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CGSA Bylaws, Organization, and Rules 1.0 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 1.1 The Board of Directors of the Association shall consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and necessary Directors and Commissioners. The Board Members shall be nominated and elected by a majority of the Board Members who are present and voting at the General Meeting called for the election of officers. There are two definitions and methods of achieving a quorum. Half or more of the total elected board members at a meeting is a quorum. An alternative quorum is five board members, one of which must be the President or Vice President, at a meeting in which all of the board members were notified of the meeting within the previous 48 hours. 1.2 The Board of Directors shall formulate CGSA policy, promote the Association and carry out or provide for the carrying out of all necessary business for the operation of CGSA. 1.3 The Board reserves the right to dismiss any volunteer or player and to reject membership of anyone to the Association if they are deemed a danger to others or a liability to the Association. 1.4 CGSA Board has the right to change or reverse any rules or by-laws for the betterment of the league. 2.0 DUTIES OF OFFICERS 2.1 PRESIDENT The President shall be the Chairman of the Board of Directors. As Chief Administrator, he/she shall approve the selection and appointment of Managers, Coaches, Umpires, and Committees. He/She shall assign duties to all Officers and Board Members as required. He/She shall work in coordination with the City of Colleyville regarding fields and maintenance. The President must maintain the rainout telephone message or delegate this duty to another board member. The President is empowered to take prudent and reasonable action in cases not covered by these BY-LAWS. The President shall review the financial records as reported by the Treasurer. These financial reviews will occur quarterly. 2.2 VICE PRESIDENT The Vice President shall preside in the absence of the President. In conjunction with the President, the Vice President shall perform any necessary tasks not expressly defined for other board members as required to maintain operation of the Association. The Vice President shall review the financial records as reported by the Treasurer. These financial reviews will occur quarterly. 2.3 SECRETARY The Secretary shall maintain a record of Association activities and meetings. He/She shall be responsible to notify the Board of Directors of regular or special Association meetings. 2.4 TREASURER He/She shall establish and maintain a CGSA checking account, pay all receivables in a timely manner and maintain CGSA’s financial records. He/She shall submit a financial report at regular board meetings. He/She will be in charge of insurance coverage. 2.5 Director - PUBLICITY He/She will be in charge of all publicity for CGSA including, but not limited to, advertising, promotions, and newspaper articles. He/She shall be responsible for soliciting sponsorships and fundraisers. 2.6 Director - EQUIPMENT He/She shall be responsible for purchasing (with board approval), distributing, collecting and maintaining all equipment necessary for carrying out all CGSA activities. He/She will maintain a complete, accurate, up-to-date inventory of equipment. He/She will make every effort to obtain the best possible value per dollar for equipment. He/She will present all bills and receipts in a timely manner to the Treasurer. 2.7 Director - SCHEDULING He/She shall schedule all games during the season. He/She will have the power to re-schedule games in a timely manner and to work with the Umpires and the City of Colleyville to ensure field assignments are made by age group for all CGSA home games. He/She will be responsible for coordinating all scheduling changes with the city officials, the Web Master, Umpire representative, necessary board members, and other Associations. Schedule changes may be required due to rainouts, make-up games, forfeitures, and cancellations. The Director of Scheduling will allow a game to be rescheduled one time in coordination with both head coaches of the two teams. Once a game has been rescheduled, it can not be rescheduled again. If a team can not be at a rescheduled game, that team must forfeit. 2.8 Director - WEB MASTER He/She shall maintain the Association's web pages. He/She will post rules, team standings, and other information as requested by the board. He/She will work with the Director of Scheduling to post schedule changes in a timely manner. 2.9 Director - ROSTER He/She shall be responsible for setting up on-line registration at least 30 days prior to that season’s coaches meeting, coordinating with the Webmaster to have it posted on the league website, and finalizing all CGSA team rosters. He/She shall ensure that players compete in the proper age brackets and maintain the CGSA league database. 2.10 Nominating Committee The President will appoint two or more board members as a nominating committee to select future board members. This committee shall present only those candidates who have consented to serve if elected. Additional nominations may be made from the floor at the time of the election by any board member. The election shall take place at a general meeting of CGSA no later than January 1 of the next playing year. 3.0 BACKGROUND CHECKS Criminal background checks will be performed on volunteers (this includes board members, coaches, team managers, head coaches, and assistant coaches). Volunteers will be required to resign immediately upon discovery of an arrest or conviction of a crime related to children or other serious crime that would create a concern for the Association and the safety of its members. These include but are not limited to: (1) Providing alcoholic beverages to minors. (2) Sexual offenses, including but not limited to child pornography (3) Employing a child to commit a crime (4) Endangering the welfare of a child (5) Selling firearms or other weapons to minors (6) Luring a child into a motor vehicle (7) Lewdness and obscenity towards children Other causes for dismissal include: (8) Felony convictions for violent or sexual crimes (9) Other crimes considered by the Board to be a potential danger to children Volunteers have the right to appeal their dismissal to the Board of Directors. The Board reserves the right to reinstate volunteers by majority vote if there are extenuating circumstances. 