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NATIONAL ADULT
BASEBALL ASSOCIATION
2012
Tournament Entry
and Eligibility Rules
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Age Requirement:
This rule is
what makes the NABA philosophy of operating fair, well-organized
and enjoyable amateur baseball tournaments possible. In
tournaments with 25+, 35+, 45+, 50+, 55+ and 60+ divisions,
players must have reached their 25th, 35th, 45th, 50th, 55th,
and 60th birthday respectively before the end of the calendar
year to be eligible to play on a team within that division. Any
exceptions to those rules will be listed in the player
eligibility rules below. You must be a minimum age of 18 by
the tournament play date to play in any NABA tournament. Women
are eligible to participate in any NABA tournament provided they
meet the age requirement eligibility rules for their respective
divisions. A manager of a team may at any point during a game
question the age of opposing team members. We request that all
managers have copies of their player’s contracts, tournament ID
cards, or Drivers License with them during games to afford proof
of player eligibility. It is required that all players have a
valid picture ID in the event a player’s age or identity is
questioned. Managers whose players cannot produce
identification when requested to offer them by an opposing
manager may face possible protest and investigation of their
roster. Any player unable to produce a valid ID will be
ineligible to continue in the game and any subsequent game until
a valid ID is produced. If it is found that the player or
players in question is/are ineligible, then the offending team
may potentially forfeit the game of the filed protest, and may
potentially forfeit all games played up to that point in the
tournament, regardless of whether the ineligible player
participated in the previous games. The sole decision of this
penalty will be the tournament rules committee.
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Concept: All NABA tournaments use the mix’n match concept. All players
must have NABA affiliation unless the tournament is indicated to be an
“Open” NABA tournament. Simple majority will determine division
eligibility (if a roster has 8 - 18AA players and 7 - 18A players, that
team must play in the 18AA division).
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Division Selection Requirements: All division determinations are
subject to final approval and/or the decision of the Tournament Rules
Committee. While most teams have the ability to determine what division
they will play in, an over-ruling can and will be made by the National NABA Tournament Rules Committee if one or more of the following applies
to the team: 1) You must move up a division if you won a World
Championship Tournament in the NABA the proceeding year; 2) Previously
played in the past 2 years any NABA tournament and made the playoffs in
a respective division; 3) Previously played in the past 2 years in any
NABA tournament Championship game in a respective division; 4)
Previously played in the past 2 years any NABA tournament and had a
record of .500 or better in a respective division; 5) Does not meet the
ex-professional player requirement rules stated below; 6) Your team is
represented with 4 or more players from a team that won the World
Championship the prior year, and 7) If your team deposit is received
after a division has completely filled you may be moved to another
division. Again, the National NABA Tournament Rules Committee reserves
the sole right to align divisions and determine player and team
participation and eligibility. If a team drops out of a division upon
check-in the NABA will do everything we can to fill the void. However,
the NABA reserves the right to begin the tournament without said team
and issue a forfeit win to the opposing teams when necessary, and/or to
delete a division and add it to another division.
PLEASE NOTE: NABA may choose to combine
two divisions for purposes of pool play only provided that every team
meets the pro-rule for each division established by NABA. After pool
play is complete, NABA may take the records of each team in the combined
division and re-seed each team into a higher and lower division based on
each teams’ record for playoffs and championship games. For example:
where a 6 team pool is needed, if 16 teams sign up for the 18A division,
and 4 teams sign up for the 18AA division, obviously the NABA cannot
create an 18AA division. We may therefore, combine the 16 teams in 18A
with the 4 teams in 18AA for purposes of pool play only. After pool
play is complete, each team will be re-seeded for the playoffs and
championship games. For purposes of this example, if NABA at the World
Series has 8 teams in the playoffs for 18AA and 8 teams in the playoffs
for 18A, the NABA would take the top 8 teams during the re-seeding to
the 18AA playoffs and the next best 8 teams to the 18A playoffs.
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Ex-professional Player & College Player Requirements: Players who are
under verifiable professional baseball contracts are ineligible to play
in NABA tournaments except for the highest level of play of 18 Open or
Wood Bat Division. A player must be out of any level of professional
baseball (Major League, AAA, AA, A, Fall League, Instructional or Rookie
Leagues) for 60 days prior to the start of a World or National
Championship Tournament, to be eligible to participate in NABA World and
National Championships with the exception of the Open or Wood Bat
Division. NABA does not consider independent leagues unaffiliated with
Major League Baseball as professional baseball per NABA requirements.
