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1. GENERAL A. Any girl who is less than nineteen (19) years of age prior to August 1st of the year in which she participates is eligible to play in the Fairfax County Girls Softball League. B. All officers and members of the Fairfax County Girls Softball League are eligible to coach teams therein. C. A team shall become a competing member of the Fairfax County Girls Softball League upon compliance with each of the below-listed conditions and upon the approval of its application by the Executive Board. The conditions for team membership are as follows: (1) Team personnel and sponsors must agree to be governed by the By-Laws and Rules of the Fairfax County Girls Softball League. (2) Teams and all team personnel must be eligible to compete in conformance with current ASA rules and regulations, and as amended by the Fairfax County Girls Softball League. (3) Teams must be ASA registered (the Fairfax County Girls Softball League will pay the ASA registration fees). (4) Teams may be required to furnish proof of accident or liability insurance. (5) The registration fee has been submitted and received as required. The Executive Board may waive this fee at its discretion. D. If eligible in all aspects according to current ASA rules, players will automatically acquire nonvoting membership in the Fairfax County Girls Softball League when their names are included on a team roster which has been submitted and accepted in accordance with the By-Laws and rules of the Fairfax County Girls Softball League. E. Any team and/or applicant who furnishes false or misleading information to the Fairfax County Girls Softball League may be removed from the league by the Executive Board. The decision of the Executive Board may be appealed to the Board of Directors. The league may retain any fees that were paid to the Fairfax County Girls Softball League. F. The Fairfax County Girls Softball League Executive Board reserves the right to make any decisions involving safety, general welfare, or overall league operations (protests, forfeitures, etc.) in carrying out its responsibilities for the well-being of the league. A. Teams may carry a maximum of twenty (20) players on their Fairfax County Girls Softball League roster. Players may be added to or deleted from the roster until the final roster deadline listed below (ASA rosters are a separate case, and must conform to ASA rules). If a team plans to enter any ASA sanctioned tournaments, they must have both rosters and the rosters need not contain the same players. B. A final team roster must be received by the Registrar by the day of the first scheduled game. All games will be forfeited until the roster has been received. The Fairfax County Girls Softball League President thereafter must approve any roster changes. A player may participate on only one single Fairfax County Girls Softball League team per season. C. Team league rosters must be comprised of at least two-thirds Fairfax County or Fairfax City residents, unless otherwise approved by the Fairfax County Recreation Department. D. No team(s) playing in the 18-under, 16-under, or 14-under Divisions may carry any players who are twelve years old or younger on their team rosters without the written permission of the Fairfax County Girls Softball League Executive Board. Any team wishing to carry such a player must notify the Board in writing of such desire, explaining the circumstances around the request, and must provide a detailed description of said player's playing experience, along with any other pertinent information. All requests must be submitted and approved before a team submits its final roster. Any team carrying such a player without the permission of the Executive Board will forfeit all games played up to the point said illegal player was discovered, and may be permanently barred from the league. E. No 12-under team may play in the 18-under, 16-under, or 14-under A Divisions. A 12-under team may play in the 18-under, 16-under, or 14-under B Divisions with the written approval of the Fairfax County Girls Softball League Executive Board. Any request to the Board must be submitted in writing and must explain the circumstances of the request to play up. The request must also include a complete roster of players, including their dates of birth. A. Managers or coaches may protest games for misinterpretation of rules, failure to apply the correct rule to a given situation, or failure to impose the correct penalty for a given violation. Unresolved questions involving player eligibility or unapproved equipment are acceptable protest subjects. All protests must be made in accordance with current ASA rules. B. Protests must be made prior to the next pitch. Every effort should be made to resolve the problem prior to filing an official protest. In any event, the game must proceed to completion. C. All protests must be filed in writing with the Fairfax County Girls Softball League President within forty-eight (48) hours after the game concerned, accompanied by a $25.00 protest fee. A protest committee consisting of three non-biased members appointed by the President will render their decision on the protest as quickly as possible, but in no case shall the decision take longer than five days after it has been received by the President. D. The decision of the protest committee shall be final. The protest fee will be returned to the party filing the protest should the decision be in favor of the protesting team. If the protest