Danvers National Little League By Laws
P.O. Box 262
Danvers, MA 01923
Section I - Governing Rules
As a matter of course the annual Little League approved D.N.L.L. League Rules will be of primary consideration, The Little League Official Regulations and Playing Rule book, Little League Operating Manual, and/or official correspondence from Little League Baseball, Inc. will be of secondary consideration.
D.N.L.L. By-Laws are to be deemed to be approved by Little League Baseball Inc. 30 days after the D.N.L.L. submits the By-Laws to Little League Baseball Inc. via certified mail unless Little League Baseball Inc. amends or rejects the Bylaws in writing.
Divisions within the D.N.L.L. will be designated as:
Major Division 9 - 12 yrs.
AAA Division 9- 12 yrs.
Minor AA Division 8 - 11 yrs.
Minor A Division 6 - 9 yrs.
T-Ball Division A 5 - 8 yrs.
T-Ball Division B 5 yrs.
The President, with approval of the Board of Directors, shall appoint all necessary committees which committees shall exist until such time as terminated by the President with the approval of the Board of Directors.
All findings or recommendations by committees shall be submitted to the Board of Directors, at a regularly scheduled meeting and entered into the minutes.
The Board of Directors shall consist of the following positions, provided that the League is successful in finding individuals qualified and willing to serve; President, Executive Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Player Agent, Major Division Director, AAA Division Director, Minor AA Division Director, Minor A Division Director, T Ball Division Director, Finance Chairperson, Equipment Chairperson, Safety Officer, Building and Grounds Chairperson, Vice President of Divisions, Snack Bar Chairperson, Coaches and Player Development Chairperson, Player Evaluation Chairperson and Umpire in Chief .
The management of the property and affairs of The D.N.L.L. shall be vested in the Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors possesses the final decision making authority concerning the operation of The D.N.L.L.
The Board of Directors shall meet at times and places designated by the President. The President must provide each member of the Board of Directors with 24-hour notice in advance of the meeting. The 24-hour notice may be waived if eight (8) members of the Board of Directors agree to such a waiver.
Each member of the Board of Directors shall have one vote regardless of the number of positions he/she holds. Any issue shall be decided by a majority of the members of the Board of Directors that are present. A quorum is not required. In the event of a tie, the vote shall be taken on a second occasion. In the event of a second tie, the President shall have the right to decide the issue.
Any general member has a right to call for a vote on any issue with the final decision made by the Board of Directors.
All votes taken by the Board of Directors shall be recapped in writing in the minutes of the next scheduled league monthly meeting with publication of the resulting vote.
Nominations for President, Executive Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Safety Officer and Player Agent shall be made in September with elections occurring in October. Nominations may be made by any general member. A general member is any individual who is currently a parent or guardian of a current player, a manager, a coach, a board member or any volunteer recognized by the league membership.
The President, Executive Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, Player Agent and Safety Officer shall be elected in accordance with the election rules set forth in this document and shall hereafter be called " The Officers of the League".
The remaining Board of Directors shall be appointed as follows:
Only "Members in good standing" may serve on the Board of Directors.
General members may volunteer or suggest to the 6 elected "Officers of the League" other members for the remaining Board of Director positions at the October meeting. The Officers of the League only, at the November League meeting, shall nominate individuals to serve on the Board of Directors.
All "Members in good standing" in attendance at the November meeting shall then vote to confirm the nominees.
Any nominee receiving at least 50 percent of the vote of the members in good standing in attendance shall be deemed confirmed.
In the event that any Board of Director position remains vacant or becomes vacant following the November meeting, then those vacant positions may be filled in the same manner described above, by any member in good standing from the league membership as the first order of business at the next league meeting. The President may appoint a temporary member of the Board of Directors for a period to last no longer than 30 days, this temporary member shall have no voting privileges until voted in by the general membership.
The President shall present to the League membership any officially recognized volunteer, upon which, the League members in good standing shall approve him/her, as a member in good standing through election, by majority vote.
Any general member in good standing shall be eligible to vote for the officers and Board of Directors. A member in good standing is defined as:
Any Manager or coach appointed by the League for the previous season.
Any member who attends at least 4 meetings within the last 12 months previous to the vote being taken.
Any board member or director currently in place or in place during the previous season.
Any volunteer officially recognized by the League Membership.
At least one meeting of the Danvers National Little League will be held each month. Attendance will be taken at each meeting. The results will be published by the secretary for review at the next scheduled monthly meeting.
It is a Team Manager's responsibility to have that team represented at each monthly meeting.
Any general member of The D.N.L.L. wishing to correspond with Little League Baseball Inc. shall do so only by first petitioning the President to contact Little League headquarters on his or her behalf. A majority vote of the Board of Directors may require the President to communicate with the Little League headquarters. The President then shall report back to the league membership the nature and results of any inquiry, in a timely fashion.
All volunteers, personnel and associates of the operations of the D.N.L.L. are subject to The D.N.L.L. Code of Conduct and The D.N.L.L. Standard for Participation regarding criminal history and sexual offenses.
Section II - The Players and the Game
The Player Agent, shall, after registration has been completed, recommend to the Board of Directors any age restrictions or limitations to the draft which result from any given years' distribution of players in all age groups. The goal of the Draft should be to maintain parity in the League. The Board of Directors has the ability to modify the Draft procedure to achieve this goal.
After the loss of a player, the manager must notify the Player Agent before the next scheduled game. The Player Agent will determine forthwith if a player is unable to participate for the remainder of the playing season and shall notify the manager of his decision. If the Player Agent determines that the player is unable, then the Player agent shall inform the manager of all eligible replacement players. The manager shall inform the Play Agent of his designated selection. The Player Agent shall contact the player. If the player is agreeable, he is accepted as a player on the manager’s team. If the player is unwilling, the Player Agent shall inform the manager and the process shall continue until a player is selected. It is the Player Agent, and not the manager, who shall contact the player and his or her parents. Any replacement player shall be announced by the Player Agent at the next scheduled League meeting.
