After 20 years and 40 seasons, effective this Fall 2012 Season, the South Florida Baseball League is pleased to announce its long-anticipated restructuring.
Going forward in the New Era, the SFBL will be configuring the League Divisions by quality of teams rather than by artificial player age brackets.
League Structure:
The Premier Division will continue to feature the eight best teams in the SFBL. All other teams will compete in either the Senior Division or the Masters Division.
Based on the final standings at the end of each season, the last place and second to last place teams in the Premier Division will be relegated to the Senior Division for the subsequent season, while the first and second place teams in the Senior Division will be automatically elevated to the Premier Division. This will ensure a fundamentally sound and competitive league structure with built-in performance incentives. Even last place teams in Premier Division now have an incentive to win near the end of any season to avoid relegation. The Masters Division will continue to operate as a true 30 and over men’s league.
Age Limitations:
Going forward, there will be no age limitations for the Premier or Senior divisions except for the fact that all players must be 18 years of age or older. The Masters Division will continue with its 30 years and older age limitation, except that there are now three (3) exceptions for underage players down to a minimum age of 25. The permitted underage players may play any position, including catcher and pitcher.
Manager Responsibilities:
League Fees: Managers are expected to pay the full league fee of $2,000 at the start of each season. In addition, teams must cover umpire expenses at a rate of $80 per game for the twelve game regular season. Thereafter, umpires fees for all playoff games as well as umpire assignor fees are covered by the league. In summary, a team will need to come up with $2,960 to meet its financial obligations, or roughly $227 per player with a 13 man roster. The individual player registration fee is $230.
Liability waiver forms: Waiver forms are due at the start of every season. No exceptions. All league forms can be found on the Forms Gallery page under the Contact Us menu tab on the website. Failure to submit a signed waiver form may result in forfeit of games.
Rosters: Active team rosters need to be loaded into the league software and kept current. Roster changes are not official until the league office is notified of changes and team pages are updated on the website.
Game Results: Scores, highlights, and statistics have to be entered by Tuesdays at 5:00pm after a game. A back-up user can be granted access to enter game results.
Player of Week: Managers are encouraged to nominate one player a week by end of business day Monday. Nominations can be sent to the league office at playball@sfbl.com.
Uniforms: Managers must ensure players wear matching jerseys and cap.
Fields: Teams should exercise proper field “etiquette” when using league fields. Digging holes on the field and leaving excessive trash in the dugouts may result in termination of field rental agreements.
Team Pages: Team pages were created to showcase all league teams and can be found on the League Teams page under the About Us menu tab on the website. Additionally, the official roster for each team can be found on the team pages. Managers are encouraged to submit content like logos, pictures, and video to the league office to promote their teams.
Aluminum Bat – Wood Bat:
All divisions will use aluminum bats by default. However, any team may designate a preference for wood bat prior to the start of each season and they will be listed on the website with such designation. Games involving such designated teams must use wood bat. Where necessary, the SFBL will provide assistance with wood bats for those teams playing a wood bat designated game.
Scheduling:
Teams must notify the League two weeks prior to the start of the season as to any potential scheduling conflicts and the League will attempt to schedule around the team issues. The SFBL will then publish a full season schedule prior to the start of the season. However, only the first half of the schedule will have fields and times assigned to opponent matchups. Prior to the second half of the season, teams will have a second opportunity to again register any scheduling conflicts with the league. After that, the league will publish a final schedule, after which there will be no other schedule change accommodations permitted.
Game Cancellations – Forfeit Policy:
Teams having to cancel a scheduled game will earn a forfeit. No exceptions. Teams are encouraged to arrange to borrow players where necessary to field a complete team and avoid the forfeit. If the team notice of cancellation is provided to the League prior to Wednesday preceding the Sunday game, there will no monetary charge. If the notice is provided to the League after the Wednesday deadline, the team must pay the umpire fee of $80. No exceptions. If a team forfeits on game day, there will be a $160 forfeit fee assessed to compensate umpires. The innocent teams affected by a forfeit will have the option of getting either a make-up game at the end of the season or a $150 credit towards the next season league fees if a make-up game can’t be arranged. If the team decides to play a make-up game, then the forfeit win will be removed from the standings and replaced with the result of the makeup game.
Trophies and Awards:
Championship and MVP trophies as well as Championship t-shirts will be awarded on the field at the conclusion of each championship game. In addition, championship teams will earn a $250 credit towards the next season league fees.
History Book – League Records:
All League records and final standings will be updated at the conclusion of the Spring 2012 Season. Thereafter, the League History and Record Books for the first 40 seasons will be enshrined and locked down permanently. Given the new league structure, the SFBL will start its new era history and records beginning with the Fall 2012 season. Going forward, there will be two sets of League History and Record Books, representing the two eras.
Hall of Fame:
After the League History and Record Books are finalized, the SFBL will roll out its Hall of Fame. The SFBL’s finest will finally get the recognition they deserve. Nominations are welcome – simply send the League an email with the recommendation.