Frequently Asked Questions

Note: For Frozen roster guidelines go to the rules link on the home page of the website.

           HOW DO  I START A TEAM ?

           In order to start a team you will need the following things:

           1)  A manager, coaching staff and business manager.

           2)  Dedicated players and parents

           3)  A philosophy of how your team or club will handle player selections, play time, practice, etc.

           4)  A practice facility.

           5)  An operating budget.  You will need to figure out what this will cost and how you are going to raise the money.

           6)  Uniforms

           7) Team insurance

           8) You will need to register your team and put a roster online at www.usssa.com.   

           HOW DO I ENTER A TOURNAMENT?  

            Tournament entries are only accepted when an application and the entry fee are mailed in together.  Applications are available on this website.  Fill out the application and mail it to the address on the bottom of the application.  Keep in mind that many events will close early and it is best to enter as early as possible.  Always send an e-mail to the tournament director letting him know that you have mailed an entry and checking on the status of the tournament.

             WHEN WILL BRACKETS BE POSTED?

            Brackets are usually posted on the Wednesday night before the tournament. 

              WHAT DO I DO ONCE I HAVE MY BRACKETS?

              All teams must check in before their first game.  You will need your roster with parents signatures which is available on the website, copies of your  player's birth certificate ,and proof of team insurance. 

            WHAT IF I HAVE TO DROP OUT OF A TOURNAMENT ONCE  I HAVE ENTERED?

            A team may drop out of a tournament anytime up until the brackets are done. Generally that is 12:00 Noon Tuesday, but they are sometimes posted  earlier.  Once brackets are completed, a team may not withdraw from a tournament unless the tournament director has a replacement team. If a team does withdraw once the brackets are completed, they are responsible for the entire entry fee.

             HOW DO I REGISTER A TEAM?

                All registrations are done online at www.usssa.com.  2008 registrations start on Aug. 1, 2007 and go until July 31, 2008

              WILL MY FIELD LOCATION OR GAME SCHEDULE CHANGE?

              USSSA makes every attempt to keep changes to a minimum, but sometimes changes have to be made due to circumstances beyond our control.  Always re-check your schedule right up until the Friday night before the tournament to make sure that no changes have been made. Most tournaments scheduled for Big League Dreams, other than Holiday weekends, will finish at other locations on Sunday.  This is because of the limited amount of field time we receive at Big League Dreams on Sunday.

             HOW DO I FIND A TEAM FOR MY SON?

            USSSA has a web page listing teams that are looking for players. It is on the home page of our website.

            HOW CAN I FIND MY TEAM'S RANKING POINTS?

           USSSA has a National website called USSSA.com   on which we keep track of the result, score, and ranking points for every tournament that we host. This Website contains a wealth of information for the teams and fans.  You should spend some time exploring it.  Go to the rankings link on our website baseballfirst.com.

          WHAT HAPPENS IF A TOURNAMENT IS CANCELLED?

        If a tournament is cancelled for any reason with no games being played, USSSA will refund the entire entry fee. USSSA has no other financial responsibility for a cancelled tournament.

        WHAT IF OUR RANKING POINTS ARE WRONG?

        If we have made a mistake on your ranking points, contact Julie Gleason at Julie@baseballfirst.com.  Make sure you provide us with the tournament ID # that is on the website. Please keep in  mind that we input an incredible amount of information and many teams have similar names.  If we make a mistake please notify us and we will get it changed. 

         HOW LONG IS MY INSURANCE GOOD FOR?

         Our insurance runs for the calendar year and all teams will have to purchase 2007 insurance as of Jan. 1, 2007. Our insurance will cover your team anywhere that you play. Click on the insurance link to purchase insurance.

     WHEN IS MY SON FROZEN TO A TEAM'S ROSTER?

        Teams that won a tournament starting on Veteran's Day until March 3 will have their roster frozen on March 7. Teams that win tournaments after that will have their rosters frozen immediately after the tournament. In addition, starting April 1, the top 25% of teams in a tournament will have their rosters frozen. If some of the top 25% already have their rosters frozen, then the frozen rosters will pass down to lower finishing teams.

        All USSSA roster's become unfrozen at the completion of each age group's World Series. The only exceptions are teams who are participating in the Elite World Series. Those teams become unfrozen at the conclusion of the Elite World Series.

          CAN MY SON PLAY UP IN AGE WITH ANOTHER TEAM EVEN IF HE IS FROZEN TO A ROSTER IN HIS OWN AGE?

          Yes a player can be frozen to two rosters if one of them is a play up to an older age. However, remember that a player can never play with two teams in the same tournament.

          DO YOU HAVE TO WIN A BERTH TO PLAY IN THE STATE TOURNAMENT?

          You do not have to win a berth to participate in the State Tournament.  All teams are eligible.

          IF WE WANT TO GO TO A WORLD SERIES EVENT DO WE HAVE TO PLAY IN THE STATE TOURNAMENT?

         If you plan on attending a Major or AAA World Series event  your team has to play in the State Tournament.  

          WILL MY TEAM RECEIVE TRAVEL MONEY FOR ATTENDING A WORLD SERIES?

