Roy Hobbs eligibility guidelines
Here are Roy Hobbs Baseball’s eligibility rules for the Roy
Hobbs World Series:
v Eligibility Requirements
Players are eligible to compete at the RHWS,
provided they:
u Satisfy the age and professional player
eligibility requirements explained below.
u Complete
the registration process and execute a player “Registration Contract &
Waiver” signed by the team’s manager/coach, which affirms that both the player
and the player’s manager/coach will be bound by the rules, regulations and
governance of Roy Hobbs Baseball.
u Complete
in-person check-in, including presentation of appropriate government-issued
photo identification before participating in any games.
u Have
his/her RHWS I.D. card received at check-in registration in his/her possession
at all games. Players without their
cards are ineligible to participate.
u Have not violated
any RHWS rules or been engaged in unsportsmanlike or inappropriate behavior in
a prior RHWS.
All managers
must sign a statement provided by Roy Hobbs Baseball at team check-in, stating
that (i) they are not aware of any intentional, unintentional or inadvertent
violations of the RHWS rules by any player on the team or themselves, (ii) they
are not aware that there are any ineligible players on their roster, and (iii)
they will abide by all eligibility rules, interpretations or disciplinary
decisions rendered by Roy Hobbs Baseball during the RHWS. Managers are
subject to the same penalties as ineligible or disqualified players.
v Age
u Open
Division: Players must be 28 years of age by Dec. 31, 2007. (Teams allowed
3 players 25-27, but those players must be 25 years of age by Oct. 20, 2007.)
u Veterans
Division: Players must be 38 years of age by Dec. 31, 2007.
u Masters
Division: Players must be 48 by Dec. 31, 2007.
u Legends
Division: Players must be 55 by Dec. 31, 2007.
u Classics
Division: Players must be 60 by Dec. 31, 2007.
u Seniors
Division: Players must be 65 by Dec. 31, 2007.
u Family Affairs
Division: See Family Affairs playing guidelines.
u Women:
Open age group in women’s division; Women are welcome in the men’s competition
with age minimums of 25 in the Open Division, 35 in the Veterans, 40 in
Masters, 45 in Legends and 50 in Classics.
Exceptions: Underage Players as allowed in all divisions
u 28s: Teams in the Open Division are
allowed 3 players on the roster between the ages of 25 and 27; those players
must reach the age of 25 prior to the start of the RHWS and are subject to the
playing restrictions set forth below.
u 38s, 48s: Teams in the Veterans & Masters
divisions are allowed one underage player on the roster who may be younger than
the otherwise applicable eligibility rules would require, as long as that
player is no more than one year younger than the applicable age group (e.g.,
37, & 47 years of age) by November 1 of the year of the RHWS. For example, a 38+ team can have one player
who will be 37 as of November 1, 2007.
u 55s: In the Legends Division, teams
have two options: 1. One underage player
at 54; 2. two players 54 on their roster, but
neither player may pitch under any circumstances. All 54s must be 54 as of November 1, 2007.
u 60s: In the Classics Division, teams
may have one player as young as 57 on their roster. That player may not
pitch under any circumstances.
u 65s: In the Seniors Division, teams may
have one player as young as 58 on their roster. That player may not pitch
under any circumstances.
Except as noted above, there are no restrictions on
the positions that underage Open, Veterans, Masters & Legends players may
play in the first 4 games of non-playoff pool play. However, underage players are eligible to
pitch only on teams participating in the highest division of the playoffs for
their age division (AAAA, or
Every player is
required to produce an acceptable government-issued photo identification
card (e.g., driver’s license), which includes his/her birth date upon check-in at the RHWS in order to be declared
eligible.
Each player and his/her manager/coach are
responsible for verifying and attesting to player age eligibility as set forth
above. As a part of that process, each player must submit a Roy Hobbs’ “Registration Contract & Waiver” no later
than check-in of the Roy Hobbs World Series (at least once every 3 consecutive
years). The contract & waiver must
be signed by each player and their respective manager/coach, and requires,
among other things, that each player and his manager disclose and attest to the
player’s age eligibility.
No age or identity challenges are permitted during
games. If a manager desires to challenge
the age or identity of any player in the RHWS, whether that manager’s team has
played or will play against the team of the challenged player, the manager, and
only the manager, may contact the Roy Hobbs Baseball President or the RHWS
Tournament Director (“Roy Hobbs Officials”) before 5 p.m. E.S.T. on the closing
Saturday of the week in which the team is competing, and state the basis for
such challenge.
v Ex-Professional Players
“Ex-professional
players” eligible to play in the RHWS are defined as players who, in the
discretion of the Roy Hobbs Officials, have been regularly paid to play in
organized baseball leagues (other than incidental travel-related expenses)
regardless of amount, frequency, country, the level or status of team or
league, and have been out of paid baseball continuously since January 1 of the
calendar year in which the player desires to participate in the RHWS. For example, a player retired from
paid-to-play baseball in the spring of 2007, would not be eligible for RHWS
until the 2008 event.
