"rostered" players
 

We had a question come up recently from a league we work regarding legally rostered players. The question was if USA Softball expressly states any penalties for the use of non-rostered players.

This league is a local slow pitch church league. They do have a bylaw that players must be at least 16 years of age in order to play.

All teams must submit rosters by a certain date of the men who will play on their teams. The question came up when one team, facing a forfeit for not having enough players, used a non-roster player in the game. If brought to the umpire's attention, does the umpire have any say in this matter or is it left solely to the league administrators (league BOD or officers)? This seems like an issue that an umpire couldn't rule on at a particular game.

I guess it would be similar to the question posed in another thread about the ages of players in a JO tournament. Again, not the umpire's purview.

So is this all to be managed by the individual leagues at the rec level? I think USA has some rules regarding the status of various teams at JO levels and what levels slow pitch teams should be rated. I don't think any of this stuff is in either our rules or mechanics manuals. Where would they be?

Thanx.

As an umpire isn't this a "don't care"? We show up for our games and take lineups assuming all players are 'legal'. If one or more is not its for someone else to sort out ... I'm not stopping the clock. If someone wants to protest an illegible player note it where appropriate and move on. :D

Church league softball protesting players............sounds like the typical "fun" league. SMH. My non-umpire opinion is you're there to call the game, not to run the league. Let them settle their "fun".

As the umpire, if you are the only "authority" on site, you should simply document the protest. Ask for an ID and write down the name & birthdate, or any other info which may be pertinent to the league in the scorebook of the protesting team and move on with the game. When you get home, simply inform your contact with the league that there was an eligibility issue in your game and who has the information and then forget about it. This is assuming you don't receive other direction from the league.

If there is an "officer" of the league there, bring it to their attention and move on with the game once that individual gathers the information necessary.

Bingo. Get the information you can, make the complainers happy enough to play, and play the game. The game can always be declared a forfeit by the league administration later. For God's sake, it's just church-league slowpitch. Situations like these that "don't matter to the umpire" are the only time I can justify doing whatever is necessary to placate the complaining coach. The last thing you want to have happen is a forfeit by the complainers if they are so obstinate they won't play until you "fix" it (which seems to be the default move for teams like this)...I don't think a game that was forfeited and never played can be reversed.