is not upheld, the fee will revert to the Fairfax County Girls Softball League treasury. A. For Fairfax County Girls Softball League play (NOT ASA SANCTIONED TOURNAMENTS), the minimum uniform for all players will be shirts alike in color, trim, and style. All shirts must have a number on the back, with the number being of contrasting color and being at least six inches high. NO UNIFORMS WILL CONTAIN THE SAME NUMBER FOR ANY TWO OR MORE PLAYERS. B. Baseball-type hats and/or headbands are allowed, and they should conform to the team's uniform colors. Hats and/or headbands are optional, may be mixed, and may be worn as desired by the player. C. The catcher must wear a catcher's helmet in accordance with appropriate ASA rules, a mask with a throat protector, a chest protector, and shin guards. D. Protective headgear covering both ears and temples must be worn by the batter, on-deck batter, and all base runners. The umpire will call out any base runner that intentionally removes her batting helmet while the ball is in play (live ball). E. The wearing of metal spikes, football cleats, or regular street shoes by a player is not permitted. A. Prior to the start of a game, the home team shall provide the umpire with one new game ball, and the visiting team shall provide the umpire with a good used ball, acceptable to the umpire. Only softballs approved by ASA for fast pitch play may be used. B. The winning team must phone the game results to the Division Commissioner of their respective division within 24 hours. C. If nine players are not available, a team may start or continue to play a game with at least eight players. If the ninth player arrives after the beginning of the game, that player will bat in the ninth position in the batting order. D. The first team listed on the game schedule shall be the home team, and will normally occupy the third base dugout/bench. E. A maximum of three players (pitcher, catcher, and one other) may, at the discretion of the umpire, be allowed inside a fenced field after dark when the field lights are on, for the purpose of warming up the pitcher, while a game is in progress. Said players must be in the outfield, in foul territory down either the right or left field lines, and pose minimal obstruction to the game in progress. This rule will apply at all fields where there is inadequate room or lighting outside the fenced playing area to adequately and safely warm up a pitcher. F. In an effort to speed up the game, teams may, if they wish, use a courtesy runner for the catcher when the catcher is on base and there are two outs. The courtesy runner will be the player who made the second out in the inning. G. In all divisions, teams may participate under modified substitution rules, which will be referred to as Unlimited Substitution (US) rules. In the 10-under Division, all teams must participate under Unlimited Substitution rules. Prior to the start of each game, each team must declare if they will be playing under ASA or US rules. Once the game begins, this election cannot be changed. If a team elects to play under US rules, the following modifications to standard ASA rules will apply: (1) On offense, all players present will be placed in the batting order, and will bat in turn. Players who arrive after the start of the game will be added at the bottom of the batting order in the order in which they arrive. (2) Players who are removed from the game due to injury or having to leave the game site will be skipped over in the batting order with no penalty each time their turn at bat comes up. However, any player who is removed from a game becomes ineligible and cannot reenter that game, unless her team is participating with less than nine players. In this situation, any ineligible player on the bench (other than an ejected player) may return to the game as a replacement. Such player shall be selected by the opposing manager/coach. (3) If a player is injured while on base and has to be removed from the game, the injured player will become ineligible, and the team on offense will be able to employ a substitute runner for the injured player. The substitute runner will be the player on the injured player's team who was called out most recently in the game. (4) On defense, players may be substituted freely when the ball is not in play. No player on defense is required to play any minimum number of innings, and it will not be necessary to notify the opposing team or umpires of any defensive substitutions. A. League games will start as scheduled, and any team not ready to play within fifteen minutes after the scheduled starting time will forfeit the game, providing the opposing team has at least eight players present. B. Unless otherwise noted, starting times for all B Division and 10-under Division weekday games will be 6:30 P.M. The second game of a scheduled doubleheader in these divisions will begin 15 minutes after the end of the first game. The time limit for each game in the B Division shall be two hours and ten minutes (2:10). No new inning shall be started after the game has been in progress for one hour and forty minutes (1:40). The time limit for each game in the 10-under Division shall be one hour and forty-five minutes (1:45). No new inning shall be started after the game has been in progress for one hour and thirty minutes (1:30). The starting times for all A Division weekday games will be listed on the appropriate division schedule(s). The time limit for each game in the A Division shall be one hour and forty-five minutes (1:45). No new inning shall be started after the game has been in progress for one hour and twenty-five minutes (1:25). The home plate umpire will enforce the time limit on games. If the time limit is reached while a player is at bat, the player will be allowed to finish her turn at bat and then the game will be declared completed. Under no will a game continue beyond 11:00 P.M. on any field used by the Fairfax County Girls Softball League. C. A game may be started prior to the scheduled game time, provided both managers and the umpire(s) agree. The game time limit will be calculated from the actual starting time. D. Should the time limit expire, the winner will be the team that was ahead at the end of the last completed inning, unless it is the bottom of an inning and the home team is ahead when time expires. In this case, the home team will be the winner. E. A game shall be called by the umpire and shall be a regulation game if one team leads their opponent by ten or more runs after five or more complete innings, or after the second team at bat has taken a lead of ten or more runs in their half of the fifth or later innings. F. After one specific warning to the head coach, a forfeited game may be declared by the umpire in favor of the team not at fault if a team employs tactics NOTICEABLY designed to delay or to hasten the game. G. In the 18-under, 16-under, 14-under, and 12-under B Divisions, there will be a seven run limit per inning for the first four innings of the game, if the seven runs are scored before three outs have been made on the team at bat. There will be no limitation on the number of runs that may be scored in innings five through seven of the game. In the 10-under Division, there will be a five run limit per inning for the first four innings of the game. There will be no limitation on the number of runs that may be scored in innings five and six of the game. All time limitations noted in Rule 6B above will still apply. H. In the 10-under Division, a game will be limited to six (6) innings. The game will be considered regulation when four (4) full innings have been played, or when the time limit has expired. I. In the 10-under Division, the stealing of any base (including home plate) is permitted, but only one base may be stolen at a time. Continuation past first base by the batter-baserunner on a base-on-balls is also permitted. A. No game will be postponed or rescheduled, other than for weather or unplayable field conditions. B. The Fairfax County Park Authority will determine if a County Park field is playable, and may direct postponement of a game if the field is not considered to be safe or playable. A. If an injury should occur to a player after all players' substitution and reentry eligibilities have been used, any player on the bench (other than ejected players) may return to the game as a replacement for the injured player. Such player shall be selected by the opposing manager/coach. A. A forfeited game shall be declared by the umpire in favor of the team not at fault if a team fails to appear on the field, with at least seven players ready to play, within fifteen minutes after the scheduled game time. In the case of a scheduled doubleheader in the B and 10-under Divisions where the first game is forfeited by either team because a team has less than seven players present, the scheduled game time for the second game will be 90 minutes later than the scheduled game time for the first game of the doubleheader. B. If neither team is able to field the required minimum number of players to start a scheduled game, each team shall be credited with a loss. C. If a team fails to appear for a regularly scheduled game under the impression that the playing field is not playable, and the umpire declares that the field is playable, a forfeit game will be awarded to the team that does appear, provided that the team which is present is able to field at least eight players. D. If a team plays an ineligible player, all games in which that player has participated will be forfeited. If a team continues to play a player after having been advised by the league President that such player is ineligible, the team shall be dropped from the league. If a parent/guardian or player falsifies records, the case will be presented to the Executive Board for a decision. E. A team accumulating two consecutive or three cumulative forfeits in accordance with Rule 9A above may be suspended from the league for the remainder of the season, at the discretion of the Executive Board. The suspension may be appealed to the Board of Directors. A. Each team shall provide a scorekeeper who shall maintain a score book throughout each game. B. The HOME team scorekeeper and score book shall be the official record of the game. C. The HOME team shall be responsible for obtaining the umpire's signatures(s) in the official score book at the conclusion of the game. A. Any coach ejected from a game will not be allowed to participate in any aspect of the remainder of the game from which he/she has been ejected. The ejected coach must go to the bleacher area and remain a nonvocal, nonparticipating member of the team. If the ejected coach does not adhere to these rules, then the umpire may declare a forfeit in favor of the opposing team. B. Any coach that causes his/her team to be issued a forfeit for the above infraction will be subject to a review of his/her actions by the Executive Board, and possible disciplinary action. |
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