General
How can I get my child placed on a USSSA team?
What will it cost for my child to play USSSA?
League
How do I enter a team into the league program?
What paperwork is required for each team?
What does it cost to participate in the league program and what does it include / not include?
Is the USSSA insurance a requirement?
What are the refund conditions?
How does the players age breakdown work?
How are divisions and schedules produced?
Can we play in only ½ the season?
What if we can’t play on a scheduled league date?
When and where are the games played?
Do the league fees cover any tournaments?
What equipment is allowed in each age division?
How can I find additional players for my team?
Where can I find practice fields for my team?
Can a kid play on more than one team in the age division?
Tournaments
How are tournaments structured?
How do I enter a team into a tournament?
What does it cost to participate in a tournament and what does it include / not include?
What are the refund conditions?
When and where are the games played?
What equipment is allowed in each age division?
Can a participant in the league program play with a different team in tournaments?
Officials
How old do you have to be to be a baseball official?
What are the training / experience requirements?
What are the registration requirements?
General
A. This organization is a non-profit (501-c-4) organization with the single goal of promoting, organizing and facilitating amateur athletic competitions. The youth baseball program is for competitive club teams looking to further develop and expose the youth participants to a more challenging game.
A. I have worked with other organizations in numerous other sports but as a director with USSSA for 29 years, I have found this organization to be the best networked nationally, strongest team of directors at a state level and offer the best opportunity for the participants to compete at their level of competition. USSSA offers single year age divisions with up to 4 levels of play within each age division. USSSA also offers one of the easiest and most convenient World Tournament qualification processes for the teams to participate in.
Q. How can I get my child placed on a USSSA team?
A. Teams, looking for players, post tryout information on this site where your player can try out. Once contacted you may be offered a spot on a team. Be sure to interview the coaching staff and determine if the team is a good fit for your child. You will be asked to sign a player / parent contract locking your child to that team (for the purposes of league play) for the duration of that league season. Understand – there are no guarantees of playing time, positions or minimum at bats (per game) in this program.
Q. What will it cost for my child to play USSSA?
A. That really depends on the age division the child participates in and structure of the team. The younger team’s entry fees are less due to the shorter games and less expensive facility costs. Also, some teams are sponsored to some extent and other teams divide the entire cost among the number of kids on the team. For example if your child plays on a 12u team and the coaches voted to play an 16 game season the cost could be around $2300.00. On average the teams carry 12 kids so the cost (just for the league program – not counting uniforms or equipment) would be at $192.00 per child.
League
Q. How is the league structured?
A. The league program is structured so that the managers (or Steering Committee) will make most of the decisions that will impact their participation in the league program. Managers (or Steering Committee) will decide the dates of play, majority of the playing rules and what services to include in the program which will ultimately decide the cost. As a general rule the managers have voted to play all league games on Sundays so as not to conflict with LL or other sports program and they have voted to play 2 games each date chosen for the league program.
Q. How do I enter a team into the league program?
A. 1st year teams are accepted into the league program when the manager has submitted the required registration paperwork and met the payment deadlines. Returning teams are reviewed for past compliance with policies and competitiveness of the team and is then invited to return. Returning teams must also submit the required registration paperwork and met the payment deadlines.
Q. What paperwork is required for each team?
A. All Teams - The deposit fee is $500.00 and must accompany a completed Registration Form and completed Policies and Procedures Agreement. The balance of the fees (as determined by the managers) must be submitted before the team is included in the schedule. The balance of the paperwork (Player/Parent Agreements – one for each participant, Medical Authorization Forms – one for each participant and Team Liability Waiver) must be completed and submitted before the team is allowed to participate and Code of Conduct (COC) which requires the names and signatures of the manager and each coach associated with the team. Once the team is accepted into the program, the manager (or designee) must also submit the roster on both the national USSSA web site and the local ABQUSSSA web site. In addition to the team paperwork each manager and coach must have completed the background check and CDC concussion training and submit the completion certificate.
Q. What does it cost to participate in the league program and what does it include / not include?
A. The cost is based exclusively on the number of games and services that the managers vote into the league. Traditionally, the managers have voted to include costs of this web site, 2 officials per game, field rental, prep and clean up, Site Directors, Officials Trainors/Evaluators, baseballs, USSSA team registration and USSSA insurance..
