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League Rules and Player Code of Conduct

Player Code of Conduct

Every player who participates in the North Oakland Softball Draft League (NODL) will need to register through the website, during Registration periods, to participate in the draft league. DURING REGISTRATION, YOU MUST READ AND ACCEPT THE PLAYER CODE OF CONDUCT and LEAGUE RULES.

The Code applies to participants before, during and after all league games.

Players will be respectful to other players, officials, and patrons of the park and facility.

Violence and unsportsmanlike conduct will not be tolerated, the NODL board/ Independence Township Parks and Rec has the power to impose penalties.

  1. CONDITIONS
    1. The Code of Conduct applies to all participants including players, coaches, managers, and sponsors, involved in any NODL games or events.
    2. The Code will be strictly enforced.
    3. The Code applies to participant conduct before, during and after all league games.
    4. Participants will be held liable for damages caused by willful, destructive conduct.
    5. It is the responsibility of each team manager to ensure that all participants know and adhere to the rules and regulations of the league, including the Code of Conduct.

  2. ENFORCEMENT
    1. The League Board has the power to impose penalties as prescribed within the Code.
    2. The League Board will collect all necessary documentation. In cases where penalties are specific, the League Board will impose said penalty. In cases where the penalty may be imposed in degrees, the League Board will meet within ten days to rule on the violation and impose the penalty.
    3. Within five business days, penalized participants may appeal in writing any decision made by the League Coordinator, to an Independence Township Parks and Rec Department Representative.
    4. Appeal decisions made by the Independence Township Parks and Rec are final.
  1. VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES

  2. STRIKING OR THREATENING AN OFFICIAL OR PARTICIPANT – No participant shall bump, shove, strike, touch in a threatening manner or threaten with bodily harm; any official, participant or township staff.

    The official is required to immediately suspend said participant from further play and notify a NODL Board Member. Said participant will remain suspended until he/she is reinstated by the NODL Board.

    The minimum penalty is a 30-day suspension. The maximum penalty is suspension from all NODL for life. A second incident involving the same participant will automatically invoke a minimum penalty of suspension for five calendar years.

  3. UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT – Any verbal abuse directed at an official or participant, or any other objectionable behavior, including demonstrations of disagreement with an official’s decision, shall be defined as unsportsmanlike conduct. Unsportsmanlike conduct will be punishable by immediate ejection from the game and suspension for the next two scheduled and contested league games. The official is required to immediately notify the League Administrator. A subsequent ejection of the same participant shall result in said participant’s suspension from all Independence Parks and Recreation sponsored leagues for one calendar year.

  4. DISCUSSION OF AN OFFICIAL’S DECISION – No participant other than the team manager or the designated team captain shall discuss, in any manner, an official’s decision. Offenders will be warned by the official. Continued discussion shall be judged as unsportsmanlike conduct, and the offender will be subject to the penalties prescribed in section 3-b.

  5. UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS – Intentional rough tactics in the play of the game directed toward another participant shall be defined as unnecessary roughness. Unnecessary roughness shall be judged to be unsportsmanlike conduct and will be subject to the penalties prescribed in section 3-b.

  6. EJECTION: FAILURE TO LEAVE – Any participant ejected from a game by an official must immediately leave the facility or field area; out of sight and sound. Failure to do so will carry a penalty of forfeiture of the game for said participant’s team and said participant will be suspended from the Oakland County Softball Draft League for one calendar year.

  7. EJECTION – A player that is ejected due to unsportsmanlike conduct is not allowed to participate in their teams next scheduled game. A player who is ejected three times for unsportsmanlike conduct in one season will be suspended for the remainder of the current season (and possibly all, or a portion of any following season entirely under the discretion of the NODL Board). Offending players will cause their team to forfeit the game in which said player appeared.


North Oakland Draft League Softball League Rules

OVERALL

NOTE: Divisions are created for All Star Game purposes only and have no bearing on playoff seeding.

  1. All teams will make the playoffs. The playoffs and championship game will be played in 1 week, barring weather delay/cancellation.

  2. Coaches must be part the coaches chat group for the entire season.

  3. Individual player fee is $130. Ump fees and Jersey costs are not included and are the responsibility of your Team.

  4. There will be one (1) umpire. It is $20 per game, per team. It is the team’s responsibility to pay the ump fees each week. Cash preferred.

DRAFT RULES

  1. SLOTTING

    a. The coaches will be slotted. They will have to use their pick from the round they are slotted on themselves. Draft order will be randomly generated. 

  2. POSITION TRADING

    a. Coaches may trade their entire draft slot to another coach for their entire draft slot (i.e. pick 1 for the duration of the draft for pick 4) up to 2 hours prior to draft time.

