Bylaws

Article I – Name

The name of this league will be known as the “Darlington Girls Softball League, Inc.” hereafter referred to as DGSL. The name of this league will not be used in any manner unless expressed or the Executive Board gives written consent.

Article II – Objective

The purpose of this organization is to teach young girls the fundamentals of the game of softball. It is to promote honesty, teamwork, and the ideals of good sportsmanship. Organized clinics and practices in addition to playing supervised games will complete this objective.

Article III – Government

  1. Roberts Rules of Order will apply – Parliamentary procedure is defined as follows: It is a set of rules for conduct at meetings which allows everyone to be heard and make decisions without confusion.
  2. The government of DGSL will be led by the Executive Board. The Executive Board shall consist of the officers of the league that are listed as follows: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Player Agent, Equipment Manager, Tournament Director/Umpire-In-Chief, Field Director, and Public Relations Director. Positions can be removed or added at the discretion of the Executive Board.
  3. Executive Board members must meet the voting membership criteria to be elected and maintain Executive Board status.

Article IV – Executive Board Members’ Duties and Responsibilities

President – The President shall preside at all meetings and enforce all by-laws. The President will use parliamentary procedures at all meetings and will oversee all league activities to ensure that all members are following the by-laws. 

Vice President – The Vice President will assume all responsibilities of the President in the event of their inability to carry on in that capacity. The Vice President will serve in this capacity until the President can resume their responsibilities or a new President is elected at the beginning of the new season (September 1st). The Vice President will be responsible for the inventory and scheduling of the concession stand.

Secretary – The Secretary will be responsible for recording detailed minutes of all meetings and the accuracy of the voting members, to ensure that only eligible voting members vote during all meetings for which they qualify. It is their responsibility to provide a written account of minutes from the previous month’s meeting and keep copies of all documents that pertain to the league. The secretary is also responsible for maintaining accurate and up-to-date information on each player in the league. Finally, the Secretary is responsible for sending out sponsorship letters no later than February 1st.

Treasurer – The Treasurer shall be responsible for all collections of any type. The treasurer shall be responsible for all financial accounts associated with DGSL. This person shall pay any bill due providing it is authorized by the President or the Executive Board. The treasurer will be responsible for submitting a detailed written report of both income and expenditures for the period between monthly meetings. 

Player Agent – The Player Agent along with the Executive Board will conduct all tryout sessions. The Player Agent along with the Executive Board will also have the responsibility of conducting both the junior and senior draft. The Player Agent will also be responsible for solving any disputes or conflicts that occur between managers, coaches, players, and parents. This also includes any discrepancy or misbehavior by family and friends at a DGSL-sanctioned event. Penalties for these incidents may be issued upon Executive Board review.

Equipment Manager – The Equipment Manager shall order and maintain all required equipment needed for league play. They will submit purchase requests to the President and Executive Board and receive approval for any purchases. The Equipment Manager will also be responsible for checking all equipment and keeping records of the equipment that a manager has. The Equipment Manager will also check all equipment in and out every year.

Field Director – The Field Director will be responsible for dragging, lining, and maintaining the fields on game days, home playoff games, and tournaments. They will submit purchase requests to the President and Executive Board and receive approval for any purchases. 

Tournament Director/Umpire-In-Chief – The Tournament Director/Umpire-In-Chief will be responsible for organizing and running all home tournaments.  It is the Tournament Director’s responsibility to schedule the teams and check the rosters upon arrival. They are the Umpire-In-Chief for the tournament unless otherwise delegated.

Publicity Director/Website Manager – The Publicity Director will be responsible for all external publicity required for the league. This also includes but is not limited to any newspaper and/or television ads for registration, fliers for all events, etc. The Publicity Director along with the President will approve all items to be publicized (i.e. newspaper articles and fliers). As Website Manager, they will be responsible for the DGSL  website and social media pages including but not limited to the following: league news & updates, mass emailing to parents, players, and coaches, travel squad news & updates, and player and coach pictures.