4.0 LEAGUE MEMBERSHIP 4.1 Leagues will consist of teams made up of girls. All new players to the association must provide proof of age either during registration or at some time during the season. Birth certificates or baptismal certificates are examples of acceptable proof. 4.2 Any pre-draft registrant whose age allows her, and expresses the wish at registration either to: 1) return to her previous season’s team; 2) play for her parent, step-parent or guardian who is a coach or first assistant coach; 3) play with her sister or any other member of her household; shall be assigned to such team for the season with the head coach's approval. 4.3 A parent or guardian can request that their child play up to the next age group level subject to the approval of a CGSA board member and CGSA President and the coach. Parents or guardians can request that their child be placed on a team with a friend or classmate; however CGSA makes no guarantees or promises that this will occur. Players shall not be members of more than one recreational team in the Association during a season. 4.4 The leagues will include: A. 14 and under League: This league will be made up of girls who are 14 and under on or before January 1st of each playing year. B. 12 and under League: This league will be made up of girls who are 12 and under on or before January 1st of each playing year. C. 10 and under League: This league will be made up of girls who are 10 and under on or before January 1st of each playing year. D. 8 and under League: This league will be made up of girls who are 8 and under on or before January 1st of each playing year. E. 6 and under League: This league will be made up of girls who are 6 but no less than 4 years of age on or before January 1st of each playing year. 4.5 In no case shall an older girl be allowed to play in a lower age group without approval of the Board of Directors. 4.6 Select Player Classification: A player will not be eligible to participate in a CGSA game if that player is currently active on a Select Softball Class A or B team. 4.7 No CGSA team may have more than 5 players that have played on a Select Softball Class A, B, or C registered team during the current year. 5.0 PLAYER PLACEMENT 5.1 The Board of Directors has the final decision regarding which players are on which teams. 5.2 The Roster Director as selected by the President and the Vice President will assign some of the players to teams based on rules 4.2 and 4.3 before the draft, if a draft is deemed necessary. 5.3 The Roster Director will also have the right to assign players to teams as necessary to evenly distribute talent. 5.4 Team size will be limited to a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 12 players in 8U and 10U, a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 11 players in 12U and 14U except as directed by the board and Roster Director. 5.5 There are three categories of players: A. Protected or Returning players – Generally the daughters of the coach and assistant coach or players from a returning (from either the previous spring or fall season) or a complete team entering the league. B. Request – Consisting of all registrants who request to be placed on a particular team or play with particular friends. C. Open Draft Players – Consisting of all other registrants.
5.6 Player Placement Decision Tree A. The default for everyone is "OPEN DRAFT". If there is any question or concern about a girl being assigned to a team, that player will stay in the "OPEN DRAFT". B. Players who request to play on a team and played on the team last season automatically get in. C. Players who request to play on a team and played on the team the season before last or subsequent seasons are automatically in IF the team is not full already. D. Players who request to play on a team and have never played on that team are eligible to play on that team if the roster is not full and with the understanding that in 10U and older we spread any pitching talent out. There is no such thing as first come, first serve until normal registration closes. 5.7 Unless a draft is deemed necessary by the Roster Director or the Board, the Roster Director will “fill out” the rosters of the teams that are not full using the remaining Open Draft or Request players. 5.8 The Board and the Roster Director reserve the right to modify the selections after the draft to ensure team parity. This may include, but is not limited to, having a separate pitchers draft as determined by the board. 6.0 COACHES MEETING 6.1 Practice field time signup based on a random drawn order of choice will be completed at coaches meeting. 6.2 Uniform sizes, names and numbers, as well as team colors for players and coaches must be turned in to the designated board member who will be handling uniforms. 6.3 Equipment will be available from the equipment manager at the coaches meeting. Those not receiving equipment then will have to arrange picking up equipment from the storage area. Coaches will be held responsible for the return of all equipment at the end of the season. 6.4 Coaches are responsible for calling their players and informing team members and their parents the time and location of practices and games.
