Stamford  Little League - American Division

Player Call-Up Policy

Applicable to Majors,  Jr. Majors, AAA, and AA divisions

1. Call-Up Procedures
   1. Authority - All replacement players or "call ups" are made by the Player Agent(s) only.  Any call up not authorized or scheduled by the league Player Agent(s) could result in a forfeit of the game.  A forfeit of a game will be at the discretion of the league president or executive committee if necessary.  The Player Agent responsible for managing the call up process must not be a manager in the division requesting the called up player.  

   2. Eligibility – Stamford Little League - American Division will only allow players to be called up from one division below.  No players may play for another team within that same division.  A pool of eligible, willing, and sufficiently talented players shall be created by the Player Agent(s), with consultation from others in the league such as managers and Board members.  

   3. 1. The team manager must notify the applicable Player Agent as soon as he/she knows that the team will not have 9 players but no later than 2 hours before the scheduled game time.  The Player Agent will endeavor to find call up players immediately thereafter.  NOTE: It is very important that early communication exist between manager and parents so that notification, as needed, can occur at least 2 hours prior to game time.

      2. Note that it is a requirement for the manager to request a number of call-ups to field 9 players, regardless of the Board policy for the current season regarding required number of players.  

      3. If the applicable Player Agent was not notified in the prescribed time prior to the scheduled game time and the team cannot field the required number of players (see below), it will result in a forfeit of the game with potential penalty (see below).  

      4. If all reasonable attempts were made to contact the applicable Player Agent in the prescribed time and the Player Agent was unable to provide sufficient players, the game will result in a forfeit WITHOUT penalty.  

   4. Required Number Players – A team is required to request as many callups as necessary to field a team of 9 players regardless of the perceived outcome.  This is intended to be in the spirit of Little League and allowing kids all opportunity to play the game.  Since the Board has decided to allow an 8-player minimum, if the procedures in this policy are followed and a team can field only 8 players, the game can proceed.

   5. Selection - Players shall be selected on a rotating basis through the pool to allow an even use of eligible players.  Player Agent(s) will attempt to contact players/parents in an orderly but practical manner to fill the call-up position. 

   6. Restricted From Pitching - No call up is permitted to pitch.  A call up is considered an ineligible player with respect to the position of pitcher.   This player is eligible to play all other positions and batting.  

   7. Minimum Playing Time - If a call up is made and a sufficient number of rostered players have arrived, all players, including the called-up player, are required to play the league required minimum play times for that division. 

   8. Notification Requirements

2. Review of Forfeits and Penalties

1. 1. Review - If a forfeit of a game is made, the circumstances of the forfeit will be presented to the president (and executive committee if necessary) for review.  
   2. Determination

   3. If it is determined that all reasonable attempts were made to follow the procedures outlined above, the forfeit will be without penalty.  

   4. If it is determined that a reasonable attempt was not made to follow the procedures outlined above, the following penalties shall be imposed:

   5. The manager will be suspended for two games immediately following the forfeiture regardless if they are regular season or playoff games.  No appeal will be permitted.  

   6. The manager and entire coaching staff of that team shall be deemed ineligible for consideration on any post season district team.  This penalty shall be entitled to an appeal process which will be heard by the President and Executive Committee. 

3. Long Term or Permanent Replacement of Players

1. 1. Injury - In the event a player is injured either during team activities or outside of team activities and is deemed ineligible to participate, the following procedure will be followed:

   2. The manager must notify the President, Safety Officer and Player Agent(s) immediately upon knowledge of injury.    

   3. If the player is expected to have a “long term injury” (i.e., miss more than eight games) and the team will have less than 11 remaining rostered players (i.e., those that do not have a long term injury and have not resigned) then the Player Agent will provide a callup player for every game that player will miss.  The callup player will be a rotating player selected from the eligible pool of players as outlined by the local leagues call up procedure above.   All other callup rules and procedures shall remain in effect.  

2. Player Resignation - In the event of a player resignation the following procedure shall be followed:  

   1. If a player or parent states they will no longer participate:

      1. The manager will immediately contact the President and Player Agent.  An attempt to contact the parent will be made to confirm their desire to resign.  

   2. In the event the player or parent has not made any statement that they do not desire to play and has not shown up for practices or games without communication to the manager:

      1. The manager shall immediately contact the President and Player Agent after the second consecutive missed event.  An attempt to contact the player shall be made to confirm their desire to play or not and a determination will be made on whether it is a resignation or considered a resignation.  

   3. The Executive Committee will investigate whether the manager/coach behavior was a significant factor in the decision to resign.

   4. If the manager/coach behavior was a significant factor, then, from that point forward a callup will be provided to this team for every game.  The callup will be made by the Player Agent and will be a rotating player from the eligible pool of players.  This callup shall follow all of the same process and rules established by the local league for call ups.

   5. If the manager/coach behavior was not a significant factor, then either

      1. If the team will have less than 11 remaining rostered players (i.e., those that do not have a long term injury and have not resigned), then a callup player will be provided to replace the resigning player for each remaining game during the season, including playoffs.

      2. If the team will have 11 or more remaining rostered players, then no callup player will be provided to replace the resigning player.  

3.  In any of these events, when a callup player is provided, the minimum player requirements remain and all callup procedures are to be followed.