INDEX

Introduction                                                                 Page 2

Name                                                                              Page 2                       Article 1

Objectives                                                                     Page 2                       Article 2

Current Officers                                                          Page 2                       Article 3

Fair Play Code                                                              Page 2                       Article 4

Duties of Officers and Conveners                        Page 3/4                   Article 5 

Quorum                                                                        Page 4                       Article 6

Protests                                                                          Page 4                       Article 7

Meetings                                                                       Page 4/5                   Article 8

Player Eligibility                                                           Page 5                       Article 9

Competition                                                                 Page 5                       Article 10

Regular Season & Tournament                             Page 5/6                   Article 11

Rules/Playoffs                                                              Page 6

Detailed Rules

                  T Ball                                                             Page 7

5 – Pitch                                                       Page 8

Jr. Softball

Softball                                                         Page 9

                  Additional Rules                                        Page 10

                  Fair Play Code                                            Page 11

INTRODUCTION

The Caistor Minor Softball Association (CMSA) has been in existence since 1986.  In an attempt to bring order and organization to the league, the following articles were drafted, voted and approved by the CMSA 2009 Executive Committee (the “Committee”) and shall be known as the CMSA Constitution and Rules.  In order to maintain current during each season, the committee will be required to review and approve constitution and rules prior to season commencing.

NAME - ARTICLE 1:

The name shall be known as the Caistor Minor Softball Association or CMSA.

OBJECTIVES - ARTICLE 2:

This Constitution is to provide organized Softball/5-pitch/T-Ball for the teams approved by and registered with the CMSA and shall be governed by the Ontario Rural Softball Association Playing Rules, except as amended by this Constitution.

CURRENT OFFICERS - ARTICLE 3:

The officers shall be President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Equipment Manager, Umpire-in-Chief, Head Convener (for each age group), T-Ball, 5-pitch and Softball Conveners.  Term of office is two-years in length (from January 1st to December 31st).   If current members wish to maintain their current position after their term is fulfilled, can do so as long as there are no challenges for the position at the end of the two-year term.

January 2024 Committee

Position:                                                                        Member Name:

President                                                                        Leah Bohlken                                            

Vice-President                                                               Hayley Campbell 

Secretary                                                                       Caryn Tilstra 

Treasurer                                                                       Kelly thompson

Head Convener                                                              Jen Reaman 

T-Ball Convener                                                             Lesley  

5-Pitch Convener                                                          Trish Watson  

Jr. Softball       Tasha Bunker 

Softball Convener                                                         Larissa Smith

Umpire-in-Chief                                                            James Smith 

Equipment Manager                                                     VACANT 

Concession Stand Co-coordinator                                VACANT

CMSA FAIR PLAY CODE - ARTICLE 4:

In 2017, the Committee has agreed that the Constitution a Fair Play Code (the “Code”) will not be distributed to all players but rather a copy will be provided to coaches and a copy will be posted at the Concession Stand for spectators at the beginning of the season.  In order to ensure that parent/child understand(s) Fair Play Code, coaches are expected to inform and encourage all aspects of code during the season.  Coaches must ensure that parent/child understand and agree with code.  Detail listing of Fair Play Code is found on Page 11.

DUTIES OF OFFICERS AND CONVENORS - ARTICLE 5:

The following are the duties of the Executive Officers and Division Conveners.

President                

Calls and chairs meetings, as necessary

Will only vote in the event of a tie

Shall set up diamond times with the Township

Collect all monies and give to Treasurer for recording

Vice-President

                   Collect all left over trophies or make sure that the proper Convener has their teams extra trophies

Purchase awards for the league

Assign someone to oversee tournament days if they unable to complete this task

Treasurer

         Shall keep an accurate record of all monies received and dispersed

Collect registration fees and sponsorship monies from conveners and President

Arrange and pay insurance for the league

Arrange and pay township for fees

All cheques require 2 signatures - the Treasurer and one other Executive Officer

A financial statement to be available before the start of each playing year

All T-Ball, 5-Pitch and Softball monies will be kept in one account

Secretary

                                             Shall keep an accurate record of the executive meetings

Deliver minutes of each meeting to each executive member and Conveners within one week of meeting.  Order and deliver to all Conveners a current Softball Canada Rulebook O.R.S.A. Constitution and O.R.S.A. Ball Rulebook

Ensure three copies of current season constitution and rules are available in concession stand; 1 for each umpire/diamond and 1 for concession stand.

