsoring team s roster cannot be filled by the sponsoring team s own students; d. a player from the host school can't be cut to accommodate a guest player

e. the guest student has permission from his or her principal; f. the guest student has permission from the sponsoring principal; g. the two principals talk directly to each other and make the agreement, i.e. this will be a principal to principal agreement; h. the parent and/or student do not initiate the contact or make contact on his or her own. Article Four: Eligibility Section 1: No student may be eligible to participate on a Catholic school team for a period lasting longer than 6 consecutive academic semesters beginning with the students first entry into the 6 th grade. A student who repeats 8 th grade is not eligible to participate in any sports, regardless of when or where he was enrolled. Section 2: A parent may appeal Section 1 to the principal. The appeal must be in writing clearing stating the reasons for the appeal. The principal will forward the appeal to the Eligibility Review Board for consideration. The board will be made up of three principals (principal at large [TBD annually by the commissioner(s), commissioner, and commissioner elect). If an appeal is from one of the board members' school; the principal at Blessed Sacrament will replace that board member at the appeal hearing. Section 3: Any school that violates Section 1 of Article 4 will result in the forfeiture of all games in which that athlete participated in. Section 4: Each individual school, through internal policy, will handle the following issues: a). academic and behavioral issues b). student fees for participation c). school attendance on game days d). athletic awards Section 5: 8th grade students can't be a member of the JV basketball team. 5th grade students may participate in JV basketball if there isn't enough players from grades 6 and 7. No players from grades 6 or 7 can be cut from the JV team to accommodate a 5th grade player. Section 6: If a school does not have enough players to field a team; fifth graders may be added with the permission of the principal. Article Five: Game Misconduct Section 1: If a player or coach receives a technical foul in basketball, yellow or red card in soccer, or is asked to leave a game; the follow penalties will be enforced: BASKETBALL If a player or coach receives 2 technicals in a game or 2 technicals in a season; the player/coach suspended for the next league game. SOCCER If a player or coach receives 2 yellow cards in 1 game or 2 yellow cards in a season; the player or coach is suspended for the next league game. If a player or coach receives a red card; the player/coach is suspended for the next league game.

Any additional violations will be dealt with internally (principal. AD, and/or coach). VOLLEYBALL OR BASEBALL If a player/coach is ejected from a game for arguing with an official; that player/coach is suspended for the next league game. Any additional violations will be dealt with internally (principal. AD, and/or coach). Article Six: Organization Section 1: It is the responsibility of the Triangle area principals and their appointed athletic directors from each school to ensure that the league adheres to the mission of Catholic Schools. Section 2: The school principals will make all final decisions concerning the school athletic league. School principals will receive suggestions and input from the athletic directors. Decisions will always be based on the Diocesan policy and the philosophy expressed by our Diocese and each member school. This conference will sponsor the following sports: Fall.girls volleyball boys soccer boys and girls cross-country Winter girls and boys varsity and JV basketball Spring.girls soccer boys baseball Section 3: The principals shall do everything possible to field a league sponsored sport prior to approving a club team. Try-outs for league sports shall be held prior to a club team s try-out. Tryouts for fall sports will be on Monday, August 17, 2015. Tryouts for winter sports will be on Monday, November 9, 2015 (No league basketball games shall be scheduled before the Monday following Thanksgiving). Tryouts for spring sports will be on the Monday following the Shamrock Tournament (Monday, February 22, 2016) Note: Practice may begin following the completion of tryouts. Section 4: Club Sports A club sport is permitted on the varsity level only (no JV teams). A club sport is defined as a sport that is sponsored by a school but is not an approved sport within the TCSAC league. For example, lacrosse, golf, or softball. The club sport is subject to rules, policies, and procedures as defined by the principal. Members of a club team must be enrolled at the sponsoring school. Section 5: All league games begin with a prayer. Teams pray together. The home coach/player should lead an appropriate prayer. Section 6: TCSAC will abide by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association rules of play for all sports. These are the rules that are followed by middle schools throughout the state. Upon consensus at the Annual Principal s Meeting in June, a particular rule may be modified with a majority of the vote

in favor to make the change. Each school shall have one vote. The TCSAC will not abide by the facility requirements set forth by the North Carolina High School Association Section 7: Other sports may be added at a later date. Any sports added to league are bound by the membership rules listed in item Section One above. The process for adding additional sports is as follows: Step 1: the sport started at the club level Step 2: a proposal is made to the principals to add a new sport to the league Step 3: the principals vote at the June meeting to add the new sport to the conference. A majority of 6 out 9 schools must vote yes to add the sport to the conference Section 8: The Athletic Committee shall be composed of one representative from each member school. This shall be the Principal or the Principal s designate. Section 9: There shall be two regular meeting of the Athletic Committee each year. The meetings will be held in January and June. The purpose of the meetings will be to review existing guidelines and league issues (January) and establish new policies and guidelines (June). Section 9: Representatives of simple majority of the schools shall constitute quorum. A quorum is defined by 6 schools. Each school shall have one vote. Section 10: The commissioner will be elected by the principals to serve on an annual basis. The commissioner must be a principal from one of the sponsoring league members. At the June meeting, the principals will vote to renew the commissioner for another year or elect a new commissioner. Section 11: There will be no admission charged for conference and/or league sponsored tournaments games. Section 12: A conference game is defined as any game between member schools. Article Seven: Scheduling Section 1: The commissioner shall call meetings for the following purpose(s): 1. purpose of scheduling games 2. discuss league issues and concerns 3. three meetings will be held each year (August, November, and February). These meetings will be held prior to the start of the each sport season. Also, he/she is responsible for keeping minutes of all scheduling meetings. The commissioner will provide these minutes to the superintendent s office and the principals Section 2: Scheduling Rules 1. Schools can play no more than 5 games beyond the regular league schedule (league plus 5). 2. League tournaments and the Shamrock Tournament are not included in this rule. 3. No regular season games or practice will be played on Sundays.