Article V – League Rules

  1. All present at the monthly meeting must sign in with the secretary upon arrival or you will not receive credit for the meeting.
  2. A manager, coach, or representative of each team must attend every monthly meeting. However, the manager is ultimately responsible for seeing that their team is represented at each meeting.
  3. The voting membership shall consist of anyone who is a manager, coach, or parent/guardian who is in good standing with the league and has attended at least half the monthly meetings. Any voting member will lose voting privileges if that person misses back-to-back meetings and has not notified the President. The voting membership, for the by-law changes, will consist of league members that have attended at least half of the scheduled monthly meetings within the previous 12 months (5 out of 10). For example, if the by-law meeting was to be held in January, then meeting attendance from January through December would be evaluated to determine voting eligibility. At least 75% of the Executive Board must be present to vote on the proposed addition, change, or revision. A majority vote of those present members will determine whether the proposed addition, change, or revision will be proposed to the voting membership for any consideration about the by-laws. The meeting calendar will be from September to September.
  4. The President does not vote on any issues except in the case of a tie, and yearly Executive Board elections. As a system of impartiality, if for any reason a vote concerns an issue directly involving an Executive Board member, that member will not be allowed to vote. 
  5. Any volunteer who commits to this league is expected to uphold the by-laws. A copy of the by-laws will be available upon request and given to all managers.
  6. The managers will give a copy of specific rules for their division of play to all players on their team. 
  7. Managers and coaches who will be returning to the league must make their intentions known at the March meeting after sign-ups have taken place.  Anyone approaching the league wishing to be a manager, coach, or scorekeeper must have a National background check (BCI) through USA Softball via their website. The Executive Board shall be able to remove any manager or coach who is deemed a problem to the league by an Executive Board vote. 
  8. If a team loses a manager during the year, the Executive Board will appoint one of the coaches as acting manager for the remaining part of the year. The Executive Board will consider all coaches on that team for the position of manager the following year. 
  9. There will be a manager, two coaches, and a scorekeeper on the roster per team. One of the above-mentioned should be a female. 
  10. A manager can be the manager of only one team in the league for a specific season.
    1. The manager can be listed as a Coach on one team in each of the other divisions. 
    2. The team that they manage will take priority over all other teams’ responsibilities. 
    3. If a Manager does not live up to their responsibilities to the team of priority, they will be subject to forfeit their position as manager.
  11. No solicitation is allowed by anyone involved with DGSL in a board/volunteer/coach/manager position (held either current or prior) using privileged information gained from such position except for fundraisers held by and on behalf of the league. Any solicitation/fundraising benefiting DGSL or its members, directed to the local league, should be approved by the Executive Board. Any violator will be subject to dismissal/suspension, possibly permanently, from the league. 

Article VI – Committees 

  1. Special Events Committee – This committee will be responsible for planning league events such as opening day, banquet, etc. They will oversee setting up, cleaning up, and running all planned events. 
  2. Host Tournament Committee – It is recommended that this committee be formed no later than the March monthly meeting to help with all tournaments in DGSL. This committee will be responsible for handling the setup of all fields being used, inventory of what is needed for the concession stand, and cleaning the bathrooms, concession stand, and bleachers at the end of each day/night.
  3. Fundraising Committee – This committee will be responsible for planning and executing all league fundraising activities. 

