Following are the highlights of the rule changes approved by the SPAA board.
*Part I, Rule 2, Sec. 2 The current season shall start on August 9 and shall continue through an include August 8 of the following year.
*Part I, Rule 3, Sec. 5 No player shall be added during the last six (6) scheduled league games of a twelve (12) game schedule or the last eight (8) scheduled league games of a sixteen (16) game season. A manager desiring to make an addition to his official roster after the time limit set forth herein, must receive the unanimous written consent of all team managers in the division of which the team participates. Said consent shall be presented to the SPAA office before such player is eligible to play with the team. The requested addition must not otherwise be in violation of any other rule.
*Part I, Rule 3, Sec. 7 The team manager or interim team manager should always have a copy of the approved team roster and all approved roster revision forms in his/her possession at all league games. If a roster check is called and the roster is not present at the field, the game shall continue under protest with no protest fee being posted. A SPAA board member or board representative shall have the player(s) in question write their name, address, phone number, hair and eye color, and parents names on a piece of paper and sign it. The game will go on and be played as scheduled. The SPAA will check the validity of the player(s) in question within one (1) week from the game in question and send a letter to the opposing manager with the findings. If player in question is found to be illegal, each game(s) in which this player participated shall be declared forfeited and the manager shall automatically be suspended from all games until he/she goes in front of the SPAA board of directors where further action may be taken. If there is no league-approved roster on file, it is an automatic forfeit and any previous games played may be reviewed. The manager could face up to a game suspension for each game played before the roster was turned in.
Roster checks must be called before the last out of the game is made.
In order for a roster check to be valid, a $25.00 fee must be paid to the SPAA office within 1 business day from the time the roster check was called. Should the roster be found to be illegal the $25.00 fee will be refunded. If the roster is valid, the protest fee will not be refunded.
*Part I, Rule 5, Sec. 2 No player shall be eligible to play with another team within their own age group (with the exception of Rule 5, lSec. 4) unless he/she has been properly released by the manager of the team with which he previously signed to play. Such release must be properly filed by the releasing manager on the roster revision form of that team. The release must be approved before it becomes effective. Any player violating this section shall stand automatically suspended from play for the balance of the current season.
*Part I, Rule 5, Sec. 7 Spring/Summer Recruiting
Advertisements for tryouts for the following Spring/Summer season may be placed at anytime during the current season. Advertisements are legal all year round. Tryouts for the current season are legal from 12:01 AM July 15th through 11:59 PM May 15th. Any person affiliated with or intending to be affiliated with the SPAA may not attend or hold tryouts for an SPAA team after May 15th through July 14th of the current season. Rosters may be signed for the following season beginning on July 15th. Talking to a player about the following fall or spring/summer season is fine as long as you do not hold tryouts or sign a player before the dates specified.
*Part I, Rule 8, Sec. 1 Official schedules shall be made available prior to the beginning of the league season, showing the dates, starting times, location, and opposing teams for all league games. The earliest regularly scheduled league game shall not be prior to the second Monday of April.
*Part I, Rule 8, Sec. 12 Once lightning/thunder is spotted by an SPAA official, within 15 minutes of game time or after, all games at that location shall be suspended and all should seek safe shelter. Each time lightning/thunder is spotted a 15-minute delay shall occur. Game time remaining will be adjusted. Once the delayed game time EXCEEDS 30 minutes the game shall be canceled and rescheduled in accordance with Part II, Rule I, Sec. 14(e) in the SPAA rulebook.
Should a game be canceled due to lightning/thunder, the remaining games of the day may still play if it is deemed safe. This shall be a board member and field commissioner decision.
***Managers are reminded to have their teams seek safe shelter during a delay, but do not assume a game is canceled until a league official has given the final word.***
*Part I, Rule 9, Sec. 12 Once one or both teams sign a scorecard, the results are considered final unless a protest is filed. If any team disagrees with the final score, it is their responsibility to protest at the correct time (see Part I, Rule 10, Section 3). Under no circumstances should a score be changed by anyone, including the umpires, once it has been signed by one or both teams, without consent of all parties involved.
Anyone found guilty of changing, attempting to change, or influencing someone to change, a valid (signed) scorecard, shall be guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct and shall result in an automatic suspension until such time as a hearing may be held by the home association.
*Part II, Rule 1, Sec. 22 At any time during the game with the offensive teams pitcher or catcher of record on base, the manager of the team at bat has the option of substituting a courtesy runner for the pitcher or catcher. If the pitcher and catcher are both on base, the manager may choose a courtesy runner for only one of them. This is allowed only once per half inning, for the pitcher or catcher, but not both. The courtesy runner must be the player who made the last out. If the player who made the last out is not available to run, no courtesy runner is to be allowed.
*Part II, Rule 2, Sec. 9 f) *An Atom size baseball will be used for Atom I, and a regular size baseball will be used for Atom II.
*Part II, Rule 2, Sec. 14 Aluminum and wood bats are permitted in all divisions. Any bat clearly marked for softball or tee-ball is prohibited except in the Pee Wee I, Pee Wee II and Atom I division where tee-ball bats will be allowed. Juvenile I, Juvenile II, and Junior players may not use a bat higher than a 3.
*Part II, Rule 3, Sec. 13 Catchers in all divisions must wear helmets, facemasks, throat protectors, body protectors, and shin guards. While warming up a pitcher in your own age group or older, you must wear a facemask. It is the recommendation of the SPAA that anyone warming up a pitcher wear a facemask for your own protection.
*Part III, Rule 1, Sec. 8 No parents signature is necessary for the fall roster.