MORRIS ESSEX TUESDAY SENIOR SOFTBALL LEAGUE
BY-LAWS
I. ORGANIZATION OF LEAGUE
A. The Morris Essex Tuesday Senior Softball League (M.E.T.S.S.) is an affiliate of the New Jersey Senior Softball Association. The League was formed to provide the opportunity for senior players to participate in healthful, recreational, and competitive softball games.
B. The Morris Essex Tuesday Senior Softball League is comprised of teams based in Randolph New Jersey, West Orange, New Jersey, and Montville Township, New Jersey. There are three divisions the “A” Division, the “B” Division, and the Slocum Division. There are currently fourteen teams in the League but not limited to that number. The “A” and “B” Division teams are composed of players 60 years in age and over. The Slocum Division is composed of players 69 years of age or older. Players who are turning 60 or 69 during the calendar year are eligible to play in the respective divisions. Players must show proof of age upon the request of the Commissioner.
C. The season begins the second week in April and ends the second week in August. All games are played on Tuesday mornings and will start at 10 a.m.
D. The governing body of the Morris Essex Tuesday Senior Softball League is the Board of Directors. The Board consists of the team manager or his designated representative (assistant manager) and up to four Members-at-Large who are player representatives. In addition, there is a Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, and Treasurer, and Secretary.
E. Various committees are established as deemed necessary by the Commissioner. Members of the Committees are chosen by the Commissioner.
F. All Board of Directors meetings shall follow Roberts Rules of Order.
II. RESPONSILITIES AND DUTIES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
A. The Board of Directors will adopt all practices and policies that ensure proper and efficient management of the League. This includes, but not limited to, bylaws, rules and regulations, budget and expenditures, game schedule, and other item(s) as deemed necessary by the Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, or Treasurer.
B. All voting results occurring at official Board of Directors meetings shall be a simple majority of those Board members present at the meeting. The Commissioner will have the deciding vote in case of tie votes by the Board.
III. OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER
A. THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE OFFICE OF COMMISSIONER
1. The Commissioner must be a former member of the Board of Directors who served in the capacity of manager, assistant manager, or member at large and must be duly elected by a simple majority of the Board of Directors.
2. Must display excellent management, organization and communicative skills.
3. The Commissioner shall serve a minimum of two years.
B. THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COMMISSIONER
1. The Commissioner provides overall direction to the Board on matters of strategic importance to the long term welfare of the League. He presides at all general and executive meetings, authenticates all legally binding obligations and actions of the Board. He or a designated representative functions as a liaison to the municipalities that permit the League to use playing fields. He appoints Chairman of Committees as deemed necessary to implement League programs. He shall schedule Board of Directors meetings as deemed necessary for the thorough and efficient management of the League.
2. In the absence of a Secretary, the Commissioner maintains the League records, meeting minutes and reports, distributes minutes and reports to Board members, handles all correspondence, and is responsible for player registration forms and compiling and filing all player liability waiver forms.
3. The Commissioner or his designated representative shall attend all State meetings as scheduled.
IV. OFFICE OF
ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER
A. THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE OFFICE OF ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER
1. The Assistant Commissioner must be a former member of the Board of Directors who served in the capacity as manager, assistant manager, or member –at –large and must be duly elected by a simple majority of the Board of Directors.
B. THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER
1. He replaces the Commissioner as Chairperson of the Board of Directors in the Commissioner’s absence.
2. He is responsible for new player assignments on team rosters, filing and finalizing team rosters to insure team parity within the League.
3. Assist in the implementation of player draft procedures
4. Coordinate efforts and procedures as discussed and agreed to with the Commissioner for the benefit of the League.
5. The Assistant Commissioner shall serve a minimum of two years.
V. OFFICE OF
TREASURER
A. THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE OFFICE OF THE TREASURER
1. The Treasurer will be duly elected by a simple majority of the Board of Directors and shall serve for a minimum of two years.
B.THE RESPONSILITIES OF THE TREASURER
1. The Treasurer maintains all financial records of the League
2. He collects the annual League fee from the team managers and deposits the proceeds in the League’s bank account.
3. He reports all expenditures and receipts at regular meetings.
4. He formulates an annual budget in consultation with the League Commissioner which is presented at the February meeting for Board approval
5. He is authorized to prepare and sign all checks.
VI. OFFICE OF
SECRETARY
A. THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE OFF ICE OF SECREATARY
B. 1. The Secretary shall be duly elected by a simple majority of the Board of Directors and shall serve for a minimum of two years.
C. THE RESPONSIBILTIES OF THE SECRETARY
1. The Secretary maintains the Leagues records, meeting minutes and reports, weekly results of games, and weekly League standings.
2. The Secretary handles League correspondence as directed by the Commissioner or the Board of Directors.
3.
He is responsible for compiling and filing
of all liability waiver forms, field applications, and insurance certificates.