T-Ball Convener

         Shall set up team lists and assign a sponsor and coaches to each team

         Responsible for ensuring coaches have a copy of the current season constitution and rules; ensuring one copy for each is available for the umpire and parent(s) at concession stand.

Shall have at least 2 meetings a playing season with coaches to review rules

Shall set up final days, family BBQ

5-Pitch Convener

         Shall set up team lists and assign sponsors and coaches to each team

                                             Responsible for ensuring coaches have a copy of the current season constitution and rules; ensuring one copy for each is available for the umpire and parent(s) at concession stand.

                  Shall have a least 2 meetings a season with coaches and send a copy of the meeting results to Head Convener

Shall be available on tournament day or assign someone in his or her absence

Collect all scores after each game and hand into Head Convener or Concession Stand

Keep an accurate account as to team standings in their division

First contact regarding a disagreement

Jr. Softball Convener

         Shall set up team lists and assign sponsors and coaches to each team

                                             Responsible for ensuring coaches have a copy of the current season constitution and rules; ensuring one copy for each is available for the umpire and parent(s) at concession stand.

                  Shall have a least 2 meetings a season with coaches and send a copy of the meeting results to Head Convener

Shall be available on tournament day or assign someone in his or her absence

Collect all scores after each game and hand into Head Convener or Concession Stand

Keep an accurate account as to team standings in their division

First contact regarding a disagreement

Softball Convener

         Shall set up team lists and assign sponsors and coaches to each team

         Responsible for ensuring coaches have a copy of the current season constitution and rules; ensuring one copy for each is available for the umpire and parent(s) at concession stand.

                  Shall have at least 2 meetings a season with coaches and send a copy of meeting results to the Head Convener

Shall be available on tournament day or assign someone in his or her absence

Collect all scores after each game and hand into Head Convener.

First contact regarding a disagreement.

Head Convener

         Shall assign diamond practice time to teams

Shall set up playing schedules with the help of Division Conveners

If necessary, ensuring that Rules and Constitution copies are provided to umpires, coaches and parents.

Shall collect all scores from each Convener

Shall get a copy of all team lists from Secretary  

Will advise President of team standings for tournament day

First contact regarding a disagreement after contacting Division Convener

Available on tournament day or assign someone

Equipment Manager

         Shall be responsible for distributing equipment to coaches

Shall be responsible for getting equipment back from coaches

Shall store all equipment

Shall let the Executive Committee know when new equipment is to be purchased

Shall repair or replace any equipment necessary upon the Executive Committee’s approval

Umpire in Chief

         Shall find umpires for the season games including Rep/Travel, if applicable

Shall sit on the Protest Committee

Shall have at least 1 meeting with all league umpires, the President and each   Convener

QUORUM – ARTICLE 6

A Quorum is considered as half of the voting membership plus one excluding the President.

PROTESTS – ARTICLE 7

                  All games leading up to Tournament day are not recorded and scores are not reflective of Tournament day outcome; therefore, any protests only refer to tournament day games.  The Protest Committee will consist of President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and the Umpire in Chief.  The President will call a meeting within 5 days of receiving the protest.  One coach from each of the teams involved will also be notified of the meeting and must attend.  Any coach not attending may result in a decision against them.  The Committee will listen to both sides of the protest and make a decision.  The Protest Committee’s decision is final.  A formal written decision is to be sent to each coach involved.            A protest must be made in writing, to the league President within 48 hours of the protested game.  The score sheet must be marked indicating that the game has been played under protest and must indicate the inning, number of outs at the time, score at the time of the protest and signed by the Umpire to indicate a protest was made.  Score sheet must be submitted to Executive committee member who was in attendance at the diamond.

