ENTRY FEES

• ELITE DIVISION: $250 + one time $50 forfeit fee refundable upon leaving the league.
• MAJOR DIVISION: $250 + one time $50 forfeit fee refundable upon leaving the league.
• AAA DIVISION: $250 + one time $50 forfeit fee refundable upon leaving the league.
• AA DIVISION: $150 + one time $50 forfeit fee refundable upon leaving the league.

REGISTRATION

• Registration forms should be sent in prior to December 31st.
• 9U-14U teams must provide a team roster by March 1, and May 1 for teams 15U+.
• Schedules must be submitted from each 9U-14U team by March 1, each 15U+ team by May 1. Schedules are allowed to change, but an initial schedule against every opponent must be declared. Any subsequent schedule changes must be forwarded to the league president and your age level coordinator.
• Cutoff date for ages will be May 1st. A player's age on April 30th determnes the age level.
• All league games must be complete by July 21st.

DIVISONS

ELITE

• 09U-14U
  • Maximum 14 teams / 13 League games
  • 1st League Champion Jackets for 15 players ($750), 2nd $500, 3rd $350
• 15U-18U
  • Maximum 12 teams / 11 League games
  • 1st League Champion Jackets for 15 players ($750), 2nd $450, 3rd $300
• NABF & WBA sanctioning is provided.
• BPA & USSSA sanctioning is reimbursed $25 upon proof of tournament entry.
• The top 2 teams will earn a paid birth to the end of year league series if held.

MAJOR

• 09U-14U
  • Maximum 16 teams / 15 League games
  • 1st $500, 2nd $400, 3rd $300
• 15U-18U
  • Maximum 13 teams / 12 League games
  • 1st $500, 2nd $400, 3rd $300
• NABF & WBA sanctioning is provided.
• BPA & USSSA sanctioning is reimbursed $25 upon proof of tournament entry.
• The top 2 teams will earn a paid birth to the end of year league series if held.

AAA

• 09U-14U
  • Maximum 18 teams / 17 League games
  • 1st $400, 2nd $300, 3rd $200
• 15U-18U
  • Maximum 14 teams / 13 League games
  • 1st $400, 2nd $300, 3rd $200
• NABF & WBA sanctioning is provided.
• BPA & USSSA sanctioning is reimbursed $25 upon proof of tournament entry.
• The top 2 teams will earn a paid birth to the end of year league series if held.

AA

• 09U-14U
  •  Maximum 18 teams / 17 League games
  • 1st $300, 2nd $200, 3rd $100
• 15U-18U
  • Maximum 15 teams / 14 League games
  • 1st $300, 2nd $200, 3rd $100
• NABF & WBA sanctioning is provided.
• All other sanctioning is at the team's expense.
• No bids will be given to the end of year league series.

IMPORTANT NOTES

• Refer to the AWARDS section for further details on reward restrictions. 
• It is possible to have more than 1 MAJOR, AAA, or AA division, but only 1 ELITE.   
• Divisions may be merged if there are not enough teams to satisfy a division. Your team classification of ELITE / MAJOR / AAA / AA, entry fee and reward structure will not change.
• If participating in another league that provides your BPA or USSSA affiliation, you will not be reimbursed.

DIVISON RE-ALIGNMENT

• Teams finishing in the in the top 1/4 of each division will move to the higher division if desired.
• Teams finishing in the top 1/4 may remain in the current division but will be ineligible for a ?top finisher? reward the following season.
• Teams finishing in the in the bottom 1/3 of the ELITE and bottom 1/4 of all other divisions will automatically be moved down.
• If realignment causes a division to exceed its maximum number of teams, a new "sister" division will be created. However, this will not apply to the ELITE division.
• Teams winning a league tournament will automatically earn entry into the associated division. Win an ELITE tournament, and play in the ELITE division the following year. See LEAGUE TOURNAMENTS section for more information.
• NOTE: A conflict could occur in the ELITE when the number of teams moving down is less than the number of teams moving up. In this case, guidelines will be established to determine the final makeup of the ELITE. This criterion is TBD.
• Teams will know before season start how high they must finish in their current division at the end of the year in order to progress to the higher division.

FORFEITS

• Games may be canceled for any reason up to 7 days before the scheduled game. If canceled, the opposing coach is to provide 3 optional dates to reschedule.
• These dates must be shown as available on the opponents schedule.
• No Monday dates are allowed after a team plays a tournament the prior weekend.
• The canceling team must accept one of the proposed dates or forfeit.
• The rescheduled game cannot be canceled for any reason by the team that canceled the first game. Although rainout policy applies.
• The league director and age level coordinator must be CC'd on all cancellations, re-schedules, and forfeits.
• Teams forfeiting games on game day ( no show ) have 10 days to reimburse the home team for umpire fees. Failure to comply will result in all games being forfeited and loss of fofeit deposit.

