Adult Sports Office
Softball League Fact Sheet for Fall 2011
Season
Week-night league play will begin on Monday, August 15, 2011.
Format
Amateur Softball Association rules govern all leagues subject to modifications stated in the league's Bylaws.
Leagues offered will be Men’s Recreational, Men’s A, Men’s AA, Men’s AA+, and Men’s Church A; Coed Recreational, Coed A, Coed A+, Coed Wood Bat, Men’s Wood Bat, and Women’s.
Games will be played on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday evenings.
All league games, except Recreational, will be 55 minutes and will be played at 7:00 pm, 8:00 pm, or 9:00 pm on weekday evenings.
Recreational league games will have a 60-minute drop-dead time limit with no new inning beginning after 50 minutes. Games will be played at 7:00 pm, 8:00 pm, or 9:00 pm on weekday evenings.
In the event a team does not have the required number of players to begin the game, that team will automatically become the visiting team and will bat first. The game will continue to be played until such time as there are no longer any eligible batters or the team does not have the minimum number of required players upon the completion of the third out. The game will then be forfeited.
If neither team has enough players to start the game at game time, it will be a double forfeit.
All teams, except Men’s AA+ and Coed A+, will play eight (8) games. Recreational is our least competitive league.
Men’s AA+ and Coed A+ will play an eight (8) game season with the top four (4) teams advancing to a single-elimination playoff.
The home run limit in the Men’s AA+ division will be three (3) home runs plus the one-up home run rule. The home run limit in the Coed A+ division will be one (1) home run plus the one-up home run rule.
Three (3) home runs will be allowed in Men’s AA.
One (1) home run will be allowed in Men’s A, Men’s Church A, Coed A, Women’s, and both Wood Bat leagues.
No (0) home runs will be allowed in Men’s Recreational and Coed Recreational.
A disallowed home run will be recorded as an out.
Game Fields
Games will be played at Heritage Yards at Plano Softball Complex, 4525 Hedgcoxe Road (North
of Legacy between Coit and Ohio)
Entry Fee
Cost is $350 per team, except for Men’s AA+ and Coed A+.
Cost is $375 per team for Men’s AA+ and Coed A+ (includes single-elimination playoff for top four teams).
Fee is payable at time of registration. Payment must accompany registration form.
No spots will be held without payment.
Registration forms will be accepted only during the appropriate registration period.
The City of Plano will accept cash, personal or business check, money order, MasterCard, VISA, and Discover.
Registration
The registration period for returning teams is July 5 – July 29. Teams returning from Summer 2011, Spring 2011, or Fall 2010 will have priority registration from July 5 – July 15. New and returning teams may register July 18 – July 29. Since all teams are signed up on a first-come/first-served basis, we strongly recommend that returning teams take advantage of their priority registration period since slots fill up quickly.
A check should be made out to the City of Plano and should include your driver's license number. A receipt will be sent or given to you upon receipt of your payment.
□ Returning teams may choose one of three ways to register:
1. Register on-line during the first two weeks of registration only. Call 972-941-7278 to get your team account ID number and PIN.
2. Download registration form from our website at
www.planoparks.org (Athletics tab / Adult Sports). Print form out and fax it with credit card information to 972-941-7469. It is strongly recommended that you call 972-941-7278 to verify our receipt of your fax.
3. Bring in registration form with cash, check, money order, or credit card to Adult Sports Office,
Municipal Center South, 1409 Avenue K in Plano, Monday - Friday from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
4. Bring in registration form and money to Heritage Yards at Plano Softball Complex, 4525 Hedgcoxe Road, during times that games are being played.
□ New teams may register using numbers 2 and 3 above.
League Information
League information including the Bylaws, Roster, Player Addition Form, Line-up Cards, etc. may be downloaded from our website at
www.planoparks.org (Athletics tab / Adult Sports).
Schedules, Scores, and Standings
Schedules, Scores, and Standings can all be printed beginning Monday, August 8, from our website at
www.planoparks.org (Athletics tab / Adult Sports / Adult Sports Standings/Schedules and Message Board link).