Therefore, any player who received compensation for playing baseball
from a baseball organization listed above within the last 60 days prior
to the start of a World or National Tournament is ineligible to play in
the tournament (except for the Wood Bat Division) unless given special
permission to participate by the National NABA Tournament Rules
Committee. A participant in the NABA tournament is not considered an
ex-professional ballplayer if: 1) The player has been out of a contract
of any level of professional baseball for 10 complete seasons, and/or 2)
The player is 43 years old and has been out of professional baseball for
three seasons. Final resolution in such a situation is at the sole
discretion of the Tournament Rules Committee. Players who have played
or are playing on a college team or college practice squad, including a
club college team are eligible to play only in those divisions according
to the NABA rules specified below. Any player who has played or is
playing with a college team, practice squad or club team in NCAA
Divisions I; II; III; NAIA and Junior/Community College must play in the
divisions as outlined below. The National NABA Tournament Rules
Committee reserves the right to alter these requirements or make special
considerations to these rules. A participant in the NABA tournament is
not considered a college ballplayer if: 1) the player has been out from
playing college baseball for 10 complete seasons. Final resolution in
such a situation is at the sole discretion of the Tournament Rules
Committee.
The following are eligibility rules for
each division, as well as ex-professional player and college player
requirements, which must be adhered to:
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In
the 18 Wood - Majors division anyone is allowed to play and it is
considered an open division.
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In
the 18 Wood - Minors division a team may have up to (5) ex-pros on their
roster with no more than (2) being a pitcher and an unlimited number of
college players.
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In
the 18 Wood - Rookie division, no team may have ex-pros on their roster,
and may have up to (5) players who have played college baseball on their
roster with no more than (2) being a pitcher.
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In
the 18 Aluminum Open - Majors division anyone is allowed to play and it
is considered an open division.
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In
the 18 Aluminum Minors division a team may have up to (5) ex-pros on
their roster with no more than (2) being a pitcher and an unlimited
number of college players.
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In
the 18 Aluminum Rookie division no team may have ex-pros on their
roster, and may have up to (5) players who have played college baseball
on their roster with no more than (2) being a pitcher.
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In
the 25 Aluminum division, a team may have up to (2) ex-pros on their
roster with no more than (1) being a pitcher.
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In
the 25 Aluminum Minors division a team may have up to (5) ex-pros on
their roster with no more than (2) being a pitcher and an unlimited
number of college players.
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In
the 25 Wood division anyone is allowed to play and it is considered an
open division.
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In
the 25 Wood Minors division a team may have up to (5) ex-pros on their
roster with no more than (2) being a pitcher and an unlimited number of
college players.
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In
the 35 Aluminum division, a team may have up to (2) ex-pros on their
roster with no more than (1) being a pitcher.
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In
the 35 Wood division anyone is allowed to play and it is considered an
open division.
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In
the 45 Aluminum division, a team may have up to (2) ex-pros on their
roster with no more than (1) being a pitcher
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In
the 45 Wood division anyone is allowed to play and it is considered an
open division.
o
In
the 45 Aluminum or 45 Wood divisions, each team is allowed to have two
(2) players under the age limit provided:
§
the
(2) players in question are no more than two (2) calendar years younger
than the age limit they are playing in, and
§
the
(2) players in question are not allowed to be pitchers at any time
during the tournament.
§
any
players under age, must be marked on the lineup card for the opposing
manager and on the roster at check-in
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In
the 50, 55 and 60 and over divisions anyone is allowed to play and it is
considered an open division.
o
In
the 50, 55 and 60 and over divisions, each team is allowed to have two
(2) players under the age limit provided:
§
the
(2) players in question are no more than two (2) calendar years younger
than the age limit they are playing in, and
§
the
players are not allowed to be pitchers at any time during the
tournament.
§
any
players under age, must be marked on the lineup card for the opposing
manager and on the roster at check-in.
The NABA reserves the right to
refuse any player or team permission to participate in a
tournament. The NABA reserves the right to add, delete or merge
divisions based on the number of teams entered at anytime before
the tournament, and will give every effort to give teams advance
notice, however, the NABA may not be able to do so. If a team
planned to enter a deleted division, that team may play in
another division or receive a refund minus the deposit, or
transfer the balance to another NABA National or World
Championship Tournament, provided it is at least 5 days prior to
check-in. The NABA also reserves the right to make changes to
the rules or make changes in prizes and/or giveaways (but with a
substitute or equal or greater value), which would then be
effective upon notice to the teams participating in the
tournament.
(UP-01/12)
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