Article VII – Membership

  1. Any girl who meets the eligibility requirements will be eligible to play in the league.
    1. The instructional 1 division (6U) players will be ages 4, 5, and 6 with a cutoff date of December 31.
    2. The instructional 2 division (8U) players will be ages 6, 7, and 8 (6-year-old with exception) with a cutoff date of December 31.
    3. The minor division (10U) players will be ages 9, 10, and 11 with a cutoff date of December 31.
    4. The major division (12U) players will be ages 11, 12, and 13 with a cutoff date of December 31.
    5. The senior division (18U) players will be ages 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 with a cutoff date of December 31. (Any high school girl who is 18 years old is eligible to play in our league).
  2. Birth certificates must be presented to all new players at the time of registration. If the player is registered online, the birth certificate must be presented at player evaluations for age verification.
  3. Any parent requesting that their daughter not play for the same team from the previous year must understand and follow this procedure:
    1. The parent must list on the registration their request and the reason. 
    2. The player will be put into the draft and will only be available to the other teams.
  4. All new players to the league, who DO NOT attend the player evaluations will be placed at the end of the list of draftees and will not be drafted until the other draftees have been placed on teams.
  5. Players will only be allowed on one roster. No player will be assigned to 2 teams on 2 different levels. Any player who is caught playing on 2 different teams will face disciplinary action.
    1. Managers – the managers of a team will be responsible for all decisions made concerning their team. It is their responsibility to oversee that their coaches follow all by-laws and uphold the code of conduct of the league.
      1. Any penalties brought upon a team will be focused solely on the manager unless it is blatant misuse or misconduct of rules by a specific coach of said team. Any manager not fulfilling their duties will be relieved of their responsibility.
      2. It is the sole responsibility of the manager to fulfill their duties (i.e. field maintenance, fundraisers, field clean up, concession stand duty, etc.).
      3. Managers and coaches will be responsible for prepping fields (i.e., raking baselines, mounds, and home plate) and removing trash from the field and dugouts at the start and end of games and practices.
      4. Managers and coaches are responsible for making sure their dugouts are clean after every game and practice.
      5. Every manager will receive a bag of equipment for their team. It is the responsibility of the manager to ensure all equipment is safe and in proper working order. Any damaged or broken equipment must be returned to the equipment manager as soon as possible and exchanged for a replacement. Any equipment that is missing at the end of the season will become the financial responsibility of the manager. Managers may be excluded from the league for failure to replace or return said equipment.
    2. Coaches – it is the coaches’ responsibility to take over the duties of the manager when the manager is not available. The coaches are required to help in all aspects of the league (i.e. field maintenance, fundraisers, field cleanup, etc.).
  6. The league will hold monthly meetings on the first Monday of the month or upon such other dates as may be set from time to time, which will be open to all involved in the league. The Executive Board will meet at least once per month, more if necessary. The Executive Board will decide on dates and times
  7. Election of league officers will be held at the August meeting. Their term will begin in September and will be for 1 year. If an Executive Board member resigns or is removed before their full term has been completed they will be ineligible to run for the Executive Board at the next election. The Executive Board will hold a special election at the next scheduled open meeting. If no one is nominated to accept the position, the President will appoint a successor to complete the remainder of the term. The person vacating the position will still have all their rights (managing a team, voting privileges, etc.).
    1. To be eligible for a position on the Executive Board, you must be a member in good standing as defined in Article VII Section B, have at least 20 hours of service to the league, and have attended half the monthly meetings. If the nominee is not a member in good standing, the existing Executive Board will decide their appointment to the Executive Board.

Article VIII Finances 

  1. Registrations – All players MUST pay a registration fee, unless of a hardship. If you are under financial hardship, financial aid is available. (added 12/2019) If a player is not paid in FULL by the time of the draft, that girl will NOT be placed on a team. 
  2. Any unpaid balances from the previous season MUST be paid in full before the player is placed on a team for the current season. (added 12/2019)
  3. All league members are expected to help in fundraising for the league. 
  4. The type of fundraising will be determined by the Executive Board 
  5. The treasurer shall collect/disperse all league income/expenses 
  6. A monthly report will be given on the concession stand during the season. The treasurer should give this. 
  7. Partial refunds may be given for registrations before the season starts. Once the season has commenced, NO refunds will be issued.

