III. Player Eligibility

A)  A player is required to play for the member organization whose boundaries encompass the player’s residential address.  The player’s residential address is defined as the Custodial Parent(s)’ and/or Legal Guardian(s)’ home address.  If a player moves outside the boundaries of a member organization for which the player previously registered and participated, the player has a one time option to remain with the organization from which he/she moved or to play with the organization whose boundaries encompass the player’s new address.  The selection shall be made and written confirmation of selection shall be filed with the organization’s list of players by division required to be filed as per Rule II.

Click here for Moving Player Jurisdiction form

B)  If a player resides in a neutral area, the player has a choice as to which member organization to participate with.  THIS IS A ONE TIME CHOICE ONLY.  This choice shall be made and written confirmation of the choice shall be filed with the organization’s list of players by division required to be filed as per Rule II (A). Once this choice has been made, the player shall be considered a resident of the chosen member organization for purposes of interpretation and application of these rules.

Click here for Neutral Area Selection form

C)  If a player fails to comply with the registration/eligibility requirements of these rules, that player can be declared ineligible for participation with any other M.B.A. TEAM.

D)  In any given year, if a player is cut from a team prior to the deadline established in Rule II (B) that player will be given the opportunity to select the member organization he/she wishes to play for from the member organizations submitting requests for players in that division.  If no requests are submitted, the player will be placed by the Appeals Board with a member organization with the least number of players on the roster of a team in the involved division.  Once the player does, in fact, play for a new organization, he/she has a choice of staying with the player’s new member organization or returning to his/her home organization.  Once this selection is made, the player may not change organizations after the second year unless otherwise permitted by these rules.

Click here for Notification of Cut Players form

E)  If a member organization does not sponsor a team in a division, players of that division in said organization may play for any other team within the M.B.A. in the division with the exception of organizations who have cut players that year in that division.  A player must return to his/her home organization the following year, if a team is sponsored in his/her age division.

F)  All petitions filed pursuant to these rules shall be approved or denied by the League Appeals Board.  The League Appeals Board shall consist of the president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and the individual division commissioners.

G)  If a player residing within the jurisdictional boundaries of a member organization desires to move to a different member organization, that player may request from the president of the player’s home organization, that he/she be released to play with a different organization.  Said release must be in writing and said release must be presented to the division commissioner on or before the first Sunday in February and/or at or before the first Mountaineer Baseball Association February monthly meeting, whichever is later, in order to be eligible to play the following season.  Additionally, the player shall present written acknowledgement from the president of the organization with which the transferring player shall be participating, acknowledging acceptance of the player into said organization on or before the first Sunday in February and/or at or before the first Mountaineer Baseball Association February monthly meeting, whichever is later, in order to be eligible to play the following season.  Once released by his/her home organization and accepted by the other organization, the player shall be considered a resident of the accepting organization’s boundaries for the purposes of interpretation and application of all rules discussed herein.  A player may be released by his home organization and accepted by a different organization only one time during his/her playing career in the Mountaineer Baseball Association.  Any transfers desired by the player after being released and accepted on the first occasion must be accomplished through petition to the Mountaineer League Appeals Board.  This rule does not require presidents of member organizations to release any players nor does it require presidents of member organizations to accept players released from other organizations.

Click here for Player Release form
Click here for Player Acceptance form

H)  Any player residing outside the M.B.A. boundaries desiring to participate in the Mountaineer Baseball Association, must submit a petition to the League Appeals Board each year on or before the first Sunday in February or at or before the first Mountaineer Baseball Association February monthly meeting, whichever is later, in order to be  eligible to participate the following season.  If approved for participation in the Mountaineer League, said player will be placed with a member organization pursuant to the provisions of Rule II (D) on or before March 15.

Click here for Out of Area Petition form

I)  Any player wishing to transfer from his or her home Mountaineer League organization to another Mountaineer League organization who is not otherwise permitted to transfer pursuant to applicable Mountaineer League rules, must submit a petition to the Mountaineer League Appeals Board on or before the first Sunday in February or at or before the Mountaineer Baseball Association February monthly meeting, whichever is later, in order to be eligible to participate the following season.  If any such petition is granted by the appeals board, the petitioning player shall, for the remainder of his/her Mountaineer League career, be considered a resident of the organization to which the player is transferring for purposes of the interpretation and application of these rules.

J)  MEDICAL SUBSTITUTION:  Any player deemed by the umpire to be legitimately injured, may be taken out of the game and substituted with another player until the injured player is able to re-enter.  The player substituting for the injured player must be a player that has not previously entered the game, if such a player is available.  If all players have previously appeared in the game, the substituting player shall be the player who has not appeared in the game for the longest period of time.  If the injured player is a pitcher, he/she may not return to the pitching position.

K)  Challenges to player eligibility shall be presented within seven (7) days of the exchange of the list of players by division required by Rule II (A).  If a player is identified on a team roster and that player had not been previously identified on a List of Players by Division, any challenge to such a player shall be made within forty-eight (48) hours of the Roster exchange required by Rule II (E) above.  These time restrictions on challenges to player eligibility are limited to challenges for reasons other than age and are further limited to challenges that could reasonably have been discovered by review of the List of Players by Division and/or Rosters.  Challenges may be made by contacting an officer of the Mountaineer League and/or the appropriate Division Commissioner.

 

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