General League Rules

 

2025 SSSL GENERAL LEAGUE RULES

The SSSL was formed in 1999 for area towns to enter teams consisting of age-appropriate girls to compete in June and July against other towns in “Travel Level” games.

 

EXECUTIVE BOARD:

 

  • The SSSL Executive Board (E-Board) will consist of:
  1. President
  2. Vice President
  3. Treasurer
  4. At-Large Member(s)

 

TOWN REPS:

 

  • Each member town will designate a Town Rep to represent their program. Each Town Rep will have an equal vote in all matters that require a league vote. The Town Rep is responsible for communicating all league matters thoroughly to their town’s coaches, and to a lesser extent parents & players. A list of all Town Rep’s responsibilities can be found on the website.

 

AGE DIVISIONS:

 

  • The SSSL will consist of 4 age groups, (as determined by USA Softball age determination):
  1. 10u – Players that are Softball ages 8-9-10 (Softball 7’s only w/approval of the Town Rep, and no more than 25% of roster can be 7 yo’s)
  2. 12u – Players that are Softball ages 11 & 12
  3. 14u – Players that are Softball ages 13 & 14
  4. 18u – Players that are Softball ages 15-16-17-18**

    ** College players are NOT eligible

  • Players may play UP one age group. They may not play DOWN at any time.
  • Players may NOT play laterally in an Emergency situation. ***Except in 10U divisions, where:

             10 Blue same town players can fill-in for their 10u White & Red teams.

             10 White same town players can fill-in for their 10u Red team.

             10 Red players CANNOT Fill-in on their other 10u teams.

 

MEMBER TOWNS:

 

  • All towns within the league’s current geographical area are welcome to participate.
  • Towns outside of the area can still be accepted, pending league vote.

 

MANAGER & COACH’S RESPONSIBILITIES:

 

  • Managers are responsible for the conduct and behavior of their players, spectators and coaches. They are also responsible for insuring that their players, coaches and parents understand SSSL game rules and policies. Visiting Managers and Coaches are also responsible for making sure that ALL their team’s trash, equipment, etc is removed from their dugout/field when game is over.

 

TOWN  REP ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM:

 

  • Each town must submit a completed and signed “Town Rep Acknowledgement Form” to the SSSL Secretary prior to the start of each season. This Form acknowledges that:
  1. All of their Coaches coaching in the SSSL have been CORI checked,
  2. Their Coaches have reviewed the SSSL Code of Conduct Policy,
  3. Their Players are of the correct age for their division, and have Birth Certificates on file in case requested by the SSSL E-Board.
  4. Their Player’s residency is accurate and confirmed.
  5. They have reviewed SSSL policies and rules with their coaches.

 

SEASON OUTLINE:

 

  • Games will begin the (approx) 3rd week of June.
  • Teams will play 10 games, 2 per week. The exception being when July 3rd and/or July 4th falls on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
  • Playoffs will be held at the conclusion of the regular season, usually the last week of July/early August.
  • A yearly outline will be posted on the league website in May of each year with exact dates.

 

GAME SCHEDULE:

 

  • 10u & 14u Divisions will play on Tuesday & Thursday Nights.
  • 12u & 18u Divisions will play on Mondays & Wednesday Nights.
  • Game times are 6:00pm, unless mutually agreed upon by both teams to start earlier or play under lights.

 

DIVISIONAL TEAM PLACEMENT:

 

  • Towns will submit the # of teams they will be entering for each season at a pre-determined date (usually June 1st) by filling out a completed “SSSL Team Info Form”.
  • E-Board will place teams into divisions within each age group. The goal of the SSSL is to use these divisions to create as much Parity as possible.
  • “RED” = Highest Level, “WHITE” = Mid-level, “BLUE” = lowest level. Sub-Divisions within Red/White/Blue will be used if necessary based on team #’s.
  • The only requests the SSSL can honor is to be placed in “RED”.
  • Towns entering more than 1 team into an age group must form them as “A” & “B”. If a town chooses to form 2 teams evenly (strongly discouraged) Both teams must be placed in RED (highest) level in that age group.
  • Any town misrepresenting their team’s abilities is subject to that team being excluded from playoffs and face further sanctions.

