PLAYER TRANSFERS
PLAYER TRANSFERS (AA & AAA)
A player who lives outside the boundaries/city limits of the team they are wishing to play for must first register with the closest Baseball Alberta Association within their zone (Home Association) and pay the Baseball Alberta Player Registration fee (Competitive fee for ‘AAA’/’AA’ or Community fee for ‘A’) through the Home Association. The Home Association may charge that player up to $25 for administrative costs.
If a player has been registered with an association in the prior 2 Baseball Alberta seasons at the AA or AAA level, that now becomes the home association for that player and would no longer be considered an import. That player will always have the option to return to play in their closest Baseball Alberta Association if they so choose.
The player may then apply to transfer through the Transfer Request Application. The transfer request must be signed by both the President of the outgoing Association and the President of the incoming Association to indicate their approval or denial of such transfer.
The transfer form and $25 fee must be completed no later than the Initial Roster submission date. Only players who have been approved will be allowed onto an approved team roster. Any transfer request that occurs after the month of May will result in the transfer fee increasing to $100.
Player transfer requests are handled as follows:
If the incoming President denies (or refuses to sign) the Transfer Request, the player has no appeal and will not be granted transfer.
Any transfer that is signed by both the outgoing and incoming President and have fully completed the form and $25 processing fee will be deemed approved Baseball Alberta.
If the outgoing President denies (or refuses to sign) the Transfer Request, the player may still submit the transfer request with a required letter (reason for appeal) and $25 processing fee. This will be considered an appeal and will be decided by the Executive Director. If a player wishes to appeal past the Baseball Alberta Executive Director, the Executive Committee of Baseball Alberta will have final ruling on the matter.
There will be an additional charge of $100 to any player wishing to appeal beyond the transfer decision made by the Baseball Alberta Executive Director. Appeals will be brought forward to the Executive Committee upon receipt of payment. If the player is transferring to a higher division of play (i.e. from ‘A’ to ‘AA’), the appeal will be approved in order to give the player a higher level opportunity for development.
Baseball Alberta will not support lateral transfers (‘AA’ to ‘AA’) without support of the outgoing Association President unless transferring from a part-time program to a full-time program or unless a ‘AA’ team has not been formed/guaranteed at that point or unless the player is transferring from an Association that has permitted players to transfer in or unless extreme circumstances can be proven. Regarding lateral transfers, Baseball Alberta will support lateral transfer requests where the outgoing Association has permitted players to transfer in, based on an assessment of their total number of registered players at the age category to ensure that they can maintain their program. The intent of this rule is to support the development of both strong ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ programs in areas when player transfers to ‘AAA’ programs are occurring.
Player Transfers are not required for female players who want to play on an all-female team at their age category in another Member Association if an all-female team is not available in their Home Association.
ASSOCIATION TRANSFERS
Two or more Associations can apply to Baseball Alberta to form a team from their respective associations, subject to approval of Baseball Alberta. These associations must be able to demonstrate, through the application process, that there is a necessity to work together to form a team at an age category.
These associations must fill out the Association Transfer Application and have signatures from all Presidents involved (the transfer fee of $25 does not apply).
Deadlines for Association Transfer Application will be the same as the above deadlines for individual player transfers.
RECRUITMENT RULES
No player, coach, team, club, league, or association shall attempt to induce a player (minor categories) of any other club to leave that club or zone. Any person who attempts to induce a player of any club/zone shall be deemed to have committed an offense and be subject to a penalty, with such penalty being decided by the Baseball Alberta Board of Directors. Any players or families of players who have been contacted in a recruitment attempt are encouraged to contact Baseball Alberta to report the incident.
Coaches who are found in violation of player residency or transfer rules will be suspended for the balance of the current season. Players who are found to be in violation of the residency rules will be ineligible for all League, Provincial, and post-Provincial play for the balance of the current season.
Violations of the residency or player transfer rules may result in further sanctions at the discretion of the Executive of the Board of Directors of Baseball Alberta for the Association involved. These sanctions could include ineligibility of Association teams for Provincial and/or post-Provincial play, loss of funding for teams to attend post-Provincial Championships, and/or probation for one or more future seasons of Baseball Alberta League play.
Zone 3 and Zone 6 transfers only – Zone 3 and Zone 6, respectively, represent the two largest cities in Alberta. Player transfers within and out of these zones will be administered in accordance with guidelines established by the Baseball Alberta Board of Directors.
TRANSFER PLAYERS REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT PROCESS
In order to facilitate the processing of Player Transfers Requests across the province and ensure clarity for players and Associations in dealing with these requests, the following outlines the steps of the process:
All players MUST register with their Home Association before registering with any other Association.
Upon registration, players MUST pay the full registration fee as requested by their Home Association. For players who have transferred in previous seasons, the Home Association may elect not to collect a registration fee.
Players MUST communicate with their Home Association President or designate their intention to request a player transfer, including identifying the Association that they wish to transfer to as part of the initial registration process.
Players may obtain the necessary Association transfer signatures in any order. However, the Home Association President may require that the transferring Association President portion of the form be completed first in order to prevent “blank cheque” transfers.
The completed Player Transfer Request Form(s) with the rationale letter must be sent to Baseball Alberta along with the required player transfer fee.
Upon transfer, the Home Association MUST refund the registration fee charged to the player. Non-refundable fees identified at registration, such as administration or try out fees, are not included in this requirement.
Upon transfer, players MUST contact the Association Registrar, register, and pay the full registration fee to the Association that they are transferring to.
Upon Transfer completion, the Association that the player has transferred to must register the player with Baseball Alberta and submit payment of the Baseball Alberta registration fee.
Associations’ submission of player registration fees must indicate those players that have transferred in and/or out of the Association to reconcile the total number of registered players.
PROOF OF ELIGIBILITY
Upon request, teams must submit their Approved Initial/Final Roster to the Official Scorekeeper with their game line-up card at least 15 minutes before scheduled game time. Only players who are listed on the Approved Roster will be allowed in the lineup (except for Approved Affiliate players – see Affiliate Player section). If a team cannot produce their approved roster, the game will still be played, and a copy of the line-up card must be submitted with the Game Summary Report. If it is confirmed that an ineligible player was used, the opposing team will have the choice of either taking the game result or a forfeit win, and the offending head coach will be subject to disciplinary action. All approved players and coaches must be registered with Baseball Alberta. Any player or coach who is not registered may be suspended from play until they have registered.