Article IX – Meetings

  1. The league will hold a monthly meeting on the first Monday of every month or upon such other dates as may be set from time to time. All meetings will be open to all involved in the league. The Executive Board will meet at least once per month, more if necessary. The Executive Board will decide on dates and times.
  2. All meetings will be held at a regular place, date, and time specified by the President. The President or a majority vote of the Executive Board, as required, may call special meetings, provided members have three (3) days’ notice.
  3. All meetings will be recorded by the league secretary.
  4. Robert’s Rule of Order will apply at all meetings. Meetings will run under Parliamentary Procedure and in the following manner. Organizations that run using parliamentary procedure usually follow a fixed order of business as listed below.
    1. Call To Order
    2. Roll Call of Members Present
    3. Reading of Minutes of Last Meeting
    4. Treasurer’s Report
    5. Special Orders (Important business previously designated for consideration at this meeting.
    6. Unfinished Business
    7. New Business
    8. Announcements
    9. Adjournment

Article X – Sportsmanship

  1. The league has a ZERO TOLERANCE policy for bullying. Anyone deemed guilty of bullying will be removed from the league for no less than 1 year and not more than 5 years.
  2. No foul language will be tolerated. Any manager, coach, or player using foul language towards umpires, managers, coaches, players, or fans will be asked to leave the area. The league has adopted a ZERO TOLERANCE policy.
  3. Any manager, coach, or player using foul language as described above, will be removed for the remainder of the game and asked to leave the area.
  4. No combative physical contact will be tolerated. If there is physical contact for ANY reason, said person(s) will be removed from the league for no less than 1 year and not more than 5 years (City Rule).

Article XI – Rules

The Executive Board shall decide any rules. The league will follow all the rules of the USA Softball National Governing body, except as modified below.

  1. The home team will occupy the third base dugout.
  2. All players are to wear the team shirt provided by the league. Girls not in their respective uniforms will NOT be allowed to play, except for the junior high and high school girls coming from a game.  If a shirt is altered in any way, the girl will not be allowed to play (cutting off sleeves). All girls in Tee Ball and instructional divisions must wear gray baseball pants. 
  3. Only the President or Vice President can cancel a game before the starting time. After the designated starting time, only the umpire or sitting board member shall have the authority to cancel the game. It is up to the manager/coaches to inform the players. Games will not be canceled or postponed due to anything but inclement weather.
  4. For the players’ safety, no aerosol cans, radios, brushes, cell phones or other electronic devices or food will be allowed in the dugouts. NO jewelry of any type shall be allowed.
  5. Players are not allowed to stand on the dugout benches.
  6. There will be no smoking in any dugout or in the complex. People who smoke will have to go out to the parking lot and away from all fields. This is per the City of Pawtucket.
  7. All teams make the playoffs. The championship will be decided by a double-elimination tournament. All players in all divisions must play at least 50% of the regular season to be eligible to play in playoffs.
  8. Players are expected to attend regularly scheduled practices to maintain good physical condition and to have a practical understanding of the game. This is essential to all players’ safety. (Players unable to attend practice must notify their manager or coach.)
  9. No Player will be allowed to enter the game after the fifth inning.

Article XII – Draft

The draft is designed to allocate players to teams based on the skill levels of the registered players. Players are evaluated by coaches and are assigned scores based on the player’s skill level. The scores are tallied and entered into the registration system. These ratings are then used to determine teams by allocating the talent evenly across each team. Reasons for the draft include: 

  • Distribute talent to each team evenly 
  • New or inexperienced coaches are not placed at a disadvantage when coaching a team 
  • Avoids situations where players are told to skip the try-out/evaluation so that the coaches will not take notice of the player, and the player can be chosen in a later round 
  • Avoids “stacked teams”

Rating System – Each registered player in the Minor, Major, and Senior divisions is evaluated by the coaches within that division at the Skills Evaluation (scheduled by the league). The player is evaluated for 3 skills: throwing, catching, and hitting. Coaches will assign a rating from 1-5 for each of these skills, with 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest. Coaches will be presented with a complete roster of registered players for each division, with space to write in the scores for each of the 3 categories listed. 

Example: 

NameAgeThrowingCatchingHitting
Sally Smith11324
Emily Jones12434

Each score sheet is turned in at the end of the try-out session. The score sheets are tabulated by each coach to arrive at an average rating for each player. This can be accomplished by loading all of the individual scores into a spreadsheet and averaging each player’s scores. The average is not weighted; it is a simple average of all scores collected. Averages are typically computed with 2-decimal precision. 

After tabulating each player’s rating, you should be able to sort from the highest-rated player to the lowest-rated player and review the results. 