 

ROSTERS:

 

  • Team Rosters will be submitted to the E-Board before the start of scheduling (usually June 1st).
  • Rosters are limited to 20 players. ALL must reside in the same town, unless pre-approved by the SSSL E-Board (see team merging/out of town players).
  • Rosters must be filled out completely including address and DOB. They must be on an SSSL roster form.
  • When completing team rosters, the Town Rep MUST list all required Club, Club Pitcher and High School information for ALL players on each roster. Divisional placement relies strongly on this information. Note, regardless of a player’s status on a team….full-time, part-time, alternate, emergency player…they will factor in to that team’s divisional placement if on that roster.
  • Players can be added to a Roster up until game #3. Town Rep will e-mail an updated, completed copy of that team’s roster to the league president for approval. The spirit of this extended deadline is to allow teams to add or replace players who have quit/been injured, so that they can field a full team. However if the player(s) to be added are Club or HS players, and would make that team stronger than the division they were placed in, the players CANNOT be added.
  • Teams should carry as many reserves on their rosters as possible to avoid forfeits or playing short. Teams should also use younger players from their SSSL teams to fill in whenever necessary. (Example, 14u team is short players for a game, they can use 12 year old players from their 12u SSSL team(s) to fill in). Players do not have to be dual-rostered to be able to fill in.
  • Players participating in SSSL playoff games must play in 50% of regular season games played (unless confirmed medical issue prevents this).

 

PLAYING UP:

 

  • Towns may use players from their younger teams to fill in with their older teams when short players. These guidelines must be followed:
  1. Players may only play up ONE age group. 18’s can use 14’s, 14’s can use 12’s, 12’s can use 10’s.
  2. 7U & 8U players CANNOT play up in 12U.
  3. Players called up from a younger team can only pitch if it’s a RED team. Example, a town’s 14u team is short on players and calls up player(s) from it’s 12u team(s). Those players may only PITCH if it’s the 14U RED team.
  4. Players do not have to be double-rostered. They should be rostered on the team they are regular players on.
  • Players may NEVER play DOWN.

 

OUT OF TOWN PLAYERS or MERGING POLICY:

 

  • Any Member town who is short on having enough players to roster a full team can apply to the league to be allowed to use players from another town. The following criteria MUST be followed:
  1. No age-eligible players in their town were CUT or were not given an opportunity to join the team.
  2. They should try to partner up and take players from a nearby (geographically) town, preferably a member town that is in the same situation they are in.
  3. The players they are looking to add should not be added on an ability or tryout basis….just trying to fill the team.
  4. No players may be added without release from their Town Rep (no poaching players).
  5. In the case of two towns merging a team equally, one town must take the lead and is responsible for said team, all paperwork, etc.
  6. The town must e-mail the League President at least 4 (FOUR) days before the due date of team commitments for approval before they can be added.
  7. E-Board can deny any team that does not follow the above guidelines or they feel is trying to “stack” a team. If during the season it appears a team was formed without sticking to the above guidelines that team will be excluded from playoffs and the town(s) will face further sanctions.

 

GAME RESCHEDULING:

 

  • Games that are Rained Out (Inclement weather) can be rescheduled by the coaches involved by working together to find a mutually agreed upon date. They should figure out the make-up date that day. Teams should try to make-ups Rainouts AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, preferredly  within one week. Appropriate Division Director must be notified if a game is rained out and notified with the make-up date.
  • Games that need to be rescheduled for a School Event (usually only during week 1), must follow the below steps:
  1. It is handled by both Town Reps (not the coaches).
  2. The school conflict must be verified by the Division Director.
  3. A make-up date must be set before game is officially moved.
  4. The E-Board must then approve the move
  • Games may not be moved for any of the following: Spring League playoffs, club conflicts, other sports conflicts or lack of field availability.

 

RAINOUTS:

 

  • In event of rain or wet playing surfaces once game begins, it is the sole responsibility of the umpire for that game to determine if a game should be played or should be delayed/ended based on player safety.
  • If inclement weather on game day, the manager of the home team must CALL (preferred to e-mailing) the manager of the visiting team at least one hour (but earlier if possible) before game time in an effort to speak and make a joint decision on whether the game may be played or not. The Home team makes final decision, usually based on familiarity with the field in regards to drainage, etc.

 

FORFEITS:

 

  • Any team forfeiting two (2) games during the season will not qualify for the playoffs.