4. Every attempt must be made to limit games for each school to two per week. Each member school must send a schedule for the season to each participating school prior to the first game of each season. 5. Negotiating with referee agencies. 6. No regular season games or practice will be played on Sundays. 7. Schools can t practice or play games when school is not in session. This includes all school Holidays and weather cancellations. However, due to conflicts with school facilities, schools may practice on Saturdays if the minimum of two practices per week is not met. 8. Schools may schedule practice or a game on scheduled teacher workdays as long as the game is not played before 4:00 pm. Section 3: Member schools shall schedule two games per team, per season with all member schools. Section 4: A twenty-four hour notice shall be given before the cancellation or rescheduling of a league game. Sudden changes in weather conditions are noted as an exception to the twenty-four hour rule. Section 5: Since programs provided by this league are school sponsored events, authority for additions, changes, and resolutions of conflict remains with the principals of the participating schools and the superintendent of the Catholic Schools for the diocese. Therefore, all league meetings are open to any or all sponsoring principals and the superintendent. Article Eight: Penalty of Violation of League Policy Section 1: Any member school who violates any of the by-laws, league policies and/or tournament rules will forfeit the game in which it was played or when notified of the violation a game will be forfeited. Article Nine: League Alignment Section 1: Each school will play teams in their division twice while playing teams in the other division only once for a total of 11-12 games. Each school may schedule up to 5 non-league games for a total of 16 regular season games. Schools may schedule games with teams in the other division but, the two schools must designate at the beginning of the season which of the two games is a league game. Western Division St. Mary Magdalene St. Thomas More Immaculata St. Michael Eastern Division Cathedral St. Raphael Our Lady of Lourdes The Franciscan School St. Catherine of Sienna (basketball and cross country) Article Ten: Tournament Rules and Seeding of Teams All championship games will be played at CGHS following the completion of the regular season unless there is a conflict. Fall: Volleyball Soccer

Winter: Spring: Girls Basketball Boys Basketball Baseball Soccer Lacrosse Semi-final games will be played on Tuesday of the championship week. Western 1 vs. Eastern 2 Eastern 1 vs. Western 2 1. #1 ranked team in each division will host the semi-final games. 2. If two teams have identical records and they split their two regular season games, the following steps will occur to determine the higher seed. 3. The team with the best overall record in their division will be ranked first. a. If the two teams are tied after (a), then overall league record will determine the top seed. b. If there is still a tie after overall league records are considered, the AD s and principals of both teams can a) unanimously agree to a play-in game (they must have full agreement on date, location and time), or b) if they can t agree, or if they prefer, a coin flip may be used. The coin flip will be done by the commissioner. Tournament Schedule TARGET DATES, BUT TO BE CONFIRMED WITH GIBBONS AND WEATHER: Fall: Week of October 26 Play-in game (if necessary) TBD between participating school AD s Semi-finals on Wednesday, October 28 Championship Game: Friday, October 30 or 31 at CGHS (5:30 soccer and 7:00 volleyball) Winter: Week of February 8 Play-in game (if necessary) TBD between participating school AD s Semi-finals on Tuesday or Thursday of that week due to Ash Wednesdays Championship Game: Friday, February 12 at CGHS (5:30: girls) and (7:00: boys) Spring: Week of May 9 Play-in game (if necessary) TBD between participating school AD s Semi-finals on Wednesday, May 11 Championship Game: Friday, May 13 baseball (5:30), soccer (5:30), and lacrosse (7:30) TCSAC League Rules by Sport The following rules have been adopted by the Triangle Catholic School Athletic Conference that differs from the NC High School Athletic Association. Soccer:

1. Two 5 minute overtimes (not sudden death). 2. During the regular season, games can end in a tie. 3. For playoffs, two 5 minute overtimes and then penalty kicks (5 per team). If darkness is an issue, the two 5 minute overtime periods will be wavered. Teams will go directly to penalty kicks. 4. Final standings for soccer will be determined by a point system (1 point for a tie and 2 points for a win ). Volleyball 1. If a player serves 5 points in a row, they will stop serving and pass the ball to the next server on their team that just scored. 2. All four games will be played to 25. Basketball: Varsity 1. 7 minute quarters 2. 3 minute overtime period until a winner is declared. 3. No pressing of any type by the team leading while the score exceeds 20 points. 4. All starters must be removed from the game by the team leading by 20 or more points. 5. 3 full and 2-30 second timeouts per game. 6. 1 full timeout per overtime period Basketball Junior Varsity 1. Two-12 minute halves. 2. No full court pressing. The defensive team can press at half-court but can't go into the backcourt to press an offensive player. 3. No pressing of any type except for the final two minutes of each half. 4. 3 full and 2-30 second timeouts per game. 5. 1 full timeout per overtime period Baseball 1. Minus 3 bats 2. No metal spikes 3. Game ends if a team is ahead by 10 runs after 5 innings. 4. Game ends if a team is ahead by 20 runs after 3 innings. 5. A player can be substituted in and out of the game as many times as the coach wants as long as the player stays in the same batting order. 6. A pitchers may re-enter the game as a pitcher. For example, if a pitcher pitches the first two innings of a game; he may return to pitch later in the game. 7. If a baseball game is called by the umpire due to darkness. The winner will be determined based on the score of the last full inning that was completed.