Some players will not be able to attend tryouts for various reasons. An effort should be made to assign a rating to the player by consulting the other coaches who are familiar with their ability (i.e. previous season coach/coaches within that division). If the player is new to the league, it is recommended that the player’s parent or guardian be contacted to try to assess the player’s skill level. Any player that does not have an available rating will be assigned a rating of “zero” and will be placed at the end of the draft pool. 

  1. Special Designations – Pitchers and catchers are identified before the draft and are drafted separately. Pitchers and catchers are typically drafted at the beginning of the draft before position players. Suggested designations include: 
  • (P1) #1 Pitcher 
  • (P2) #2 Pitcher 
  • (P3) #3 Pitcher 
  • (C1) #1 Catcher 
  • (C2) #2 Catcher 

Ideally, each team is assigned a #1 and #2 pitcher; and at least 1 catcher. In Some cases, there may be more (or fewer) pitchers available. 

Example: The senior division contains 4 teams; there are 8 girls in that division that pitch regularly and another 4 that have some pitching skills. In this case, the 8 girls would be designated #1 or #2 pitchers, and the remaining 4 pitchers with limited experience would be designated as a #3 pitcher. 

The draft will assign pitchers and catchers to teams first and then will proceed to position players based on each player’s rating. 

  1. Draft Planning – Once each player’s rating has been entered, preliminary draft planning may begin. The process includes assigning players to teams where the player’s parent is a coach of the team or the player is a returning player to the team. Player designations (described above) are also entered during this phase of the draft. It is important to finalize all manager assignments before the start of draft planning. 
  2. Player Draft – The player draft takes place using “draft rounds”, similar to other sports. The number of “draft rounds” will depend on the number of registered players. For example, if there are 48 players registered and 4 teams have been defined for a given division, there will be a total of 12 draft rounds. 

Pitchers and catchers will be allocated first and then position players will be drafted. 

A player whose parent is a coach of the team and returning players will be drafted and the team’s average rating is then calculated. Special requests are honored when possible. The draft order for any given draft round is determined based on the relative strength of each team. Remaining position players are then allocated based on average rating and the team’s rating is recalculated until the average rating of each team is as near identical as possible. 

  1. Player Exchanges (Trades) – At the end of the draft process, players may be exchanged (traded). This should be handled with discretion and before notifying players of team assignments. Player trades are typically granted to accommodate requests for players to be with a friend or play for a particular coach. This may only take place when both coaches agree, and the players have similar skill levels. The Player Agent must approve any player exchange in advance. If the Player Agent is one of the coaches involved in the trade it must be approved instead by the league President. 

Anyone not signing up to play before the draft date will be placed in the player pool to play for the next available team. A spot on the roster will not be held for any player not signing up by the announced draft date and special requests cannot be guaranteed once rosters are given to managers. 

  1. Sister Option – Will be drafted according to her skill level. Players will be evaluated by age-level coaches and the Executive Board.
  2. Manager or Coaches Option:
    1. Coaches will not be selected until after the draft date, except for coaches who are returning to the same team from the previous year. 
    2. If a Manager or Coach is to a team and they have a daughter who is an All-Star, she becomes their first-round draft choice. 
    3. A player who is not an All-Star becomes the third-round choice. 

Article XIII – Concession Stand

  1. It will be the Manager’s responsibility to have 2 parents available in the concession stand on the day/night that their team is assigned concession stand duty. In the event of a canceled game, the night of the rescheduled game will be considered the night for the concession stand makeup. If the manager cannot find a parent to help operate the concession stand, that manager and/or designated coach, must work the concession stand.
  2. Each board member will be responsible for one night per week to open the concession stand and get everything ready for the team that has concession stand duty. The person or persons are to be at the field ½ hour before the start of the first game and stay until the last game is finished in the event there are any problems or help is needed in the concession stand. 