 

UNPLAYED GAMES:

 

  • Coaches should make every effort to play ALL of their games.
  • If a game is rained out and then not made up it is recorded as a “NO GAME”. There are no ties awarded for these and one team cannot “give” an opponent a win because they don’t want to make it up.
  • If a game is rescheduled because of an E-Board approved school conflict during week #1, and that game does not get played, then the team who had the conflict will receive the forfeit loss on the final standings.

 

FIELDS:

 

  • Towns are required to have enough fields to accommodate the number of teams they enter.
  • Fields should be appropriate size and in good condition.
  • Pitching Rubbers should be secure and regulation size (24 x6).
  • Fields should have double first base.
  • Each town must have an available bathroom at any and all of the fields that they use for SSSL games. Porta-pottie or actual bathrooms at the field are sufficient.
  • No pitching rubber may be in the ground in front of the rubber being used for that game.
  • Pitching distances:
  1. 18u & 14u – 43 feet
  2. 12u – 40 feet
  3. 10u – 35 feet

 

REPORTING SCORES:

  • The WINNING TEAM (only) is required to report scores from all league games.
  • Scores should be reported that night, but MUST be reported within 48 hours of the scheduled game time, to receive credit for the win..
  • Scores will be E-Mailed to the appropriate Division Director.
  • E-Mails should be in this format, including ALL info below in order to be accepted and recorded to website:
  1. “SSSL (DIVISION NAME) Score” in Subject line.
  2. Date of game (if a make-up, list the original and the date is was played).
  3. Both Team Names and Score. Example, Boston White 5 – New York 1
  4. Your Name.

 

UMPIRES:

 

  • The HOME team is responsible for scheduling and paying a qualified umpire for all SSSL games. HOME team should also insure that the umpires they schedule are familiar with any SSSL specific rules & policies.
  • PLAYOFFS:
  1. HOME team schedules 1 umpire for Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals, and 2 umpires for all FINALS games.
  2. For SEMI Final games, each team will split the cost of the umpire and pay at the field.
  3. SSSL will pay for ALL Finals games umpires.

 

LEAGUE CHAMPION:

 

  • The Champion of each Division will be the team that wins the league playoffs. League Champions will receive a pre-determined amount store credit at Rockland Athletic Supplies to be used towards champion T-Shirts or sweatshirts etc.

 

STANDINGS TIE-BREAKERS:

 

  • 1 – Head to head record.
  • 2- Run differential in head to head games,
  • 3- Least runs allowed for season
  • 4- Record vs higher seeded teams,
  • 5- Least # of Forfeits
  • 6- Most # of Games played
  • 7 – Coin flip

 

PLAYOFFS:

 

  • SSSL Playoffs are an extra week of games to determine the Champion in each division.
  • SIX (6) teams from each division will qualify for the playoffs, regardless of division size.
  1. Quarter-Finals: 6th @ 3rd place and 5th @ 4th place.
  2. Semi-finals : Lowest seed plays @ 1st Place, highest seed plays at 2nd place.
  3. Finals : two semi-final winners play at the higher seed’s field.
  • If a playoff game is rained out it is played the next night, or before the start of the next round…no exceptions. If a FINAL is rained out, the two teams can play on a mutually agreed upon day/time
  • If for any reason a town does not have an available field for a Home game for a playoff game, the game will be played at the away town’s field, with the H/A staying the same. The game can NOT be rescheduled for this reason.
  • Playoff games will begin at 5:30pm to allow for additional daylight to insure game is completed. (games can be played under lights if available, and if both teams agree).
<>··Trophies will be awarded to Finalists and Runner-ups.

 

 

COACH, PLAYER & SPECTATOR BEHAVIOR:

 

  • Towns are responsible for the behavior and actions of their Coaches, Players, Spectators and anyone involved with their teams at an SSSL game.
  • The SSSL reserves the right to impose sanctions, including warnings, game suspensions or league expulsion, for any issue in which it is determined warranted. This includes actions by players or coaches involving the harassment, threatening or actual physical harm to an umpire or opposing player/coach.
  • Towns are responsible for their fans. If a fan becomes abusive during a game, that town’s coaches are expected to control or remove the offending person(s) from the field area.
  • Any Coach/Volunteer ejected from an SSSL game:
  • 1st  Offense-  will be suspended for that team’s next scheduled game.
  • 2nd Offense – will be suspended for the remainder of the season including playoffs, and must apply to the SSSL e-board for reinstatement for the following summer season.
PRINT