PLAYING RULES 7.0 The Association will abide by the current ASA rules for Fast Pitch Softball with the following exceptions. 8.0 CONDUCT 8.1 Coaches are also responsible for conduct of their teams, parents and guests. Players, coaches, parents, guests and game officials will conduct themselves in a sportsmanship manner at all times. Any violation will be subject to disciplinary action from the Board of Directors of the offender’s home association. Coaches are responsible for the behavior of the players, parents and spectators of their team. For further discussion see CGSA Code of Conduct. 8.2 Only positive chatter or chants. Chatter directed at the other team, coaches, umpires, or spectators will not be allowed on the field or in the dugout of either team. Coaches are responsible for the behavior of the players, parents and spectators of their team. Penalty for violation after one warning may be forfeiture of the game or ejection of coaches, players, parents or spectators from the playing fields. 9.0 UMPIRE’S DECISIONS 9.1 The Plate umpires decision shall be final, subject only to the protest provisions. 9.2 Protests will be handled at the time of protest by a meeting of umpires and coaches involved. If parties are unable to reach an agreement, after consulting the ASA rule book and CGSA rules, a protest must be indicated in the official score book and a written protest must be made to the President of the league in which the game was played for submission to the board of directors of CGSA. Only protests that cite the specific infractions from the ASA rule book or CGSA rules will be considered. A protest will not be allowed if these conditions are not met. Judgment calls are not subject to protests. If there is a conflict between member association by-laws and the ASA rulebook, member by-laws will prevail. 9.3 If the protest involves an ineligible player, and is upheld, the game will be forfeited. Ineligible can be by virtue of age. Otherwise, when protests are upheld, the scheduler will be advised and the game rescheduled and replayed from the point of protest before the end of the season. Every effort will be made to replay the game within two weeks of the board’s final decision. 9.4 Coaches should carry the current year ASA rule book and the CGSA rules to each game as a point of reference for protests. 10.0 ADMINISTRATIVE RULES - All Leagues 10.1 A completed Medical Release form must be with the Head Coach at ALL practices and games. 10.2 If a team fails to appear within 15 minutes after the official start time or within 15 minutes after the field is available for play, whichever is later a forfeiture will be declared. 10.3 One home plate umpire and one field umpire should be present for all 14U, 12U, and 10U games. One umpire will be present for all 8U games. 6U games will be played without an umpire. At least one umpire is required to start a game. If only one official umpire is present, and both the coaches and the umpire agree, the game may be played according to schedule. 10.4 The home team shall bat last and take the first base dugout. The home team scorekeeper will be the official scorekeeper for the game. 10.5 The Umpire will call the game for inclement weather or darkness. Umpire’s decisions are final. 10.6 All teams (6U-14U) are allowed four coaches per team. Only rostered players and designated coaches are allowed in the dugout during the game. 10.7 If a team cannot field nine players at the 12U and 14U level and ten players at the 8U and 10U level from their roster for a regular game, the coach may “bring up” a player or players from the league just below their league (i.e. a 12U coach may choose a player or players from the 10U league). 10.8 The following procedures must be observed to bring players up: A. The player must be on the roster of a CGSA team of a lower age bracket. B. The coach needing players must obtain permission from the player’s parents or coach. C. The player or players ‘brought up’, cannot under any circumstances be used as a pitcher or catcher unless due to extreme circumstances that must be approved by CGSA President or Vice-President. D. Only enough players can be brought up to bring the total number of players to nine for 12U and 14U and ten for 8U and 10U. E. Once a player is on the roster, she will be allowed to play the entire game. F. Once a game starts and a regular team member shows up the team can play with both the brought up player and the regular late arriving player or players. 10.9 No new inning will start after the time limit has expired. If the game is tied, each team will record the tie as a half win for their league’s standing. 10.10 All catchers and batters are required to wear protective helmets. In addition, catchers are required to wear throat protectors. All players must provide their own batting helmets with a chin strap. Face masks must be used for 8U and older girls but it is highly recommended to use helmets with face masks at the 6U level also. 10.11 Each manager is responsible to have their team on the playing field at the scheduled game time. For 10U and above, a game may be started with only eight players. Under this condition, the ninth batter is automatically out. If the additional players arrive during the game, they will be added to the next position at the bottom of the playing line-up, thus eliminating the automatic out. For 8U and 6U there is no penalty for having less than nine players and no minimum number of players to begin a game. However, 8U teams are encouraged to invite a 6U player to play up to obtain ten players. 