U.S.A. SOFTBALL OF TEXAS DISTRICT 31
YOUTH DIVISION GUIDELINES
AGE RULE: A player’s age as of August 31st determines the age of classification in which a player is eligible to play in the following year.
PLAYING UP: Players may play up, but may not play down in a lower age division. Players playing in Class A or on a Travel Team must remain in that division for the entire season. Starting a new season (Sept. 1st) of the new year they will have the option of dropping back down to league play.
RIGHT TO APPEAL: Players playing Class A or Travel Team ball that wish to return back to league play may appeal to the District Office to return back to league play. All appeals must be in written form and sent to the District Office for review. NOTE: Players that are allowed to return back to league play will not be allowed to Pitch or Catch in their own age division of play for the current season. They may do so if they move up in the next upper age division of play.
ROSTERS
LEAGUE PLAY: All teams playing league ball must fill out an Official District Roster form. This form must be filled out completely and turned into the District Office no later than one week after league play begins for the current season.
CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY: All teams advancing to State, Regional, or National Tournaments must fill out a Championship Roster and have it signed by a District Official.
ACE CERTIFICATION: At least (1) coach on a team must be ACE certified for a team to advance to championship play, District, State, and Nationals. NOTE: All Adults (Coaches, Umpires, Team Moms) on the playing field or in the dugouts must be Safe Sport Certified, and have a Background Check done; it must be visible at all times while on the field. This must be completed through the https://usasoftballoftexas.com website.
REGISTRATIONS
LEAGUE PLAY: All players and teams in District 31 must be registered no later than Sept. 9th for Fall Ball and Mar. 1 for Spring Ball of the current year. Registration fee for league players is $25.00 per player. After Sept. 9th/Mar. 1st, the registration fee is $27.00 per player.
CLASS A/TRAVEL TEAMS: Class A / Travel Teams must be registered no later than Sept. 9th of the current year for Fall Ball and Mar. 1st of the current year for Spring Ball. Registration fees for teams that do not register through a league will be set at $30.00 per player. After Sept. 9th/Mar. 1st, the fee will be $32.00 per player.
TOURNAMENTS
All U.S.A. tournaments in District 31 must be registered and sanctioned with the District Office. Sanction fees for tournaments are ($15) Fifteen dollars per tournament. The fee will increase to ($20) Twenty dollars if there is less than 3 days notice for a request to sanction a tournament. Each tournament director will receive a tournament sanction certificate that should be posted at the tournament. Please fill out our Tournament Sanction Request Form.
ADVANCEMENTS
DISTRICT TOURNAMENTS: Teams wishing to advance to the U.S.A. State Tournaments must compete in the District Tournaments to advance. (Exception) Class A or Travel Teams.
STATE TOURNAMENTS: All teams advancing to the U.S.A. State Tournaments will be classified at the State Tournament as to which division of play they will compete in (B or C).
NATIONALS: All Class A or Travel Teams that compete in the U.S.A. State Tournaments can automatically advance to the Southern National Tournaments.
LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS
Any team that recruits players from outside of District 31 boundaries or has a hand picked team and/or openly advertises for players will be classified as a Travel Team. Players that are playing on a Class A or Travel Team may not be picked up on a league’s All Star Team or participate in the District Tournament. Any player that is registered as a league player with the district will be eligible to participate in the District Tournament.
DISTRICT POLICY’S
NON PAYMENT OF FEES: In the event of a failure to pay any fees owed to a league or the District itself, said individual or individuals will be unable to participate in any U.S.A. events or functions until said fees are paid.
LEAGUE PLAY: All Players, Coaches and Teams in District 31 shall be governed by said leagues by-laws and constitution. Any and all discrepancies will be handled by said league.
REQUEST-APPEALS-PROTESTS: All Requests, Appeals and Protests shall go through the proper channels: League Representative, District Youth Commissioner, District Commissioner, then State Commissioner. All Request, Appeals and Protests are to be in written form only. Phone calls will not be accepted.
U.S.A. SOFTBALL OF TEXAS & NATIONAL U.S.A.
All Players and Teams registered in District 31 will be playing under the U.S.A. Softball banner and are expected to follow the U.S.A. Code in all championship play.
All of the above rulings are subject to change by District 31 or U.S.A. Softball -The National Governing Body of Softball.
Nancy Everts Terry Harper
District Commissioner District JO Commissioner