4. The Secretary shall serve for a minimum of two years.
VII. Executive
Committee:
VIII. MEETINGS
A. QUORUM AND ORDER OF BUSINESS
1. A majority of the Board of Directors is necessary to officially conduct League business.
2. The following shall be order of business at regular meetings
a. Call to Order
b. Attendance
c. Reading and vote on minutes
d. Treasurer’s Report
e. Committee Reports
f. Unfinished business
g. New business
h. Adjournment
IX. ELECTION OF
OFFICERS
A. The election of a Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, Treasurer, and Secretary will occur at the Board of Directors meeting prior to the start of the season.
X. AMENDMENTS TO BYLAWS, RULES, AND REGULATIONS
A. Any amendments to bylaws, rules and/or regulations may be revised or amended by a simple majority vote of the Board of Directors present at scheduled meeting.
B.
All proposed revisions or amendments must be
submitted by the Bylaws, Rules, and Regulations Committee in writing two weeks
prior to the scheduled Board of Directors meeting and distributed to all Board
members for review.
XI. PLAYER LIABILITY
WAIVER FORMS
A. All players involved in the League are obligated to sign the player liability waiver form prior to the start of the first scheduled game.
B. If a player is not present or otherwise not able to sign the form prior to the start of the first game, he must notify the manager in writing stating he is responsible for any physical injury and will hold harmless the, managers, Board of Directors, and officers of the League.
C. The manager must submit all signed waiver forms and individual written statements to the Commissioner /Secretary by the second week of the season.
D. Any player not conforming with ” A” and” B” above will not be able to participate in League games until such notification is received
XII. UMPIRING
A. Each team at bat shall appoint two umpires, one at home plate and one in the field to make umpiring calls.
B. The home plate umpire shall make fair or foul calls along the third base and first base lines and calls on plays at third base and home plate. The field umpire’s calls are primarily at first and second base. However, game situations may require conferencing to confirm or reverse calls made by either umpire.
C. All umpiring calls and conferencing decisions are final.
D. There shall not be protests of games.
XIII. PLAYER DISPUTES
A. If and when a player feels they have a dispute or issue, it is imperative that they first discuss it with their team manager. If the dispute or issue cannot be resolved, the player can notify the Assistant Commissioner, who will be responsible for solving it. The Assistant Commissioner may seek input from the team manager and/or Commissioner. In the event the dispute or issue is not settled at that level, he may request an arbitration meeting with the Board of Directors.
B. If there are disputes between managers, it is recommended they settle the dispute among themselves. If the issue cannot be resolved, they may request an arbitration meeting with the Assistant Commissioner and Commissioner. If the issue is still not resolved, they may request an arbitration meeting with the Board of Directors.
C. If meetings are requested with the Assistant Commissioner, Commissioner, or Board of Directors all arbitration results are binding and final.
XIV. NEW PLAYER DRAFT
PROCEDURES
A. All new players that have not previously played in the League will be subject to a try-out and draft to determine the team to which he is assigned. New players that are directly recruited by a manager or team representative are not subject to the try-out or draft. Players who have previously played in the League and have not participated in League activities for more than one season are subject to the try-out and draft.
B. The rosters of the teams will be set by the March Board meeting date as required by playing Rule XIV. All applications received after that date will be deemed to be new players.
C. The try-outs/player draft will be held at a date and location to be determined by the Commissioner but no later than March 31st weather permitting. The draft procedure will be implemented immediately following the try-out. The Commissioner will determine the nature and format of the try-outs.
D. All teams are eligible to participate and are expected to have the Manager, Assistant Manager, or designated representative present at the draft. If a team is not represented the Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner will draft for that team.
E. The order of the draft will be determine by the won-lose record from the previous season, excluding any post season tournaments or any form of playoffs format.
1. There will be two pools of teams created, the “A” and “B” Divisions will be placed in one pool, and the Slocum Division will be in the other pool.
2. All new players age eligible (60+) will be placed in the “A” /”B” pool. All new players age eligible (69+) will be placed in the Slocum Division pool.
3. The teams with the poor won-lose records will participate in the first round of the draft and will select players first, followed in order with the teams with the best record drafting last.
4. If round two of the draft is necessary, the draft will follow the same format as above except that teams who have rosters of less than 15 players will get two draft choices when their next turn arrives in the drafting procedure.
5. If round three is necessary, the draft will follow the same format as rounds 1 and 2 except that teams that still have less than 15 players including previously drafted players will get two more draft picks when their turn arrives in the drafting procedure.
6. The draft will continue until all new players have been assigned.
7. New player applications received after the draft date and but before June 1st of the calendar year will be evaluated by the Assistant Commissioner and assigned to team upon consultation with the manager. He will consider player skills and team needs in the process.
8. New applications received after June 1st of the calendar year must be submitted to the Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner as per Playing Rule XIV.
Developed, Written, and Proposed by Mike Michalisin and Gene Stracco
March 16, 2016
Addendum: New Section VII proposed and approved – January 14, 2017