A. Safety ALL DIVISIONS 1. Only equipment approved by Little League can be used during an official game. 2. Any player going onto the field on offense must wear a protective helmet and athletic supporter. 3. All player base coaches are required to wear the protective helmet. No exceptions! 4. While a team is at bat, no player is allowed out of the dugout except for the batter and the base coaches. 5. Pitchers are prohibited from throwing any curve balls. Upon the first infraction during a game the umpire will issue a warning to the pitcher. A subsequent curve ball will result in the pitcher being removed from the pitching mound for the remainder of the game, however, he/she can stay in the game at another position. In calling a curve ball the umpire calls no pitch. 6. All injuries requiring medical attention must be reported by the team manager to the Safety Director within five days of occurrence. 7. The Safety Director will immediately report the injury to the Major/Minor League Representative and the Player Agent. Players need a medical release to return to play. 8. An incident report for all player injuries must be filled out and provided to the appropriate League Director and presented to the League President. 9. Warwick Continental Little League has established an anti-bullying policy. This policy is in effect for all Divisions. Any Player or Parent of any player who feel they/their child is being bullied within the WCLL Complex should report their concern to their Team Manager. The Team Manager will then notify the League Safety Officer who will work with the League President and the League board to rectify the situation with those involved. 10. League Bullying Policy Statement is documented at the end of these by-laws. B. Pre-game 1. No batting practice will be allowed on the playing field before a game. 2. Before the start of the evening games, each team will be able to use the field for ten minutes for pre-game infield warm-up. The visiting team will take the playing field 25 minutes prior to game start and the home team will take the playing field 15 minutes prior to game time, leaving 5 minutes for umpire conference. All early games will start promptly at 5:30 with a 2 hour time limit (no inning will begin after 2 hours of game play) C. Coaches 1. All Manager and Coaches must consent to a BCI (background) check and fill out a volunteer form. 2. The total number of managers and coaches in the dugout will not exceed three (3) for Majors Division and no more than four (4) in any Minor League division. 3. If there is a fill-in coach, the Major or Minor league director must be notified before the game begins. This fill-in coach must have already been cleared allowing him/her to coach as well. 4. All managers and coaches must remain INSIDE the fenced enclosure of the dugout during play. 5. Only the Manager is allowed out of the dugout to appeal a play. 6. At no time will a practice be held without the presence of at least two (2) adults. Page 1 of 7 Revised October 2012
D. Game Play 1. Any player who is not in the starting lineup for one game will be in the starting lineup for the next game. 2. For ALL League games, no inning will start after two (2) hours of play has occurred. After 2 hours of play and the home team has completed their half of the inning (if needed) the game is considered complete. If a tie then the game remains a tie for standings purposes. 3. An adult coach must coach one of the bases, either 1 st or 3 rd. 4. ALL runners must slide into home plate provided there is a play at the plate. 5. No intentional walks will be allowed. 6. If a team is losing by 15 runs or more, and 4 (four) complete innings have been played, the losing team has the option to concede. E. Responsibilities 1. Following the completion of a game, each team will clean its dugout and the field, both inside and outside the fence, including under the bleachers, and remove all trash. 2. All complaints by Managers will be brought to the Minor or Major League Representative. 3. All parents are to return players uniforms to the team manager within three (3) days of the final game. The team manager is responsible for enforcing this rule. 4. All equipment and uniforms shall be cleaned and returned to the Equipment Manager by team managers within five (5) days of each team s final game of the season. 5. Each team is required to have parents volunteer for snack bar duty at least 1 week per season. 6. Food is not allowed in the dugouts with the exception of Sunflower seeds. Beverages are permitted in the dugout (i.e. water, juice, Gatorade, Powerade, etc.). 7. The HOME team is responsible for raking the field after each game. The VISITING team is responsible for lining the field and batters box prior to game start. F. Schedules 1. All make-up games will be scheduled on the next available time agreed upon date/time. 2. Scheduling issues will be brought to the Player Agent and/or President for review. G. Discipline 1. For all disciplinary issues, an incident report must be filled out by the team manager(s) and submitted to the President directly or submitted to the Major of Minor League Representative, who will present to the President. 2. Before a player is withheld or removed from a game for disciplinary reasons, the Major or Minor League Representative or Board Member on duty shall be notified. 3. Abuse of league equipment will not be tolerated. Any player seen by a manager or a board member abusing equipment will be warned for the first offense. A second offense will be punished by a one game suspension. Page 2 of 7 Revised October 2012