10.12 Absent players who are merely late to the game whose turn at bat has come up must be stricken from their original position and added to the bottom of the batting order. Injuries or players who leave early will not count as outs unless you fall below nine players, and the players will move up the batting order. Note that the official scorekeeper and officials must be notified about absent players and late players arriving, otherwise batters are at risk of being called out for batting out of order. 10.13 A coach requesting the postponement of a game must contact the Association’s Scheduler at least seven days prior to the scheduled game. The Scheduler and President will determine if the game will be rescheduled. 10.14 A rained out game is defined as one in which the minimum number of innings and/or time have not been played as designated for each league. CGSA will attempt as soon as possible to reschedule rained out games. The Association’s Scheduler will be responsible for notifying the umpires and the City Parks Department. 10.15 Batting orders must be delivered to the opposing team scorekeeper prior to the start of each game. 10.16 No player shall sit out two innings in a row with the exception of injuries, illness or absence from the playing field. Each girl must play a minimum of one full inning in a three inning game and a minimum of two innings in a game of four to five innings. In a game of six innings or more, each girl needs to play three or more innings. A late arriving player must play approximately half of the remaining innings. Penalty for violation of this rule will be forfeiture by the violating team. The official scorekeeper shall be notified if any roster member is not going to play in the game. 10.17 Each girl shall have the option of wearing a softball cap, standard headband, visor, or no headgear, without exception. If the headgear is worn, however, it must be matching to uniform colors, with the exception of league furnished visors. All girls on a team are not required to wear the same style headgear. NO jewelry will be allowed. 10.18 Free substitution for all players, except the pitcher. Note: The starting pitcher can return to the game as a pitcher only one time during the game. A substitute pitcher may not return to the game as a pitcher. The starting pitcher and the substitute pitcher may return to the game in any other position. The pitcher returning may not be used as a delay tactic. 10.19 During practices, scrimmage games and league games, smoking and other tobacco related products will NOT be permitted on the playing field or in the dugout. NO alcoholic beverages will be allowed on the premises. Any official, coach, player, parent, or spectator of the Colleyville Girls Softball Association using profane language, acting in an unsportsmanlike manner, and/or under the influence of alcohol or illegal substances, will be subject to disciplinary action from the Association’s Board of Directors. 11.0 MISCELLANEOUS RULES - All Leagues 11.1 ASA Rule 3, Section 6.F: "Exposed jewelry, which is judged by the umpire to be dangerous, must be removed and may not be worn during the game." Band-aids over ear-rings apparently are not sufficient for umpires. 11.2 ASA Rule 7, Section 5.A: A ball is called by the umpire for each legally pitched ball which does not enter the strike zone, touches the ground before reaching home plate, or touches home plate, and the batter does not swing. The ball is in play. (Player pitch only.) 11.3 ASA Rule 8, Section 1.F: The batter becomes a batter-runner when a pitched ball not swung at nor called a strike touches any part of the batter's person or clothing. It does not matter if the ball strikes the ground before hitting the batter. (Player pitch only.) 11.4 ASA Rule 6, Section 3.K and ASA Rule 8, Section 1.A: A pitched ball that hits the ground before reaching the plate can legally be hit fair by the batter. However, coaches are not allowed to deliberately roll the ball to the batter. A pitched ball that hits the ground before reaching the plate is technically a "dropped third strike" if the batter swings and misses, even if the catcher catches the ball cleanly. 11.5 ASA Rule 8, Section 8.E: The runner is called out if anyone other than another runner physically assists the runner while the ball is in play. This has been interpreted by previous ASA rulings as meaning that a coach can not touch a runner during play such as to push, shove, capture, or hold a runner to impede a runner from progressing or prompt a runner to progress. However, it is legal for a coach to give players a "high-five" or other incidental touching. 11.6 For the safety of our catchers and umpires, upon the first instance of a thrown bat, a warning will be issued to the offending team. Subsequent offenses, at the discretion of the umpire, may result in the batter being called out. 11.7 Although girls are encouraged to do so, there is no mandatory slide requirement (neither per ASA nor these local rules) as long as the catcher does not have possession of the ball. If the catcher does have possession of the ball, the runner should slide. Any collision caused by a runner not sliding will result in the runner being called out - regardless if the catcher maintains control of the ball. 11.8 It is the head coach’s responsibility to meet with the umpire and other coach before each game to cover any questions or local rules that may apply. It is then the head coach’s responsibility to relay this information to his/her assistant coaches and his/her team before the game starts. 11.9 Each head coach MUST SIGN the “game verification” slip that the umpire has at the end of each game (both spring and fall seasons). If you play away from the Colleyville City Fields, you MUST report your results WITHIN 24 HOURS to the CGSA President (via email or voice mail). 12.0 CGSA LEAGUE RULES 12.6U.0 CGSA League Rules for 6U - Tee Ball 12.8U.0 CGSA League Rules for 8U - Coach Pitch 12.10U.0 CGSA League Rules for 10U - Modified Player Pitch |
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