PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Baseball Alberta will cover all umpire travel and accommodation expenses for all Provincial Championships. All teams, including the host, will be responsible for paying half of the umpire game fees in games in which they participate. If a 3-man umpire system is used, each team will be responsible for 1 1⁄2 umpire game fees per game played.

For the BAEL Provincial Championship will consist of a maximum of ten (10) teams with all 8 teams from the BAEL competing at the BAEL Provincial Championship as well as the 18U AAA League Regular Season Winner awarded the 9th seed and the 18U AAA Provincial Champion awarded the 10th seed. In the event that the 18U AAA League Regular Season Winner and the 18U AAA Provincial Champion are the same team, the 18U AAA Provincial Championship Finalist was be awarded the 10th seed. 

The 18U 'AAA' Provincial Championship will consist of a maximum of ten (10) teams Including the the 18U AAA League Regular Season Winner. 

For the 13U and 15U ‘AAA’ Divisions, the top 4, 5, 6, or 8 teams (depending on the number of teams registered) will compete at the Provincial Championship. The number of teams in the Tier I Provincial Championship and the Tier II Provincial Championship depends on the number of teams registered in that division/category; see League Objectives.

For the ‘AA’ Divisions, Provincial Championships will consist of 4, 5, 6, or 8 teams, depending on the number of teams in each tier. 

For the ‘A’ Divisions, Provincial Championships will consist of 4, 5, 6, or 8 teams, depending on the number of teams in each tier. 

Any team failing to appear at any Baseball Alberta Provincial tournament game will be removed from the tournament and forfeit all games, even those already completed. Baseball Alberta reserves the right to enforce this decision based on the circumstances surrounding the reasons for missing the game.

Any team failing to be present at the Opening Ceremonies at any Provincial Championship without approval from the Host Committee and Baseball Alberta may be subject to additional discipline upon review by Baseball Alberta.

Four-team Championships will be a round-robin with the top 2 teams playing in the final. If the first-place team is undefeated after the round-robin portion of the Championship, that team must be beaten twice ('AAA' only).

Five-team Championship draws will be a Round Robin format. The schedule will be based on distances from the host site. Each team is guaranteed 4 games; the top two teams after Round Robin will compete in the Championship game if there are no tiebreakers. If the first-place team is undefeated after the round-robin portion of the Championship, that team must be beaten twice ('AAA' only).

Six-team Championship draws will utilize two pools based on final rankings with a round-robin in each pool and cross-over semi-finals. Winners of the semi-finals will play in the Provincial Championship game. Each team will be guaranteed 3 games in the Provincial Championship weekends (3rd place teams in the six-team Championships will play a consolation game unless both teams are involved in a tiebreaker game). Monday will be utilized in case of poor weather. Teams will flip for the choice of Home or Visitor in the Championship Game.

Eight-team Championship draws require two diamonds. There will be two pools based on final rankings (Pool A – 1st, 4th, 5th, and 8th seeds; Pool B – 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th seeds). After Round Robin play within each pool, the semi-finals will consist of the 1st place team out of Pool A playing the 2nd place team out of Pool B, while the second-place team out of Pool A will play the 1st place team in Pool B. Winners of the semi-final compete in the Championship game. Teams will flip for the choice of Home or Visitor in the Championship Game.

Ten-team Championship draws require two diamonds. There will be two pools based on final rankings (Pool A – 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th and 10th seeds; Pool B – 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th and 9th seeds). After Round Robin play within each pool, the semi-finals will consist of the 1st place team out of Pool A playing the 2nd place team out of Pool B, while the second-place team out of Pool A will play the 1st place team in Pool B. Winners of the semi-final compete in the Championship game. Teams will flip for the choice of Home or Visitor in the Championship Game.

Championship tournaments of more than 8 teams will require 2 diamonds and will be seeded and scheduled by Baseball Alberta using National Championship guidelines.

If a host centre wishes to change the provincial championship draw for any reason (opening ceremonies, etc.), the request must be submitted in writing to the Baseball Alberta office before July 15th.

Admission Fees for Provincial Championships – No admission fees are permitted without written permission from Baseball Alberta.