Game Balls
The City of Plano will NOT furnish ANY game balls. However, balls may be purchased from the Heritage Yards office near field 1 for $5.00 each.
Each team must supply a playable game ball to the umpires at the home plate meeting. Umpires must be able to read the specs on the ball. Final determination regarding playability of the ball is up to the discretion of the umpire.
Co-ed teams will play with 12-inch (men's) and 11-inch (women's) balls. Men's leagues will play with 12-inch balls.
Each team will hit the ball it provides.
All balls must have an ASA approved certification mark and must not appear on the ASA non-approved list. Balls must be red-stitched and must be yellow in color.
Balls must be cor .44 and 375 compression OR cor .52 max, 300 compression max, and dynamic stiffness 5500 lbs. max.
Please note: In 2012 the only ball that will be approved will be a yellow-colored, red-stitched ball with the specifications of cor .52 max, 300 compression max, and dynamic stiffness 5500 lbs max.
Uniforms
At all games (including the first), teams are required to wear similar-color jerseys with permanent numbers at least 6” high on the back.
Rosters
ORIGINAL roster must be turned in to Heritage Yards main field office (in the middle of the complex near Field 1) by your first game. Note: If a player’s eligibility is challenged and no roster is on file, your team will automatically forfeit the game. Players may not be added to nor subtracted from the Roster after the completion of the sixth (6th) game played in the season. A Player Addition Form is available at Heritage Yards main office or online under Softball League Documents.
City staff will conduct random roster checks during any playoffs. If a team is found to be using an illegal player, that team will forfeit the game and be eliminated from the playoffs. All players must be prepared to produce picture identification issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety upon request.
Eligibility
Players must be a minimum of 15 years of age.
Church league teams must be comprised of members of the same church.
Forfeits
If you know ahead of time that your team is going to forfeit a game, please call the Adult Sports staff who will then notify the other team manager. Call the Adult Sports office, Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm at 972-941-7278. If the forfeit must be called in during out-of-office hours, call 972-712-3930 to leave a message. Forfeited games will not be rescheduled unless all games scheduled for that day are cancelled (due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances) prior to the scheduled start time of the forfeited game.
Rainouts
In the event of inclement weather, call the rain-out phone number at 972-941-7278 at 4:00 pm during Mondays-Fridays. You may also check the Message Board on our website at
www.planoparks.org (Athletics tab / Adult Sports / Adult Sports Standings/Schedules and Message Board link). If bad weather moves into the Heritage Yards area after 4:00 pm on Mondays-Fridays, both the rain-out phone number and the website Message Board will be updated as soon as games are cancelled by the Heritage Yards staff. Please keep checking back if the weather is questionable.
If umpires cancel the first games of the evening, or any games in progress, all successive games will be cancelled.
Make-ups
Games cancelled will be made up at the discretion of the Parks and Recreation Department.
It is the intent of the Adult Sports Office to schedule make-up games on respective league nights with a minimum of six days' notice. However, it may become necessary to schedule make-ups on weekends or on nights other than the regularly-scheduled one if the number of games to be made up becomes excessive.
All make-up games will be posted on your original website game schedule at
www.planoparks.org. PLEASE CHECK SCHEDULES CAREFULLY FOR RAIN-OUT MAKE-UP POSTINGS. The make-up date will be added to your schedule. The original rained-out date will no longer appear. Make-up dates will also be posted at the Heritage Yards kiosk and at the Adult Sports Office at 1409 Avenue K in Plano. Make-up schedules will not be mailed or given out over the phone.
Refunds
No team registration fees will be refunded for any reason after schedules have been posted.
Awards
One first-place award and 18 custom t-shirts
Invitation to the Tournament of Champions in August (with the exception of Recreational teams)
Questions
Call the Adult Sports office at 972-941-7278 between 8:00 am - 5:00 pm on Monday – Friday OR
Heritage Yards at 972-712-3930 after 5:00 pm on Monday - Friday