If a player is lost 2 weeks prior to the last scheduled major league game, a manager may choose not to replace the player lost. If the manager chooses to replace the player and chooses a player under age 12, that team forfeits its first round draft position for the following season.
Conforming to all limitations as set forth in Part A, replacement players must be the same age or older as the player lost. Replacements must come from the next lower level division. Exceptions must be approved by a majority vote of the Board of Directors.
All Divisions Directors will set their ground rules for seasonal play within the guidelines in the Little League Official Regulations and Playing Rules subject to the approval of the Board of Directors prior to the commencement of the season. All Directors shall submit copies of division ground rules to the Board of Directors for approval, and then distribute a copy of the approved rules to the respective team managers.
All scheduled games have preference over any and all make-up games, regardless of Division.
To be eligible for Major and AAA Divisions, all players must attend tryouts, unless they have reported to the Player Agent prior to the draft with a reasonable excuse approved by the Player Agent.
A 12 year old that does not tryout out will be placed on a AAA Division team, unless the player has reported to the Player Agent with a reasonable excuse prior to the draft.
The player-agent and president, with the approval of the Board of Directors shall, prior to the commencement of the AAA Draft, announce the maximum number of 9 year old players that may be drafted by each team for that division.
New players to the program who register after tryouts will be place by the Player Agent in accordance with the established age requirements.
Any rostered Major League Player must register prior to tryouts in order to maintain his/her rostered position. In the event that a rostered player fails to register in a timely fashion, and later desires to register, he or she shall be placed by the Player Agent on an age appropriate team.
Section III - Draft System for Major Division
Team Draft Positions.
The standing of a team at the completion of the Regular season shall constitute the order of the team's draft choice.
If teams are tied in regular season standing, head to head competition will decide draft choice. If still tied, a toss of a coin will be instituted.
The last place team shall pick first in each round, the next to last place team second in each round, etc. until the rosters are filled.
Selection of Players
Each team manager shall be notified of his team's official standing and draft position prior to the draft by the Player Agent.
A team shall be represented by no more than one manager and two coaches during the drafting of players.
Only the manager or the manager’s designee can make a selection of a player when his/her draft position comes up in rotation.
Major Division will have a separate and closed door draft from the AAA Division and all other divisions.
If a trade involves current drafted players, the trade must be completed before the teams leave the draft room and if involving players already belonging to teams, this must always be done with the "best interest" of the players involved. Any such trade must be approved by the Board of Directors within 48 hours thereafter.
There cannot be any trading of players in exchange for a draft choice.
A team shall have the right to draft any of the following eligible players, hereinafter referred to as protected players:
Child of Manager
A major league team shall have the right to draft the child of the team manager regardless of whether the manager is a new or returning manager
Child of Coach
A major league team shall have the right to draft the child of a team coach provided, however, that the coach was a coach of the same major league team during the two prior seasons. If there is any question as to whether a team coach was a coach of the same major league team during the prior season, the President shall decide the issue.
Sibling of Player
A major league team shall have the right to draft the sibling of a player who played on the same team during the prior season and who is returning to play on the same team during the current season
Brother/Sister
A major league team which, during the course of the draft, drafts a player who has a brother or sister who is also eligible to be drafted shall have the right to draft the brother or sister.
At the commencement of the major league draft, and prior to the selection of any draft picks, the player agent will provide to each major league manager with a list of each and every player who meets at least one of the protected player requirements listed above. Each major league manager will privately rate the players by writing next to each player’s name the round that in the manager’s opinion the player would be drafted if the player were not a protected player. The player agent shall privately eliminate the highest and lowest rating and then shall average the total remaining ratings. The average shall be rounded off to the nearest whole number with .50 and above being rounded upward. The player agent shall then announce each protected players’ rounded average, hereinafter referred to as “the protected round”.
The team with drafting rights to the protected player has the exclusive right to draft the protected player in any round before or during the round determined by the player agent to be the protected round. If the team with rights to the protected player fails to draft the player when it is that team’s turn to draft in the protected round then any and all teams may thereafter draft the protected player.
Section IV Draft System for AAA & Minor Division AA & A
Team Draft Position
All teams from the previous year will be disbanded at the end of the playing season
Order of draft selection shall be determined by lottery.
Team drafting first in the first round shall pick last in the second round, Second round draft is in reverse order of first round and shall proceed to alternate every round.
Selection of Players
Each team manager shall be notified of his team's official standing and draft position prior to drafting.
A team shall be represented by no more than one manager and two coaches during the drafting of players.
Only the manager or his designee can make a selection of a player when draft position comes up in rotation.
A committee consisting of the: appropriate League Director, one member of The Board of Directors and all of the Division Managers shall evaluate and assign a draft round position for each child of a manager / coach.
All players not attending tryouts and without an approved absence by the Player Agent shall be placed into a pool and assigned to a team by blind draft at the conclusion of the placement of the draft of attending players.
Late sign ups shall be assigned to a team as registered in draft rotation to corresponding teams.
All trades must be completed before the teams leave the draft room.
Section V: All Star & Tournament Teams
All All-star and Tournament Teams shall be chosen in accordance with the D.N.L.L. Post season team selection procedure maintained by the President of the D.N.L.L.
Election Procedure
All elections to Board of Director positions shall follow the guide lines of The D.N.L.L. Election Procedure maintained by the President.