Once the managers have determined the total number of games they want to play, the individual line items associated with the expenses are totaled and rounded up to the nearest $25.00. These additional costs cover indirect expenses such as bank fees, checks, 1099’s, printing, office supplies and postage.
The league registration fees do not include uniforms or equipment (except the baseballs, usually).
Q. Is the USSSA insurance a requirement?
A. Yes. While I enjoy doing this for the kids and the community there is exposure for me in offering these programs. One of the only ways of mitigating the exposure is to ensure each team is USSSA insured or carry a PLUP (which the cost of would be passed on to the teams in the program). For the cost associated with the team insurance policy it makes sense.
Q. What are the payment options?
A. Payments can be made with cash, cashiers check, money order, team check or credit card. Since we are a non-profit organization the bank that we use doesn’t charge us the normal fees associated with business accounts but we are limited on the number of deposits and withdrawals that can be made before additional fees are assessed the account. For that and other logistical reasons, we only accept payments from one team or individual account. We won’t accept individual payments made by parents. Please deposit parent payments into a team account and write payments to AAD/USSSA from that team account. If you choose to use a credit card for payments you must contact the league office for the specific instructions.
Q. What are the refund conditions?
A. 100% of the league fees will be refunded any team wishing to withdraw from the league prior to the deposit deadline date. After that date the league will process the USSSA team registration, insurance, field deposits and purchase balls out of the teams deposit / payments. Once those purchases are made they are non-refundable. Any funds not expended and associated with your team will be refunded.
Once the league schedule is produced there may be no refunds since 100% of the charged costs for the program and allocated at that time.
Q. How does the player’s age breakdown work?
A. The league program uses the national USSSA age protocols. Basically, the age of the oldest player on May 1st of the current year for the spring league and the next year for the fall league, will determine the age of your team. Please refer to the age calculator link found on the home page for an easy tool in determining a specific player’s age. It has been proven effective to build your team attempting to keep all the players in a single year age increment but that is not a requirement of the league program. As long as you don’t roster a player that exceeds your age division, you may have players on the team that are younger than your age division, up to two years.
Q. How are divisions and schedules produced?
A. Traditionally the league program was divided into 1 or 2 year age increments for 8u Coach Pitch (7-8 year olds) 10u (9-10 year olds), 11u, 12u, 13u, 14u and HS (older than 14). With the recent growth in the league program, there have been enough teams of certain single year ages, to offer single year age league divisions.
There are a couple of different philosophies when establishing the pools or divisions for the league. Your team could be an established 11u team with players that have played “club” ball before and pairing your team with only other 11u teams could limit the strength of the teams you would face.
Conversely, your team could be a new 12u team with players that have not played club ball before and with single year age brackets you would be required to play other 12u teams and might fit better against some of the established 11u teams.
I don’t particularly care one way or another. My only goal is to create the best parity possible so there are close games each week.
The philosophy used will be put to a vote by the managers at the Rules Meeting for each league season.
Q. What playing rules are used?
A. This is put to a vote with the managers but traditionally they have selected the USSSA rules as the foundation for the league program.
A. Personally, I don’t like time limits in baseball at all but with the limited facilities and the cost associated with officials, time limits are a reality. The cost projections are based on time limits and innings played specific to each age division and in the past the coaches have adopted the following
7u-8u – 6 innings - no new inning after 1.5 hours have been played and the game ends at 1.75 hours
9u-10u – 6 innings - no new inning after 1hr and 40 min have been played and the game ends at 1 hour and 50 min
12u - HS – 7 innings – no new inning after 1 hour and 50 min and the game ends at 2 hours
Again, this is left to the managers to decide but if longer games are approved it will affect the cost of officials and field rental.
Q. Can we play in only ½ the season?
A. No. The fields that we rent and the officials contracted don’t like a “fluctuating” usage of their resources. That having been said, hypothetically for example, if there are 24 teams in the 12u league and we schedule 5 games per day on each field rented one additional team could be added after the season has started. That doesn’t happen too often and I try to present consistent and realistic rental and officials requirements at the start of each league season. So, if you’re interested in participating in the program, you need to commit to participate on all the dates voted on by the managers.