MEETINGS – ARTICLE 8

The Executives will hold a meeting in January/February for preparation of the year; last week in March/first week of April to review registrations and create teams and go over rules for Conveners for coaches meeting; end of season to discuss tournament day concerns/assignments; and a fall meeting to evaluate the year and to review any rule changes for the next year.  The President will call additional meetings, as needed.

Each Executive must attend at least 50% of all meetings during their tenure.  If not, the Committee, as a whole, can vote as to whether that Committee member remains on for the remainder of their term or is removed from the Executive.

Each Convener will have a meeting with their coaches at the end of the year before the fall Executive meeting.  The Conveners will bring to the Executive meeting any changes or suggestions from the coaches.

PLAYER ELIGIBILITY – ARTICLE 9

         Playing rules to follow the ORSA playing rules unless amended and made part of the CMSA.

Anyone with a valid address and within the current age groups.

Only players who have registered with CMSA are eligible for play.

A CMSA registered player may play for an age group higher if that team has 8 or less players.  He/she may not play for a younger age group or another team in the same division. 

Only your team’s registered players may play on tournament day.

Players must play a minimum 9 season games to play on tournament day.

Each player receives fair and equal time playing on the field and will be given opportunity to try all positions throughout the season.

COMPETITION – ARTICLE 10

         All T-Ball games commence at 6 pm and no new inning after 7.30 pm.

All 5-Pitch games commence at 6:15 pm sharp and no new inning after 7:40 pm.

All Intermediate games commence at 8:00 pm and no new inning after 9:25 pm.

Umpires will communicate to both Coaches what game start time is prior to game commencing.

Softball and 5-pitch games are 6 innings and a minimum of 4 innings will constitute a game if called due to weather conditions. 

A game called due to time limit is complete regardless of the number of innings played.

Except for T-Ball, a seven-run mercy rule per inning at all age levels.

T-ball will complete once through the batting order, with each team batting equal number of batters per inning.

Coaches are not allowed to umpire their own team’s games.

Any Umpire with a sibling or a son/daughter on a team may not umpire the game unless approved by both coaches.

A safe bag must be used at first base in all age groups.

Games cannot be cancelled or postponed unless both coaches agree to reschedule. If a game is rained out, cancelled or postponed, both coaches should attempt to reschedule within a month’s time.  If they cannot agree, then the Convener shall set a date and time.

The home team will be responsible for putting out the bases and supplying one new ball per game.

Paid umpires will have final say for all Softball games.  Umpires are able to remove players, parents, and/or spectators at their own discretion. Once the paid ump has made a call, it will be final.

REGULAR SEASON AND TOURNAMENT DAY – ARTICLE 11:

CMSA regular season will consist of 12 games.  Tournament games (2) will begin during the last week in August, typically held on Tuesday and Thursday nights.  Tournament day  games (2) will be held the Saturday prior to September Labour Day weekend or a rain date of the 2nd Saturday of September.  Points allocated during tournament games shall be:  Win = 2 pts, Tie = 1 pts, Loss = 0 pts and Game not played = 0 pts.

Top four (4) teams in each division will participate on tournament day.  Any ties occurring in the league standings will be resolved by using:

1.              Results achieved when the two teams played each other.

2.              Most runs scored when the two teams played each other.

3.              Least runs scored against when the two teams played each other.

4.              Coin toss (if 1. and 2. do not change the tie).

Playoffs

Playoffs commence during the last week of August and will finish on Tournament day, which generally falls on the first Saturday in September after Labour Day.  Awards for teams participating on tournament day will be handed out on tournament day at the completion of the 5 pitch final game and at the completion of the softball final game.  The coin toss at the beginning of each game will determine home team.  Points will be kept to determine the final game of the day.  The first place game will not end in a tie.  Pop and hotdog lunch will be served for each player and coach. 

 Additional Rules

A copy of the rules will be available in the concession stand.  A copy will be provided to coaches prior to season commencing.  Coaches are to ensure that any new or modified rule is communicated to parents.

Tournament Day

All positions, including tournament day, need to be rotated (i.e. infield/outfield to increase skill levels).  

All children should have the opportunity to play all positions during the season.

The championship on tournament day should not end in a tie for final game.