The Executive Board will deal with any further offenses, with punishment up to and including suspension for the remainder of the year. 4. The use of tobacco or alcoholic beverages is prohibited from the complex. 5. Misconduct of any sort by managers, coaches, parents, or others will not be tolerated for any reason. Managers will be held responsible for non-compliance. 6. Any other issue that arises that is not addressed specifically by these by-laws it will be the responsibility of the Executive Committee to determine reasonable action. Executive Board consists of the League President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Player Agent. A. Rosters MINOR LEAGUE DIVISION ONLY 1. Minor league player ages will be 8-12. However, 7-year olds may be used to fill any available roster slots. B. Schedules 1. No Minor League team will play games two days in a row unless scheduling difficulties dictate that they must. No Minor League team will play more than twice a week, except for make-up games. C. Safety 1. All minor league helmets must have protective face shields. D. Game Play 1. All players will play for at least three innings (9 outs) per game, unless removed for injury, illness, disciplinary reasons, or other justifiable cause. 2. Continuous Batting Order (CBO): All players on a team will be listed in the batting order and will bat in the order listed even if not playing defensively at the time. 3. 12 year-olds can not pitch in the Minor League division. If a 12-year-old is catching he/she is limited to 3 innings per game. 4. There will not be any penalty imposed for balks in the Minor League. The umpire will simply correct the pitcher. 5. Teams have the option to have two adult coaches on the bases, as long as another adult remains in the dugout. 6. Ten (10) run rule: There is no stealing home when the team at bat is leading by ten runs or more. If a player is called out while trying to steal home, the out stands. If a player is safe, he/she must return to third base. 7. Five (5) run rule: There will be no more than 5 runs scored per half inning by any team, except in the last inning(s) where there will be no limit. 8. Minor League games called because of darkness will be considered a complete game for standings purposes. E. AAA Minor League Playoffs 1. ALL AAA Minor League teams will make the playoffs each year. 2. Each team will be seeded based on their regular season record. 3. The playoff tree will be determined each year depending on the number of teams in the major league division. Page 3 of 7 Revised October 2012
a. The highest seed will be the home team throughout the playoffs. b. (If there is an odd number of teams) The first round will be single elimination and include the bottom 2 teams. c. The next round will be double elimination with the top seed playing the lowest seed and remaining seeds playing each other based on their seeding. d. Playoff tournament should be concluded prior to All Star selection day (June 15 th ) if possible. 4. The winner of the playoff tournament will represent Warwick Continental in the annual City Championship Tournament. F. AAA Minors Tournament Team Selection 1. Each AAA team manager will select up to 2-3 players (in each age group) from their team to be considered to represent WCLL in the annual 10-11 and 8-9 Sally Eddy Friendship Tournament 2. The Minor League Director along with Team manager (who will be selected by the Minor League director, nominated by the League President and approved by the WCLL Board) will determine the final team members. B. Rosters MAJOR LEAGUE DIVISION ONLY 1. Major league player ages are (9)*, 10, 11, and 12. *Only players who are 9 years old by April 30 th are eligible for Major league play. There may be a maximum of one (1) 9 year-old per team. 2. All 12 year old must play in the Major League division, unless they request to remain in the Minor League division. 3. Major League rosters must consist of 12 players per team. 4. Player Pick-up process: If a Major League team loses a player due to injury, voluntarily quits the team, discipline issue or any other reason the following player pick-up process must take place to fill that Major League teams roster from players within the AAA division: a. 11 year old players from AAA Division must be considered first: (1) Team manager will rank (in preferred order) any 11 year old player and approach that list of players and his/her parents to see if that player would like to move up to the Major League Division. If no 11 year old player is interested in moving up to the Majors the team manager must then go to 10 year old players in the AAA Division. Then finally to any 9 year old in the AAA Division. (Lists of player must be obtained from the League Player Agent). b. If no player is interested in moving up to the Majors Division then that Majors Division Team will remain with 11 players on their roster for the remainder of the season. c. If there are 2 weeks or less remaining in the major league season no player pickup will be allowed. C. Draft Process Majors Division 1. All Players between the ages of 10 and 12 years of age are eligible for the Major League Division Draft. Page 4 of 7 Revised October 2012
a. Exception: Players parent(s) must submit in writing rationale to the Board of Directors that their child should be exempted from the Majors Division draft due to a medical/physical limitation that will prohibit that child from playing or may cause physical harm to the safety of the child in the Majors Division. 2. All 12 year old players must be taken in the Majors draft. The population of 12 year old players to be drafted MUST be evenly distributed among the current number of major league teams. (ex. 5(five) 12 yr olds in draft and 5 majors teams will mean each team will get 1 (one), provided no team has more then 8 (eight) 12 year olds on their team. If prior to the draft, a team already has 8(eight) 12 year olds they will not be required to add another in the draft. 3. All 10 and 11 year old players eligible for the draft should be given strongest consideration for selection prior to any 9 year old selection being made during the draft. 4. No more than 1(one) 9 year-old per team is to be drafted. Teams may opt not to take any 9 year-old player. 5. Parents of 9 year-old players may request that their 9 year old son/daughter not be considered for major league draft. This can be done prior to or during the tryout process. This list will be kept by the Player Agent and made available for all Major league managers on the day of tryouts. 6. If a 9 year-old player has been declared ineligible for the Majors Draft then that player is not eligible to be called up to the Majors during that season for any reason. 7. Majors draft process is to be conducted based on team standings from the previous REGULAR SEASON standings based on inverse order. Last place team drafting first and first place team drafting last. 8. Players from team last year will remain with that team the following season. 