Q. What are the dates of play?
A. The managers or Steering Committee will select the dates of the league program. I don’t care if we play 5 games or 50 games. I just need to know the dates to contract the fields and officials. Each age division will be given the option of different ending dates since the ages have different priorities. Some want an ending date that corresponds with the start of Little League All Stars and some want to play until the USSSA (and other associations) World tournaments. During the spring league, the traditional start dates for league are around the 3rd or 4th week of March (after the St. Patrick’s Day) and conclude around the first part of June. For the fall league, the start date is usually the middle of August and concludes the last week of October.
We will provide a calendar of tournaments, for all associations, so the managers can select which weekends they want to take off (of league) to support those tournaments. Our commitment is not to take off two weekends in a row in support of those teams who don’t want to play tournaments.
Q. What if we can’t play on a scheduled league date?
A. Once the dates for league are selected you’re expected to field a team for each of the league games scheduled – refer to the Policies / Procedures Agreement. There will be situations where the managers voted to play and your team wants to play in an out of town tournament or you can’t make games due to other circumstances – that’s ok as long as I know it before the schedules are produced. I will adjust the schedules so your opponents will be scheduled games in your absence. There is no adjustment to the fees owed by your team on weeks that you choose not to participate. If you don’t show for a game that you were scheduled for, you may be charged a forfeit fee that will be paid to the team that didn’t get the games they paid to play.
Q. When and where are the games played?
A. We don’t own any fields so we rent them for both league and tournament programs. We have arrangements with local park and recreation facilities in Rio Rancho, school facilities and with Little League programs around the area. We only schedule the league games on Sundays and we usually start around 8am and play till dark. If you are part of a Little League program that would like to generate revenue for your program by renting your fields please contact me for further information. We always want to use the highest quality fields that are the most convenient for the teams participating.
Q. Do the league fees cover any tournaments?
A. No
Q. What equipment is allowed in each age division?
A. For insurance purposes there are minimum restrictions on some equipment that can’t be deviated from. Specific restrictions are, no metal spikes below the 13u divisions, no bats lighter than -3 in ages 15u or older, double flap helmets for all age divisions. The rest of the restrictions are voted on by the managers and are incorporated into the league rules for that season.
Q. How can I find additional players for my team?
A. Submit your team’s tryout / practice notice if you want to extend a general invitation. This web site has a link for open try outs - Open Try Out Announcement.
Q. Where can I find practice fields for my team?
A. Most all fields require insurance naming them additionally insured before they will let anyone (not part of their program) use their fields. Once the team’s registration and deposit payment is made, the insurance is secured for each team. With the insurance company, we name APS, RRPS, RRPR, Bernalillo PR, APR, all the LL districts, as well as any specific organization the team requests, as additionally insured on the team’s policy. With that certificate you can approach just about any field owner in the area and illustrate the coverage your team has. This doesn’t guarantee anyone practice space, but it helps. . . . After that it’s up to you.
Q. Can a kid play on more than one team in the same age division?
A. No, but kids can play on more than one team in the league if the teams compete in different age divisions assuming they are of the legal age for that age division. The managers have voted in a League Guest Player system that is different than is used for tournaments. Basically, Guest Players for league must:
1. Be age eligible for the team/division they are being used as a guest player.
2. The team using the guest player must be below 10 of their regularly rostered players unless the guest player is not on another league team and then that guest player can only GP on that team.
Tournaments
Q. How are tournaments structured?
A. All tournaments are guaranteed a specific number of games and bracketed with single year age increments. Traditionally they are structured as a 2 or 3 game pool play and then single elimination championship or consolation bracket. Two day tournaments are normally a 3 game guarantee and 3 day tournaments are a 4 game guarantee.
Q. How do I enter a team into a tournament?
A. Refer to the tournament entry instructions posted on this web site –
Q. What does it cost to participate in a tournament and what does it include / not include?
A. It varies from event to event based on the number of games guaranteed, awards package and level of the event. As stated before, all of the AAD/USSSA Programs are cost to cover just the expenses associated with the event and no additional profit is budgeted. Some events require additional sanctioning, insurance and awards costs and are more expensive, but our commitment is to always provide as many additional games as possible after the direct expenses of the event are covered. We project the entry fee based on a minimum number of teams per bracket and if there are more teams then we will provide more games or better awards / trophies, when possible. We will cover all tournament expenses out of the entry fees – you will not have to pay additional umpire fees, parking or gate fees. Balls are not included in the entry fee cost but all balls must be USSSA stamped.