A coin toss will determine who is home team.

Dugouts

Home team will be assigned to third base dugout.  If a coach is coaching 2 teams, they may request from the other team to stay in that dugout for convenience. 

Back Catcher Time Limit

Need to remind umpires about back catcher time limit.  Umpires must be more vocal about reminding the back catcher to get ready.  

Uniform 

Uniform consists of team hat, team shirt, long pants and athletic footwear.  Uniform must be worn all season.  Umpire will enforce this and player/coach will be asked to sit out of game if not in full uniform.  Shorts are not permitted to be worn by players.

Registration Fee

Registration must be received in full prior to start of season or the child cannot play.

Courtesy Rule

When possible, show up at least 15 minutes before the game to allow the coach to set the batting line up, etc.

Foul Language

Will not be tolerated and person can be expelled from the game.  Umpire’s discretion.

Age

Must be 17 years and under for Softball.  Player cannot turn 18 years of age during the current season.

Bats

All Bats are to be kept outside the fence off the playing field except when in the batters hands.

Fair Play Code

Fair Play Code for Athletes                                                                                                     Signature:  ___________________

I will participate because I want to, not just because my parents or coaches want me to.

I will play by the rules and in the spirit of the game.

I will control my temper – fighting and unflattering language can spoil the activity for everyone.

I will respect my opponents – not throwing helmet or bat in frustration or anger.

I will do my best to try to be a true team player.

I will remember that winning isn’t everything and that having fun, improving my skills, making friends and doing my best are also important.

I will acknowledge all good plays/performances 0 those of my team and of my opponent.

I will remember that coaches and officials are there to help me.  I will accept their decisions and show them respect.

Fair Play Code for Coaches                                                                                                     Signature:  ___________________

I will be reasonable when scheduling games and practices, remembering that young athletes have other interests and obligations.

I will teach my athletes to play fairly and respect the rules, officials and opponents.

I will ensure that all athletes get equal instruction, support and playing time.

I will ensure that I rotate players’ fielding positions to provide fair and equal time at different positions.  A player shall not play the same infield position for more than two innings and every player shall play the outfield at least once during a game.

I will position my players at real positions so as to help the players learn the game.

I will not ridicule or yell at my athletes for making mistakes or for performing poorly.  I will remember that children play to have fun and must be encouraged to have confidence in themselves.

I will use appropriate language – unflattering or foul language is unacceptable.

I will remember that children need a coach they can respect.  I will be generous with praise and set a good example.

Fair Play Code for Parent/Spectators                                                                                 Signature:  ___________________

I will not force my child to participate in sports.

I will remember that my child plays sport for his or her enjoyment, not for mine.

I will encourage my child to play by the rules and to resolve conflicts without resorting to hostility or violence.

I will teach my child that doing one’s best is as important as winning, so that my child will never feel defeated by the outcome of the game.

I will make my child feel like a winner every time by offering praise for competing fairly and trying hard.

I will never ridicule or yell at my child for making a mistake or losing a competition.

I will remember that children learn best by example.  I will applaud good plays/performances by both my child’s team and their opponent.

I will use appropriate language – unflattering or foul language is unacceptable.

I will never question the official’s judgment or honesty in public.

I will respect and show appreciation for the volunteer coaches who give their time to provide sport activities for my child.

Fair Play Code for Officials                                                                                                      Signature:  ___________________

I will make sure that every athlete has a reasonable opportunity to perform to the best of his her ability, within the limits of the rules.

I will avoid or put an end to any situation that threatens the safety of the athletes.

I will maintain a healthy atmosphere and environment for competition.

I will not permit the intimidation of any athlete either by work or by action.  I will not tolerate unacceptable conduct toward officials, athletes, spectators or myself.

I will be consistent and objective in calling all infractions, regardless of my personal feelings toward a team or individual athlete.

I will handle all conflicts firmly but with dignity.

I will accept my role as a teacher and role model for fair play, especially with young participants.

I will be open to discussion and contact with the athletes before and after the game.

I will remain open to constructive criticism and show respect and consideration for different points of view.

I will obtain proper training and continue to upgrade my officiating skills.