BEST PRACTICE - PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP UMPIRE PAYMENTS

The host site should collect all Round Robin umpire game fees from each team at the pre-tournament meeting. All teams should pay the exact same amount for umpire game fees for the Round Robin portion of the tournament. Below is an example of the best practice for host sites to collect the correct payment from each team for a 5-team Provincial Championship at the 13U level:

There are a total of 10 round-robin games in a 5-team Provincial Championship, 3 of which have game times that start before 6 pm on a weekday, which must include the $15/umpire premium.

• 3 Round Robin games that begin before 6 pm on a weekday - $65/umpire x 2 umpires x 3 games = $390.007 Round Robin games at the regular umpire rate of $50/umpire - $50/umpire x 2 umpires x 7 games = $700.00

• Total Umpire game fees for the Round Robin are $1,090.00. Divide the total round-robin game fees by the 5 participating teams. In this particular tournament, each team would pay the host site $218.00 to cover each team’s Round Robin games.

Teams that move onto tiebreaker games, semi-finals, and the championship would then need to pay for one umpire game fee for every game they participate in after the Round Robin portion of the schedule is complete.

All umpire travel and accommodations for Provincial Championships are paid by Baseball Alberta.

PROPOSED HOSTING REGIONS

It is an objective of Baseball Alberta to rotate Championships throughout the Province from year to year to balance the numbers of events for umpiring as well as for the opportunity for communities to host and promote baseball in all areas of the Province. If no host is available or applies out of that region, then Baseball Alberta will have the right to either recruit another host site in that region or award the host site to another team who applied for the hosting opportunity.

Pick-Up Players are only permitted in the 13U, 15U, and 18U ‘AA’ Divisions. The player draft's intent is to ensure teams have enough players on their roster to compete in the three-day Provincial Championship tournaments.

Guidelines:

• Pickups can come from anywhere in the province.

• Pickup players must be previously registered as of June 1st in the current playing year with Baseball Alberta and cannot be from a higher category of play.

• Only players playing in Baseball Alberta leagues (House League, ‘A’, ‘AA’, and ‘AAA’) are eligible for teams to use as pick-ups for Provincials/Westerns/Nationals.

• The category or division of play shall be determined by the team with which a player registers.

• For a player who does not register with a team, his individual player registration will determine his age category.

• A player on a suspended team shall remain eligible for pickup.

• 'AA’ teams are able to select pickup players only from the ‘A’ or house league level of play. Teams will no longer be able to select players at the same division from lower Tiers of league play.

• There will be only two pickups per team. A team will be allowed the following pick-ups, if as of June 1st a team has registered:

  • 18 players – No pick-ups

  • 17 players – 1 pick-up

  • 16 or fewer players – 2 pick-ups

Pick-Up Draft Basis:

• All players must be contacted before being submitted on the draft form.

• At no time will any team be allowed to choose pickups from any other team still in competition (unless at the discretion of the Registrar).

• Pick-up draft lists for ‘AA’ Tier III/IV/V teams are due to Baseball Alberta on the Tuesday before the required Provincial Championship. The Tier III Draft will occur at Noon on Wednesday, with the Tier IV pick-up draft occurring immediately following.

• Pick-up draft lists for ‘AA’ Tier I/II teams are due to Baseball Alberta on the Tuesday before the required Provincial Championship. Pick-up draft for Tier I will occur at Noon on Wednesday, with the Tier II pick-up draft occurring immediately following. No pick-ups for 11U Provincial Championships.

Draft Process:

• All coaches placing a player on their draft list must speak directly to that player’s parents (unless 18 years of age) to ensure the player is interested and available.

• Any player who refuses to be placed on a draft list must be informed that if they refuse to be drafted by any team, they will be deemed unavailable for the draft.

• Any team whose draft selection refuses to play after the draft has been completed will be given the opportunity to pick up another available player from their original draft list with the approval of the Registrar.

• First-round draft selections will be made by selecting the top player available on each team’s draft list, starting with the top-ranked team and proceeding down to the bottom-ranked team in that Provincial Championship.

• The second round of draft selections will again be made by selecting the top player available on each team’s draft list, starting with the bottom-ranked team and proceeding up to the top-ranked team.