Q. What are the payment options?
A. There are four options when paying for tournaments but all must be received by the tournament entry deadline.
1. Cash
2. Team Check / Cashiers Check / Money Order –
AAD/USSSA
PO Box 740
Tome, NM 87060
3. Pay with a CC on the USSSA web site – refer to tournament entry instructions link.
Q. What are the refund conditions?
A. The entry deadline is the deadline to withdraw. The tournament entry deadline is always 14 days prior to the scheduled start date of the event unless moved up to accommodate waiting list teams. 100% of the entry will be refunded if the in writing (email) is received by the withdraw deadline. After the withdraw deadline has passed there will be no refunds unless a replacement team can be found and placed in the withdrawing teams spot in the bracket. When a division is full and a waiting list started, the payment deadline may be moved earlier and any unpaid team can be replaced with a paid waiting list team.
Cancelations/Refund Policy: There is a chance any event could be completely rained out or cancelled by an act of god. Please be aware that A MINIMUM 40% of the entry fee will be kept to cover the direct expenses of awards, trophies, insurance fees, sanctioning fees, printing, branded souvenirs, out of town officials lodging as well as administrative costs if tournament is canceled after the registration/withdrawal deadline. After the minimum 40% is deducted the remaining refunds will be based on a prorated amount of games guaranteed.
Q. What playing rules are used?
A. All AAD/USSSA events will use the state approved tournament rules based exclusively on the national USSSA bylaws and rule book. You will be emailed a copy of the rules prior to the event.
Q. When and where are the games played?
A. We don’t own any fields so we rent them for both league and tournament programs. We have arrangements with local parks and recreation facilities in Rio Rancho, school facilities and with Little League programs around the area. Teams will be emailed with specific field locations so they can make the appropriate lodging arrangements around 6 days prior to the event. Since most fields used for tournaments don’t have lights, the games would be played from 7am to dark. If you’re a team from out of town that would like to play later on the first day of the event, you will need to email me to make that request.
Q. What equipment is allowed in each age division?
A. All equipment specifications will follow the national USSSA Bylaw and playing rules.
Q. Can a participant in the league program play with a different team in tournaments?
A. Yes. The local player / parent contracts apply to league play only.
Q. Can playing in a tournament qualify (freeze) my roster for other tournaments or league and what does that mean?
A. Per the state’s protocols on rosters, no roster will be frozen during the first 5 months of the season (August through December). That having been said, a roster can be frozen after Jan 1st based on participation in any USSSA event during the year. Having your team’s roster qualified based on tournament play will not affect your roster for the purposes of league play in our programs. You can carry up to twenty players on either your league or tournament roster. Qualifying your roster means that you are restricted in the player moves that you can make. You are allowed up to 3 adds to your qualified roster but those players may not be on another qualified roster and must comply with the states pick-up requirements for your age and classification of team. You are also allowed 3 drops from your qualified roster but those players cannot come back to your team for the duration of the season that you are playing in.
Officials
Q. How old do you have to be to be a baseball official?
A. 16 years of age unless a 15 year old is working with a veteran mother/father Official. The youngest qualified rookie officials will be scheduled for the youngest age divisions with a veteran official as a partner and the oldest qualified rookie officials will be scheduled with a veteran official as a partner.
Q. What are the training / experience requirements?
A. All youth officials must have a baseball background and attend the required two clinics as well as pass the written exam before being scheduled for games in this program. All adults must also complete the required two clinics as well as pass the written exam before being scheduled for games in this program.
Q. What are the registration requirements?
A. All officials MUST be registered with the USSSA as a baseball official before they officiate any games. Officials must also complete an independent contractor’s Work For Hire agreement and W-4 prior to compensation.
A. All games are compensated on a $28.00 per hour rate based on the length of the games and as outlined in the independent contractors agreement. Contact the baseball UIC for more details.
