A Great Softball Tournament Experience
We all share the same common goal of providing a great tournament experience for the players, coaches, families, and fans that participate in the tournament. Sure, this is a prestigious tournament to list on your team's accomplishments because it is full of quality, experienced, and competitive softball programs. And while not everyone can win the tournament, everyone can have fun, play to the best of their abilities, and have fond memories of a great weekend of fastpitch softball. So, the rules for the tournament are designed to promote a great tournament experience, minimize issues and conflict during the contests, and allow teams the flexibility to make the most of the innings they play - be it player development, winning, or whatever they may choose.
Halloween Classic 2021 - The Rules
The tournament will follow USA softball, with the exception of bats. We will allow USSSA and USA softball bats. We reserve the right to change the rules before the tournament begins...
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RosterA complete roster of your team must be available when your team checks in for the tournament.
All your players must be on your roster at the start of the tournament. A player can only be on 1 roster for the tournament (e.g., can't play 14U and 16U). Player additions after checking in for the tournament will not be allowed unless approved by the tournament director to enable you to finish competing in the tournament. |
Proof of Age EligibilityPlease bring proof of age (birth certificates, etc.) for your rostered players.
Age-ineligible players are welcome to watch and cheer your team on from the bleachers but they should not play. If there is question of eligibility, you will be required to present proof of age. |
InsuranceAll your players must be insured and proof of insurance is required to be with you at tournament check-in.
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Protests
Age Ineligibility
Teams must be prepared to show all their rostered players are eligible to compete in that age bracket. If your team chooses to play ineligible players, you will forfeit the games played and all your players' eligibility will be reviewed. We love to win - everyone does - and we place a very high value on being competitive. But we don't subscribe to the "win at all cost" and don't know many teams that do. Please field only players that are age-eligible and keep in mind that winning is just one facet of having a great tournament experience. Team Ineligibility A player can only be listed on 1 team's roster for the tournament. Across all age brackets. No exceptions. No excuses. Cross off a player on your roster that you are lending to another team. What to Do, What to Do If you think your opponent is fielding age-ineligible or multi-team players, make the request the home plate umpire. The umpire will know how to proceed with the issue. |
Call Protests
The umpires are going to do their best to make the correct calls in all situations. Protests of judgement calls will not be entertained - incorrect calls are part of the game. However, if you'd like to protest the game based on a judgement call, we'll accept a $150 non-refundable cash-only fee to remind you that judgement calls cannot be protested. Game Protests Game protests will require a $150 cash-only fee to make a protest for rule or other issues that affect the outcome of a game. A game protest must be made at the time the issue is recognized. All game protests will be reviewed by the tournament site director(s) and the umpire-in-charge. Decisions made are final and cannot be disputed. Either way, you don't get your $150 back. |
Tournament Matchings
We spend a lot of time creating a pools and brackets that matches teams based on past performances to yield the best competitive tournament we can. But there will be pairings that may not be very competitive for one of the teams - it is virtually impossible to eliminate that when scheduling a tournament. Keeping in mind that everyone is participating to have a great tournament experience, we recommend using those innings for player development, new strategies, etc. In other words, very little chance we can change the schedule at that point to accommodate your team without impacting other teams. If you really think that you cannot use those innings and we have overlooked something, you can let us know but don't expect us to be able to do anything about it.
We spend a lot of time creating a pools and brackets that matches teams based on past performances to yield the best competitive tournament we can. But there will be pairings that may not be very competitive for one of the teams - it is virtually impossible to eliminate that when scheduling a tournament. Keeping in mind that everyone is participating to have a great tournament experience, we recommend using those innings for player development, new strategies, etc. In other words, very little chance we can change the schedule at that point to accommodate your team without impacting other teams. If you really think that you cannot use those innings and we have overlooked something, you can let us know but don't expect us to be able to do anything about it.
This goes without saying but we'll say it anyway
For goodness sake, don't be a no-show for a game. That is just wrong and impacts everyone's tournament experience. Tournament directors talk and they all share the same agony of rescheduling for weather, unavoidable team delays, etc. But having to reschedule because a team chooses to not play for some reason, or having to explain to the other team that they have won by forfeit, is grief every tournament director can do without.
Since we are all on the same page and it won't happen, we won't go into whatever penalty might be associated with intentionally not playing a game - but rest assured there is one.
Since we are all on the same page and it won't happen, we won't go into whatever penalty might be associated with intentionally not playing a game - but rest assured there is one.