Ames Little League Baseball

Ames Little League Baseball (A.L.L.B.) is organized exclusively as a non-profit organization providing instruction and training in the game of baseball for children between the ages of five and sixteen years of age. The objective of A.L.L.B shall be to implant in participants, through the activities of the league, the ideals of good sportsmanship, honesty, loyalty, courage and respect for authority, so that they may be well adjusted, stronger and happier children and will grow to be decent, healthy and trustworthy adults. With this objective in mind, managers and coaches with A.L.L.B. shall bear in mind that stressing exceptional athletic skills or winning games is secondary, and that the type of leadership extended to participants is of prime importance.

General A.L.L.B. Policies:

1. One member of the Board of Directors, designated as the "Officer of the Day", will be present at the Hunziker Youth Sports Complex ("HYSC") whenever regularly scheduled league games are being played. The Officer of the Day is responsible for the general welfare of Ames Little League Baseball and its members.

2. In the event of lightning, practices or games must be suspended immediately and can not resume until 30 minutes after the last time lightning was seen. The Officer of the Day will enforce this policy for all games being played at HYSC. It is the responsibility of the managers and coaches to comply and support the ruling of the Officer of the Day. It is the responsibility of the managers and coaches to strictly enforce this policy for team practices and games in which they are participating that are not being played HYSC. Umpires are not responsible for enforcing this policy.

3. Any adult who will have repetitive (more than twice) contact with the players is required to fill out the official little league volunteer application and submit it to the Division Vice-President (supervising, managing, coaching, and helping coach counts as contact). Once approved, this individual is a "Registered Volunteer".

4. Managers and coaches involved in A.L.L.B. are expected to conduct themselves in an exemplary way, setting an excellent example of sportsmanship, tolerance of individual differences, and commitment to instruction. When setting this excellent example of sportsmanship, managers and coaches are expected to model, encourage and require good sportsmanship by players, parents and other coaches.

5. Players involved in A.L.L.B. are expected to conduct themselves by showing good sportsmanship, tolerating individual differences, and be committed to learn from instruction.

6. No manager or coach shall be allowed to manage and/or coach two teams in Ames Little League Baseball without approval from the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors will not grant this approval to any manager or coach who has not managed or coached in Ames Little League before.

7. First aid boxes are located in the dugouts of Hunziker Youth Sports Complex Fields 1, 2, 3 and 4. All teams are issued a first aid kit to keep with them at all Ames Little League Baseball events (meetings, practices and games). In the event of any accident requiring the use of first aid supplies, an accident report will be filled out and the league safety officer will be notified.

8. Medical release forms for each and every player on the roster must be with the manager and coach at all Ames Little League Baseball events (meetings, practices and games).

9. Make-up games should be re-scheduled as soon as possible. As field usage is at premium, re-scheduled games take precedence over practices if necessary.

10. The home team is responsible for notifying the Director of Game Schedules of any cancellations, make-up dates and times.

11. Umpires will bring two game balls to the field prior to the start of Juniors, Majors and AAA Division games. The home team manager will bring two game balls to the field prior to the start of AA, A, and Tee Ball Division games.

12. The ball used must meet Little League specifications and standards. (Section 1.09 page 52).

13. Home team will occupy the third base dugout.

15. Home team will chalk the field at Brookside and North River Valley.

16. Home team rakes the infield after the game (the entire infield at Brookside and North River Valley Fields; only the low spots to fill in the holes at Hunziker Youth Sports Complex).

17. Visiting team patches holes in the pitching mound, rakes it smooth, waters it and tarps it after the game (Water is not available at Brookside Park).

18. Visiting team picks up trash around the field after the game.

19. In the event that a field has not been made ready for play at the HYSC (i.e., fields lined, pitching mound untarped, etc.), the managers and coaches of both the Home and Visiting team shall be equally responsible for making the field ready for play and for getting the game started on time, if possible. The Officer of the Day shall be responsible to make equipment available.

20. The "on-deck" position is not permitted. Only the first batter of each half inning will be permitted outside the dugout between half innings (Section 1.08 Notes 1 & 2 page 52). This rule does not apply to the Junior Division.