           Beginning in 2008, there will be no travel fund for teams traveling to World Series events

                CAN MY SON PLAY LEAGUE WITH A DIFFERENT TEAM THAN THE ONE IS HAS QUALIFIED WITH?

               Yes, your son can play with a different team in league.  However, he can not play with any other team than the one he has qualified with in tournaments. 

            CAN MY SON PLAY WITH A MAJOR AND A "AAA" TEAM IN THE SAME AGE GROUP?

            No, your son may play with only one team within his age group.

            WHY DO YOU HAVE PITCHING RESTRICTIONS?

            One of the very first tournaments we ran, we watched as a 13 year old boy threw 180 pitches in an 11 inning game. Both his coach and his father (who was on the bucket calling pitches), refused to take him out because they had lost site of what was really important and were "going for the win".  It was after that that we decided to make sure it never happened again. How many innings is enough for a 10 year old kid anyway? We did research and came up with our current system. 8 innings in 48 hours along with warm ups, playing other positions and playing as many as 7 games in a 3 day weekend all were taken into consideration. Our restrictions force teams to develop more pitchers and not rely on 1 or 2 pitchers to get thru an entire tournament.

            HOW COME WHEN WE SIGN UP TO PLAY AT BIG LEAGUE DREAMS WE OFTEN FINISH AT ANOTHER PARK?

            Big League Dreams has an adult softball program which runs year round and plays every weekend. Also, Big League Dreams must commit a certain amount of field time to the local youth rec leagues. They could not build these parks without support from the local community. These factors were in place long before they ever thought of running outside programs such as ours. We are very fortunate to be able to run our program at these, the finest facilities in the world, but do it knowing that we have field restrictions when we schedule our events. If you want to insure that you get to play all of your games at Big League Dreams, then we  suggest you sign up to play on Holiday weekends as those are the tournaments which will not have any conflicts.

            WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF WE USE AN OVERAGE PLAYER IN A TOURNAMENT?

            Using an overage player in a tournament is a very serious offense and will be treated as such. The team would forfeit all games that the overage player participated in and will be dropped from the tournament. The manager and player would be liable for up to a one year suspension from USSSA play. Under no circumstances will this be allowed.

            WHAT IS THE PENALTY FOR UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT BY A MANAGER , COACH, OR PLAYER?

             If a manager, coach,  is ejected from a game, they will sit out that game and the next game.  The penalty could be longer depending on the severity of the situation.  If the manager, coach, or parent is involved in a fight, the penalty could range up to a one year suspension from USSSA. Physical abuse of our officials will not be tolerated and will be dealt with severely by suspending the guilty party and pressing criminal charges with the police if necessary.  A player will usually sit out only the game they are ejected . The penalty for a player could be longer, depending on the severity of the situation.

           Do the ranking points matter?

        Our World Series events are seeded according to your  point totals.  You should make every effort to get the maximum number   of  points before the World Series by playing in as many tournaments as possible.  It will improve your seeding at the World Series. Remember that NIT' S and State Tournaments are worth extra points.  USSSA sanctioned leagues, starting with the January Spring leagues,  now offer points as well.

          Can a team win more than one berth in a season?

       When a team wins and accepts a berth in USSSA, that is their qualified or frozen roster.  You can not re-qualify in another tournament and submit a new roster.  All roster questions will revert back to the original qualified roster.

         What if a manager will not release a player?

       It is up to the manager to decide if he wishes to release a player. USSSA can not intervene if a manager refuses to release a player.

             When can a team drop from a tournament with no penalty?

        Normally a team may drop from a tournament up until 1:00 PM on the Monday before the event.  Deadlines for some larger tournaments may be set sooner. Once the deadline is passed, a team is responsible for the entry fee if they drop out, unless we can find a team to replace them. We consider 4 teams to be a tournament. We will play with three teams if all teams in the tournament agree to play a double round robin.

            What if a team intentionally forfeits?

         If a team intentionally forfeits in pool play in order to save pitching or change their playoff seeding, that team will be dropped from the playoffs.

             Which division is stronger - major/AAA or AA

           USSSA has three divisions for tournaments - major/AAA and AA. Major is the strongest and then AAA and AA. In the 9U there are only two divisions - 9U and 9AA. In the 14U there are only two divisions major and AAA. In the 15-18 divisions, there is generally only one division. Tournament are split whenever we have enough teams in each division to split them.

          What are the pitching and base distances in USSSA?

            8U- Pitching 40 feet/ bases 60 feet
            9U - Pitching 44 feet/ bases 65 feet
          10U- Pitching 46 feet/ bases 65 feet
          11U- Pitching 50 feet/ bases 70 feet
          12U- Pitching 50 feet/ bases 70 feet
          13U- Pitching 54 feet/ bases 80 feet
          14U- Pitching 60 feet/ bases 90 feet
          15-18U- Pitching 60 feet/ bases 90 feet

We have attempted to answer some frequently asked questions.  If you have any other questions e-mail me at Craig@baseballfirst.com and I will be glad to help.         

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