COVERING THE BASES - GRAG BAG OF ISSUES: DOUBLE-ROSTERING, TEAM RATING, SNOWBIRDS

May 1, 2011 – Terry Hennessy CEO

Senior Softball-USA announced it would allow 75- and 80-year-old players and 40 women’s players to be on rosters of two teams in the same age groups if managers of both teams agree in writing.

We are granting this exception to our rule of players only playing on one team because of the difficulty 75 and 80 men’s teams and 40 Women’s teams have in recruiting from a limited pool of players.

The exemption is available to all 75, 80 men’s teams and women’s 40 teams for the 2011 season. We will review the policy at the end of the season to determine whether to make it a permanent policy.

Here are the requirements:

1. Players must request the exemption in writing and must include the WRITTEN approval of managers of both teams.

2. Players must give each team a written list of when they will participate with each team.

When a Team Rating Is Lowered

When a team requests to be lowered in rating, there is a strict stipulation that the team cannot pick up players of a higher skill level.

This rule is in place because usually the team being lowered is at the top of the skill range in its new division – and adding players creates an unfair advantage.

The team, of course, can elect to add stronger players and play in its original skill division. For example, if a Major team is re-ranked AAA and the team wants to add Major players, the team can add the players – but it then has to play Major.

The highest level the player has played in the past two years, by the way, determines the player skill level.

In addition, players on teams that won the World Championships are ranked at the next higher skill level. For example, if a team wins the Major Division of the World Championships, all of the players are ranked Major-Plus for the next two years.

For a complete explanation of Rating Guidelines, please see our website, www.seniorsoftball.com, click on Ratings, then click on Ratings Guidelines.

Spirit of the Snowbird Rule

The Snowbird rule was designed to allow players with residences in two regions to play while they lived in both regions.

The players must live for at least three consecutive months in each residence and must tell both managers which team they intend to play for in the World Championships.

In addition, the two teams must be within one skill level and the players must re-apply each year for the Snowbird Card.