  3. DRAFT TRADING

    a. Coaches may propose and accept trade(s) which include an individual pick and/or player or multiple picks and/or players (2 per team, max) during the draft and up to 24 hours following the conclusion of the draft. After that time, trading for the entirety of the season will be closed. All trades must have an equal number of players received by each side to ensure all coaches begin the season with 12 rostered players. Each coach will be allowed to complete up to 3 trades during this window. Trades will be considered complete when a board member is notified of said deal, however, all trades are subject to board approval. The Board has the right to revoke trades that fall outside of good faith and seem to be collusion or lopsided.

  4. FATHER/SON BUNDLE CLAUSE

    1. If Father/Son are both registered for the league year, they will be allowed to bundle themselves in the draft, per board approval, one time only.

    2. Whichever player is the higher pick, the lower draft position will be slotted per board vote. Once the higher player is drafted, that lower slotted position is automatically filled for that coach.

    3. If the father or son of this combo is a Coach, both players will be slotted accordingly by the board, pre-draft.

    4. If the coach drafts a bundle and they share the same seed as the lower slotted player, the coach will then be “re-slotted” to the preceding higher round.

    5. After the 1-year bundle has been used, the bundle may not be repeated.

    6. If the father has more than 1 son, each different son is a new bundle.

    7. This rule does not extend beyond Father/Son. Father, Stepfather and Father In-Law are all acceptable.

    8. Board approval will be weighed by variables including but not limited to separation of skill level, player skill comparable to league roster, individual relationship to NODL (are both new to the league and/or unknown/un-referred members), previous drafted teammates in the league, and more. If the players do not agree with the board’s slotting of player(s), they may retract their bundle from consideration and take their chances in the draft.

    9. There are no regulations in place for a coach to draft any family member of their choosing, organically, during the draft process.

    10. There are no regulations between coach’s “gentlemen agreements” regarding drafting family member players, including no regulation if a different coach breaks that agreement.

    11. To be considered for your bundle, you must Register on the website here, http://nodlsoftball.com/father-son-bundle/

SUB RULES

  1. TEAM ELIGIBILITY

    a. For a team to be eligible for a sub, they must be missing a minimum of 3 players. Those 3 players must be declared by 2pm on Game Day. If a team only has 2 players out by the cutoff, that team is not eligible for a sub, even if another player calls off after 2pm prior to game time. Players that have been declared OUT, but become available after the 2pm cutoff, are still NOT eligible to play in that week’s games. If there are not enough subs for teams, the team(s) that do not get a sub from the drawing will then be undeclared, and the entire team is eligible to participate.

  2. SUB ELIGIBILITY

    a. To be eligible to sub, you must be available for both time slots of 6:30/7:30pm and 8:30/9:30pm. A post on the NODL Facebook group page will be made each week for subs. Subs must comment “IN” for that week’s post. Previous sub posts will not be carried over.

    b. Just after the 2pm cutoff on game day, coaches needing subs will be listed in order of declaration. All subs that have declared IN on the sub post will then be added to a randomizer. After that list is generated, the players will be assigned in order, according to lists. Additional subs beyond the team necessities will not be able to play that week and are encouraged and welcome to try again in the weeks to follow.

  3. REPLACEMENT PLAYER 

    a. If any player is forced to miss the remainder of the season, his team’s coach will be eligible to request a permanent replacement player to fill said spot for the remainder of the season, including playoffs. This player may come from the wait list, sub list, or be requested by the coach for review by the board. Board will approve/deny requested player based on how similar in value the skill level of new player is perceived to be compared to player who’s being replaced, using the existing player’s drafted round from the current season. This rule cannot be applied after week 8 or with less than 2 weeks remaining in the regular season.

IN-GAME RULES

  1. NODL is mat ball rules. Unless the umpire calls the pitch illegal or flat, if the ball hits the mat, it is a strike.

  2. Teams will play double headers each week, unless split due to weather delay.

  3. NO mercies.

  4. 7 inning games unless time limit is reached.

  5. All players on the game day roster must be in the lineup and bat. Players may switch and rotate defensive positions including DH during the game(s).

  6. Teams will have 6 Home Runs Total per Game. Any home run hit beyond 6 will result in an Out.

  7. Game Time is 50 minutes PLUS ONE inning. At the conclusion of 50 minutes, there will be 1 more inning played. Example 1: 5th inning has just started, 2 batters in and No outs, timer goes off; the 6th inning will be played and will be the final inning. Example 2: The 4th inning has just concluded, the field is changing over, timer goes off; the 5th inning will be played and will be the final inning.

  8. If a game ends in a tie, we will go to a 5-pitch home run derby. The coach can pick what player will participate in the home run derby. The batter’s own pitcher will pitch the 5 pitches. If the first home run derby ends in a tie there will be another 5-pitch home run derby. The coach can pick any player to participate in the home run derby. This will continue until a winner is declared. NO PITCHES CAN BE TAKEN. IF A PITCHER PITCHES A BALL, IT COUNTS TOWARDS THE 5 PITCH HOME RUN DERBY.

  9. A courtesy runner may be used. The runner must not be coming up to bat, and if they are on base when they are up, that at-bat will be an OUT. The same courtesy runner may run a second time in the same inning, for the same batter.

 

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