Article XIV – Travel Teams

Any Darlington travel team formed after January 2022 will be known as the New England Nightmare. A sitting member of the Executive Board, not involved with a travel team, shall be appointed to oversee the finances and operations of a travel team. Eligibility is any girl meeting the age requirement and has played in at least 50% of the recreational games and this includes playoffs. Travel teams will be selected in accordance with USA Softball age requirements, whether or not any tournaments will be entered after the season is completed. 

The selection process will be based on the following principles: 

  1. There will be mandatory travel tryouts for all divisions. Players will be chosen by the managers and coaches of each division’s travel team. The player must attend a minimum of 1 try-out to be eligible to play for that team.
  2. The total amount of players per team will be at the manager’s discretion. 
  3. Tryouts are open to any player whether from DGSL or another league, however, players must register and participate in DGSL’s Spring Recreational League to be eligible to play on a travel team.

Article XV – Recreational League

The DGSL shall permanently use the listed team names, by division, from January 1, 2024. Sponsor names shall be printed on the left sleeve of the team jersey. Sponsorship of a team shall occur on a first-come, first-served basis. If an age division does not have enough players registered to populate 4 teams of 12 players, team names may be selected at random, specific to the age division. For example, if only 2 6U teams were populated, the league could choose Bunnies and Kittens for the team names. 

6U Team Names
– Puppies
– Kittens
– Cubs
– Bunnies		8U Team Names
– Panthers
– Tigers
– Pumas
– Lions		10U Team Names
– Lightning
– Thunder
– Avalanche
– Tornado
12U Team Names
– Crushers
– Sluggers
– Dominators
– Strikers		14U Team Names
– Renegades
– Marauders
– Enforcers
– Outlaws		16U Team Names
– Galaxy
– Nebula
– Supernova
– Starfire
18U Team Names
– Velocity
– Momentum
– Frenzy
– Synergy

Article XVI – Tournaments

The league shall host a minimum of four tournaments a year, abiding by the following guidelines.

  1. Darlington Diamond Tournament (replaces Sprinkler Tournament)
    1. Type of tournament: Invitational
    2. Class: C
    3. Age division: 10U
    4. Date: Second Friday-Sunday weekend in June.
    5. Entry fee: To be determined each year
    6. Format: 3-game pool/single elimination
    7. Location: Slater Park, Pawtucket, RI
    8. Allow metal cleats: No
    9. Allow slashing: No
    10. Home team decided by higher seed: Yes
    11. Untimed semi-finals: No
    12. Maximum teams: 12
    13. Rules: USA Softball Class C tournament rules
  2. Tim Shields Memorial Tournament
    1. Type of tournament: Invitational
    2. Class: C
    3. Age division: 12U
    4. Date: Last Friday-Sunday weekend in May.
    5. Entry fee: To be determined each year
    6. Format: 3-game pool/single elimination
    7. Location: Slater Park, Pawtucket, RI
    8. Allow metal cleats: No
    9. Allow slashing: No
    10. Home team decided by higher seed: Yes
    11. Untimed semi-finals: No
    12. Maximum teams: 12
    13. Rules: USA Softball Class C tournament rules
  3. Hayley Sanford Memorial Tournament
    1. Type of tournament: Invitational
    2. Class: C
    3. Age division: 14U
    4. Date: Third Friday-Sunday weekend in July.
    5. Entry fee: To be determined each year
    6. Format: 3-game pool/single elimination
    7. Location: Slater Park, Pawtucket, RI
    8. Allow metal cleats: No
    9. Allow slashing: No
    10. Home team decided by higher seed: Yes
    11. Untimed semi-finals: No
    12. Maximum teams: 12
    13. Rules: USA Softball Class C tournament rules
  4. Slater Park Slugfest Tournament
    1. Type of tournament: Invitational
    2. Class: B
    3. Age division: 16U
    4. Date: Third Friday-Sunday weekend in July.
    5. Entry fee: To be determined each year
    6. Format: 3-game pool/single elimination
    7. Location: Slater Park, Pawtucket, RI
    8. Allow metal cleats: No
    9. Allow slashing: No
    10. Home team decided by higher seed: Yes
    11. Untimed semi-finals: No
    12. Maximum teams: 12
    13. Rules: USA Softball Class B tournament rules
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