9. The Draft will be conducted the same way for each round till all teams have 12 players. (sequential order not serpentine) 10. LL rules regarding supplemental drafts (for team reduction or addition will be followed if needed) 11. At no point in the draft or supplemental draft will a team be allowed to PASS on their selection. D. Game Play 1. All players will play for at least three consecutive innings (9 outs) per game, unless removed for injury, illness, disciplinary reasons, or other justifiable cause. 2. A player who started the game may re-enter the game at any point defensively for another player who has satisfied his 3 innings of play. 3. The batting order will consist of nine (9) players only. 4. No batting order re-entries are allowed until the 7th inning, except for injury. Re-entered players must remain in the game for three consecutive innings, if the game goes that far. 5. No inning will start after two (2) hours of play. Under no situation will a game proceed past 10:00PM. E. Playoffs 1. ALL Major League teams will make the playoffs each year. Page 5 of 7 Revised October 2012
2. Each team will be seeded based on their regular season record. 3. The playoff tree will be determined each year depending on the number of teams in the major league division. a. The highest seed will be the home team throughout the playoffs. b. (If there is an odd number of teams) The first round will be single elimination and include the bottom 2 teams. c. The next round will be double elimination with the top seed playing the lowest seed and remaining seeds playing each other based on their seeding. d. Playoff tournament should be concluded prior to All Star selection day (June 15 th ) if possible. 4. The winner of the playoff tournament will represent Warwick Continental in the annual City Championship Tournament. F. Tournament Teams (Not the be announced prior to June 15 th or based on Little League 2 week before games start rule) 1. The 12 year old All Star tournament team may be made up of 11 and 12 year old players. 2. In order for an 11 year old to be moved up to a 12 year old team the following must occur: a. Selection process for 11 year old addition to the 11-12 year old tournament team: (1) Major League managers must compile a list of their top 9 players in the Majors division either 11 or 12 year olds only (2) Any 11 year old being considered must appear on the majority of major league managers list of their top 12 players. (3) 11 year old must also be among the top 3 vote getters in their 11 year old all star ballot as voted by players and managers/coaches. (4) 12 year old team manager along with the Player Agent and League President will then determine if any 11 year old will play on the 12 year old team, provided the above criteria has been met. 3. The B Tournament team (Red Andrews Tournament) may be made up of 12 year old players ONLY unless there are no other 12 year old players available and/or willing to participate in the B tournament. a. Selection process for the B tournament team: (1) Each Major League manager will present two (2) 12 year olds for the team (provided the team has 2 and they are willing to participate) to the President. Additional players, if needed, will be taken from the remaining 12 year old population. 4. At Tournament selection time (no earlier than June 15 th ) each Major League manager will submit a player to the League President for consideration for the year end awards. a. Two (2) awards are up for manager selection: The Louis M. D Abrosca Memorial Award for outstanding team leadership and athletic ability and the Alfred Carpionato Award for the player that best personifies determination, respect, good attitude, sportsmanship, hustle and the ability to get along with others. b. The Andrew Gauthier Award or President s Award is determined exclusively by the League President. 5. Any Team Manager wanting to coach any divisions (Majors or Minors) Tournament Team must submit, in writing, a request to manage that tournament team to the League President prior to June 1 st each year. Page 6 of 7 Revised October 2012
a. The President will present nominations he/she deems appropriate to the Board for approval or a vote at the Board meeting in June (prior to June 15 th ) each year. 6. Tournament teams include but are not limited to: 9-10 yr old Majors All Star team; 10-11 yr old Majors All Star Team; 11-12 yr old Majors All Star team; Red Andrews 12 yr old (Majors) tournament team; 10-11 yr old Sally Eddy (Minors) tournament team and the 9-10 yr old Sally Eddy (Minors) tournament team. WCLL Anti-bullying Policy WCLL respects the need that children have right to be safe and happy while participating in our Little League Baseball district. A. Bullying will not be accepted or condoned. All forms of bullying will be addressed in order by: the team manager, League Safety Officer, Player Agent, League President, WCLL Board of Directors, WCLL Executive Board of Directors. If the Team Manager can not correct the situation it will progress through the additional league officials as noted through the WCLL Executive Board if required. B. Bullying can include: a. Physical pushing, kicking, hitting, pinching etc. b. Name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, persistent teasing and emotional torment through ridicule, humiliation, and the continual ignoring of individuals c. Racial taunts, graffiti, gestures d. Sexual comments, and/or suggestions e. Unwanted physical contact f. Children from ethnic minorities, disabled children, young people who are gay or lesbian, or those with learning difficulties are more vulnerable to this form of abuse and may well be targeted. g. Appropriate staff and volunteers should have access to training on antibullying h. Where a child is found to be exhibiting sexually harmful bahviour to another child, it is important to involve the relevant League Officials as soon as possible. i. Where a child s bullying behavior is of a particularly violent or aggressive nature and the establishment is unable to address the behaviour through behaviour management strategies or disciplinary measures within a reasonable time, it is worth considering instigating child protection procedures. C. Any incident will be recorded by the League Safety Officer and appropriate action will be taken to ensure the safety of all the participants in the Warwick Continental Little League Baseball Organization by the Warwick Continental Board of Directors. Page 7 of 7 Revised October 2012