“Ex-professional players” must be
prepared to provide proof of their release date, and failure to do so may
result in the player being declared ineligible.
u A RHWS team
roster may not be more than 50 percent “ex-professional players”.
u A RHWS team
roster is limited to 3 “ex-professional players” who have been out of
pay-to-play baseball less than 5 continuous years as of the date the RHWS week
begins for the Division in which they are playing.
u All
“ex-professional players” must register as such with Roy Hobbs Baseball by
completing an applicable professional player eligibility statement at the time
of check-in. Failure to do so may lead
to loss of eligibility, disqualification and other actions described below.
u Active or
former professional coaches/managers are eligible to participate as players,
coaches or managers, so long as they meet these “ex-professional player”
eligibility requirements.
v Roster Requirements
RHWS team
fees cover 20 players, managers and coaches. The roster may be expanded to a
maximum of 25 eligible players, but additional players after 20 result in the
additional charges set forth in the RHWS fee schedule. One (1) manager and one (1) coach may be
included beyond the maximum of 25; however, Roy Hobbs Baseball will provide
only 25 individual awards to teams in the championship round. Batboys,
scorekeepers or other non-uniformed personnel are not eligible for individual
awards in the championship round (teams wishing to include any such personnel
may opt to purchase any of the individual awards). Any roster after team
check-in at
Players may
not play on more than one team within any age division. Players may
participate in multiple age divisions within the same week, i.e.,
Legends and Classics, Classics and Seniors, etc. However, Roy Hobbs makes no guarantees as to
avoiding schedule conflicts between such teams.
Regardless
of roster size, teams in all divisions are limited to 6 players who are not
from that team’s principle drawing area, i.e., the team’s league, city,
county or metropolitan area. A “metropolitan area” is the geographic
area, which may contain multiple cities and counties, from which players who
play in the same amateur senior baseball league are generally drawn. Metropolitan areas are subject to approval by
Roy Hobbs Officials.
Teams are required to submit a Geographic
Waiver form, identifying the team’s principle drawing area and listing all
players from outside that area, prior to the RHWS. Roy Hobbs Officials must approve these
players and may, in their discretion, approve additional players who are not
from the team’s principle drawing area.
A Geographic
Waiver form is not required, in the discretion of Roy Hobbs Officials,
for (i) players who have been approved to play on the team in prior RHWS, or
(ii) players placed on a roster by or with the approval of Roy Hobbs Baseball.
v Playoff Eligibility
To compete
in the RHWS playoffs …
u A position
player must participate (hit and play defense) in at least one the first 4
games. If a position player arrives later than Tuesday, or the team’s
fourth RHWS game, that player must play all of game 5 offensively and
defensively. If a non-playoff game 5 is NOT played for any reason,
the player must play all of the first playoff game offensively and defensively
in order to participate in any further RHWS playoff games. AAAA-qualified teams are limited to 2
such players for the playoffs.
u To be
eligible to pitch, a player must appear as a pitcher and throw at least 3 full
innings within the first 4 RHWS games (3 full innings is defined as 9 outs, or
at least 18 complete hitters). If the player arrives later than Tuesday
or the fourth RHWS pool game, to be eligible as a pitcher, the player must
pitch at least 5 complete innings (15 outs or at least 25 complete hitters) in
RHWS pool game #5. If a non-playoff game 5 is NOT played for any reason,
the player, in order to be eligible to compete in additional playoff games as a
pitcher, must start and pitch the first 5 complete innings (15 outs or at least
25 complete hitters) of that first RHWS playoff game, regardless of the number
of runs given up. Pitchers on AAAA-qualified
teams must be playoff qualified from pool play; no exceptions.
v RHWS
Departures
u If a player
leaves the World Series for any reason and skips any games or part of a game,
the player must surrender his player ID card to RHWS officials before departure
and check in with RHWS officials before participating in any RHWS games upon
his return (his RHWS ID card will be re-issued upon his return). Should such a player not return until after
pool play is completed, he will be required to have met playoff eligibility
conditions prior to his departure.
Additionally, to be eligible to continue to pitch, said returning player
must pitch at least 5 complete innings (15 outs or at least 25 complete
hitters) in his team’s first game upon his return.
v Disqualification, Penalties Discretion
of Roy Hobbs Officials
Player & Manager/Coach Agreement
By signing
the “Registration Contract & Waiver”, (including the formal Check-In
contract & waiver) both the player and that player’s manager/coach agree to
abide by Roy Hobbs rules and determinations reached by Roy Hobbs Officials or,
where applicable, the Roy Hobbs Advisory Board described below.
An
“ineligible player” is a player who is in violation of these Roy Hobbs Baseball
eligibility rules, regardless of whether the player or manager/coach violated
the rules knowingly or otherwise.
If a player
is determined by Roy Hobbs Baseball to be an ineligible player, has violated
any RHWS rules, or has engaged in unsportsmanlike or inappropriate behavior,
the player may be disqualified for all or some of the RHWS, at the sole
discretion of Roy Hobbs Officials. The player will be subject to as much
as a 5-year suspension from Roy Hobbs-sanctioned events. Roy Hobbs
Officials may determine, in their sole discretion, that ineligible and
disqualified players forfeit all rights to fees paid, awards or any benefits
from participation.
If it is
determined that a team has played a game or games using an ineligible or
disqualified player, or otherwise violated RHWS rules, Roy Hobbs Officials may,
upon review of the facts, take any action deemed appropriate in their sole
discretion, including (i) declaring the team with the ineligible player to have
forfeited all games in which an ineligible player participated, (ii)
disqualifying the team from the RHWS, (iii) requiring some or all of a portion
of a game to be replayed and/or (iv) declaring the team to have forfeited any
fees paid, victories, awards or benefits from participation.
Roy Hobbs
Officials may interpret these rules in their sole discretion consistent with
the best interests of the RHWS and take actions they deem appropriate to
maintain the integrity of the rules and the fairness of the RHWS.
Any
determination or interpretation of these rules by Roy Hobbs Officials may be
appealed only to the Roy Hobbs Advisory Board convened at the event, the
members of which will be announced prior to the beginning of the play for each
Division.
A player
and/or manager/coach who has been declared ineligible, disqualified and/or
suspended, remains so, pending any hearing and until reinstatement by the
Advisory Board. Decisions of the Advisory Board are final and
may not be appealed to any other person, court or tribunal.
Updated,
July 1, 2007