21. A League Official (Officer of the Day or Division VP) shall check all personally owned bats prior to use in a game. All bats must conform to Little League Rule 1.10 (page 52). Bats that pass inspection will be specially marked and will not have to be inspected again as long as the special mark is present. The Manager is responsible for ensuring that a League Official has approved all bats that are in use by that Managers team.

22. The batter, all base runners and player base coaches are required to wear helmets (Section 1.16 page 54). This includes practices and batting cage work. No exceptions.

23. The catcher is required to wear a catcher’s mitt (Section 1.12 page 53) except in the Tee Ball Division in which the catcher may use their own glove in lieu of the catcher’s mitt.

24. All catchers are required to wear a cup, chest protector, a catcher’s helmet with a mask and dangling type throat protector and shin guards during practice, warm-ups and games (Section 1.17 page 54) except in the Tee Ball Division in which the catcher only has to wear a catcher’s helmet with a mask and dangling type throat protector. The Tee Ball catcher is required to stand at least 10 feet behind home plate before the ball is placed on the tee and must remain there until the ball is hit.

25. The runner is out when the runner does not slide or attempt to get around a fielder who has the ball and is waiting to make the tag and the runner is out when the runner slides head first (Section 7.08 (a) page 81). Junior Division players may slide head first.

26. Any umpire's decision which involves judgment, such as, but not limited to, whether a batted ball is fair or foul, whether a pitch is a strike or a ball, or whether a runner is safe or out is final. No player, manager, coach or substitute shall object to any such judgment decision (Section 9.02 (a) page 93).

27. No siblings or non-players are allowed in the dugout or on the field during games. (No bat boys or girls).

The Tee Ball Division is for players 5 to 6 years old who want to learn the fundamentals of hitting and fielding. The primary goals of the Tee Ball program are to have fun, to teach the players the fundamentals of baseball and to allow them to experience the value of teamwork in a non-competitive environment.

Game Procedures include:

1. Games shall be limited to approximately one hour duration. No new inning should be started after 50 minutes of play (a new inning begins immediately after the final out is recorded in the previous inning). The game will end upon completion of any full inning after 50 minutes.

2. The side is retired when three offensive players are legally put out or when all players on the roster have batted one time in the half-inning (Section 5.07 page 72).

3. No score is to be kept and no winner is to be declared.

4. If a runner is put out by a defensive play, they shall return to the dugout.

5. Runners may not advance on an overthrow at any base except for the last batter in the batting order that inning and any runners on the bases at the time the last batter is batting. The last batter and those runners may advance around the bases until being put out or reaching home.

6. The entire team will play in the field defensively unless injured or on a restroom break. However only 6 may be in the infield positions. The rest must be in the outfield grass. (Section 3.17 page 64)

8. Over the course of the season, all Tee-Ball players must play all positions equally.

9. A continuous batting order that includes all players on the team roster present for the game shall be used. Each player is required to bat in his/her respective spot in the batting order. (Section 4.04 page 65). The batting order should be reversed every inning unless the previous inning was ended by three outs. In the event of three outs, the next batter in the order will start the following inning.

10. There will be strikeouts from the tee.

11. The offensive team’s manager and coaches will serve as home plate umpire and base umpire as well as base coaches. At least one manager or coach or adult volunteer needs to remain in the dugout. The manager or coach serving as home plate umpire will obtain the ball from the catcher at the end of the previous play and place the ball on the tee for the next batter.

12. The defensive team’s manager and coaches can be on the field to provide encouragement and guidance to the players in the field. This is limited to registered team coaches and managers only, and shall not exceed 3 managers or coaches on the field at any time. Parents that are registered volunteers may assist on the field only when a coach is absent from a game. Parents that are not registered coaches or managers for a team are not allowed on the field during game play.

13. There will be no stealing of bases or leading off.

14. The infield fly rule does not apply to Tee Ball (Section 2.00 Note 2 page 58).

15. The home team will bring and set up the tee.