AWARDS

• Awards will be handed out at the fall league meeting.
• Awards will be given as credits to approved affiliated vendors.
• Payouts will be pro-rated if there are a lesser number of divisional teams than the stated maximum.
• For ELITE pro-rated payouts, team jackets will be awarded first and subsequent rewards will be pro-rated accordingly
• To receive reward, all requirements must be met or all rewards will be forfeited. These include:
  • Playing at least 85% of league games. (A forfeit may be considered as not playing)
  • Playing the minimum number of required tournaments.
  • Having the complete league schedule online by the required date.
  • Notifying the League Director of all league game schedule changes.
  • Have properly entered game scores and pitching statistics per requirements
  • Be in good standing with the league.
  • A team representative must attend the fall meeting to receive the award
• Standings: tie breaking procedure: (1) head to head competition (2) Number of league games played (3) Record against the next higher team in league standings. (4) Runs allowed. (5) Repeat Rule #3

AMATEURISM DISCLAIMER

• There has been some concern about whether paying cash rewards would affect the amateur status of a participating player. The NCAA has been contacted and provided a ruling via the NCAA bylaws regarding amateurism. Specifically, Article 12 addresses this topic.
• Article 12.1.1.4.1 states that "Prior to collegiate enrollment, an individual may accept prize money based upon his or her placed finish or performance in an open athletics event ( i.e., any event that is not invitation only). Such prize money may not exceed actual and necessary expenses and may be provided only by the sponsor of the open event." ?Actual and necessary? expenses include, but are not limited to, entry fees, umpire fees, travel, lodging and food.
• Note that all payouts will be given as equipment or services offered by league affiliated vendors. Therefore there should be no issue with a player's amateur status as no cash will be involved.

LEAGUE TOURNAMENTS

• Rewards will be given to the top finishers of each tournament.
• Bids to any applicable World Series will be earned but entry fees not reimbursed.
• Tournaments will be classified as following:
  • Elite: 50% of teams participating must be from the ELITE division
  • Elite/Major: 50% of teams participating must be from the ELITE or MAJOR divisions
  • Major: 50% of teams participating must be from the MAJOR division
  • Major/AAA: 50% of teams participating must be from the MAJOR or AAA divisions
  • AAA: 50% of teams participating must be from the AAA division
  • AA: 100% of teams participating must be from the AA division
  • OPEN: There are no restrictions.
• Teams cannot play down. i.e, an ELITE team cannot play a AAA tournament.
• Any team can play up.
• Tournaments can be reclassified at the discretion of the tournament & league director as teams enter.
• A tournament host can decide up front what classification the tournament will be.
• Example: An ELITE tournament is offered with a 12 team availability. 4 Elite teams register. 6 Major teams register. 2 AAA teams register. This now becomes an Elite/Major tournament.
• Importance: If a team from a lower division wins a tournament of an upper division they will automatically earn a birth into that upper division for the following season if they desire to meet the necessary criteria for the upper division. An AA team can jump directly to an ELITE division by winning an ELITE tournament. Thus, the classification of the tournament is very important. If an AA team wins an ELITE/MAJOR event, then the birth would only be to the MAJOR division.
• If a team cancels last minute reducing the number of teams to an odd number ( i.e. from 8 to 7 ), it may be necessary for a team to receive a bye in order to complete the bracket. The teams that enter first via paid entry will be the ones receiving the bye bracket. Teams that enter simultaneously ( as via a league meeting ) will draw for the bye bracket.

TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE

• No participation fees are allowed. The cost is built in to the entry fee. Gate fees will be allowed only if the complex requires one. Approval must be granted by the league director.
• Additional (minimal) entry fees may be required if the tournament is a World Series qualifier.
• Certain tournaments will be declared as qualifiers with bids being given to the NABF, USSSA Major, USSSA AAA, other affiliation, and end of year GCSBL tournament.
• 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15 team tournaments will be played as 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 tournaments with a bye. This type will only be allowed in case of last minute cancellations.
• Cancellations made prior to 14 days of the tournament result in loss of entry fee.
• A consolation game will be added to the smaller bracket if needed to satisfy the minimum games.
• Tie-breakers: (1) Head to head, (2) Runs allowed, (3) Run differential, (4) Runs scored, (5) Flip. After each tie-breaker is satisfied, remaining ties begin back at (1).
• Tournaments can be offered in either a “High Reward” or “Pay As You Go” structure.
• HIGH REWARD: Higher entry fees but higher payouts. Designed for teams of similar class. Umpire fees are covered in the cost of the entry fee.
• PAY AS YOU GO: Low entry fees & lower payouts. The more games played the more the cost. Similarly, the less games you play, the less the cost. Designed to allow lesser competitive teams to play better competition without paying a high cost if only the minimum # of games are played. Umpire fees are paid by each team for each game played.

HIGH REWARD TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE

PAY AS YOU GO TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE
Each team will split the umpire costs for each game played. Minimum Cost refers to the amount a team will pay if they play only the guaranteed number of games. Host earns: $$$ = Total income, ($$$) = Income after umpire cost for minimum number of games.