Leaside Baseball Association Policies

LEASIDE BASEBALL YOUTH PROTECTION POLICY (LINK)

LEASIDE BASEBALL DISCRIMINATION POLICY (LINK)

LEASIDE BASEBALL CONCUSSION CODE OF CONDUCT (LINK)

 

GENERAL POLICIES:

POLICY 2018-01: PLAYER FEES

Concept:

Player fees may not exceed, unless explicitly approved by the Board:

  1. $4,000 for any Elite team player
  2. $2,000 for any Rep team player
  3. $1,500 for any Select team player

Objective:

We want to keep the programming at the LBA financially accessible to as many families as possible as per or Mission, Vision and Values.

Note that teams are strongly encouraged to have player fees meaningfully less than these limits.

 

POLICY 2018-02: US TRAVEL

Concept:

All US travel by LBA teams must:

  1. Be approved by the President or Vice President of the LBA
  2. With the exception of Elite teams, is conditioned on every player on the team having the ability to travel to the US (i.e. no travel restrictions due to country of origin, etc.)

Objective:

The LBA is an inclusive, community-based organization that does not endorse team practices that exclude certain players and their families

 

POLICY 2018-03: PERIOD OF OFF-SEASON TRAINING

Concept:

Off-season training (i.e. the period from October 1, or the end of playoffs, whichever is later, to April 30)  for Elite, Rep and Select players shall not be made mandatory by head coaches:

  1. Prior to January 1
  2. On statutory holidays, Toronto District School Board March Break or long weekends
  3. In excess of once per week
  4. With an attendance expectation in excess of 70%

Winter training in excess of the above may be scheduled by head coaches if it is clearly indicated as optional.

Objective:

  1. Give players a break from baseball between Sept 1 and Jan 1 (injury recovery, arm care, etc.)
  2. There is considerable evidence that giving players the opportunity to play other sports (i.e. cross train) actually helps their athletic and baseball development.
  3. Families have escalated the issue of excessive winter training requirements but are afraid to engage the head coach

 

POLICY 2018-04: NUMBER OF TOURNAMENTS

Concept:

  1. Number of weekends that a team participates in tournaments for in a year shall not, unless approved by the Board, exceed:
    1. 3 for any Select team
    2. 5 for any Elite or Rep team
  2. The above calculation shall exclude any local or provincial playoff or elimination tournaments, however in no case shall there be more than four (4) weekends in the season that require overnight stays unless they are made optional to families.  For greater clarity, TBA, OBA and elimination tournaments are not part of the calculation in Part 1 but should be considered in the calculation of the maximum number of overnight stays per season.

Objective:

  1. Effort to limit excessive baseball schedule in the summer to protect players from burn-out/injury and families from excessive costs
  2. Families have escalated the issue of excessive attendance requirements but are afraid to engage the head coach

 

POLICY 2018-05: COMPLETING ROSTERS

Concept:

A head coach of an LBA Elite, Rep or Select team may offer a position on his team to any player in a lower classified and/or lower aged LBA team if:

  1. It is in the period from immediately after September tryouts through to and including March 31 of the following year
  2. A position has come available on their team through either a family-driven player departure, head-coach-driven removal or cut from the team, or player promotion to a higher tier or age group.
    1. For clarity, the position may not be to just to add an extra player, or to fill an unfilled position from tryouts
    2. Family-driven departures from a team requires a simple resignation letter from the family explaining the reason(s) for the departure in order to permit the head coach to fill the position from within the organization
    3. Head-coach-driven removals or cuts from a team must follow LBA policy
  3. An opportunity has been given for multiple willing candidate players to tryout and/or workout for the head coach for the purpose of objective evaluation
  4. Only players and families that have overtly indicated as interested in promotion are considered
  5. The head coach of the team from which candidate players are being considered is meaningfully included in the assessment and evaluation process

Objective:

  1. To address the issue of AAA and AA teams losing players during the winter and not having the opportunity to permanently call up a new player from within the LBA program to replace them
  2. To give head coaches of Rep teams some leverage on players and families to attend and participate in winter training programming

 

POLICY 2018-06: APPROVAL OF HEAD COACHES

Concept:

The Director responsible for Coaching recommends and the Board approves all candidate Elite, Rep and Select head coaches in the July Board Meeting each year

Objective:

  1. To give the Board an opportunity to review head coaches and offer feedback and consideration that they may have had
  2. To make the head coach selection process more transparent and predictable

 

POLICY 2018-07: NUMBER OF TEAMS

Concept:

The Board approve (a) the total number of Elite, Rep, Select and Development teams for the next season and (b) the division and intended classification of each elite, rep, select and development team for the following season at the summer board meeting each year.

Additionally, the Board shall approve a draft road map the total number of Elite, Rep, Select and Development teams and the division and intended classification of each Elite, Rep, Select and Development team for the season following the next season.

Objective:

  1. Ensure that the LBA has the leadership, coaching and permit resources to properly support every team that is being formed; and
  2. Give coaches and families ample visibility of the intended path of a team and when the LBA intends to split or disband it

 

POLICY 2018-08: PLAYER REMOVAL

Concept:

After a position has been offered and accepted to a player on a team, that player may not be removed from the team by the head coach without approval by the President and Vice President of the LBA.

The President shall use the following criteria when considering approval of the player’s removal:

  1. Repeated inability, even upon warning, to meet a reasonable minimum threshold of team programming as determined by the head coach and as agreed as reasonable by the President or Vice President;
  2. Repeated or egregious failures of the player and/or the guardians of the player, even upon warning, to adhere to the LBA Codes of Conduct;
  3. Failure and continued unwillingness to pay team fees, or other fees owing to the LBA

In no circumstance shall poor baseball performance be considered as a criteria for a player’s removal from a team.

 

POLICY 2018-09: OPEN TRYOUTS

Concept:

All Elite, Rep and Select teams shall run open tryouts each fall with at least 25% of the roster spots on the team still legitimately open and available for competition by players both within and outside the LBA.

Objective:

Ensuring that tryouts remain relevant and that non-team players and families feel compelled to attend tryouts knowing that there are opportunities for appropriately talented and coachable players to make the team.

 

POLICY 2018-10: UNDERAGE PLAYERS

Concept:

All underage players that are being considered for an Elite, Rep or Select team must be approved by the President or Vice President before being offered a position on the team.  Underage players are not grandfathered as eligible to play underage if they have played underage within the LBA previously (i.e. they must receive approval each year).

Objective:

To ensure that:

  1. Only players of particular “exceptional baseball talent” and appropriate physical maturity are being considered to play underage
  2. Underage players are not only being selected based on baseball talent, but are also being considered based on social capacity and maturity
  3. Underage players are not inappropriately imbalancing rosters or divisions, resulting in deserving of-age players losing out on roster spots

 

POLICY 2018-11: FREQUENCY OF PRACTICES

Concept:

Head coaches may schedule no more than:

  1. Two (2) required practice sessions per week between May 1 and the end of the season for Elite and Rep
  2. One (1) required practice sessions per week between May 1 and the end of the season for Select

In-season training in excess of the above may be scheduled by head coaches if it is clearly indicated as optional.