Leaving a team once you've been rostered

DD signed a LOI after tryouts last august. we had some issues with program director in the past, but now the handwriting is on the wall that this will be an unhealthy environment for DD. Not illegal, just very unhealthy.
I would like to remove DD from the team, if she agrees. I'm not looking for a refund.

I know in the past the Program director has refused to sign releases, though that was during the actual season.

I have emailed the local ASA director but in the mean time can anyone tell me what the process is ?
does it make a difference if the player hasn't played in a tournament yet?

thanks!

MA Travel Team Handbook (page 8) explains when a release is necessary and how to get one - http://www.majoasa.org/MASS_ASA_JO_DOCUMENT_2016.pdf. IME, rosters aren't signed/frozen until the team checks into their first championship play event (e.g. qualifier). YMMV

Releasing a Player
Until such time as the ASA roster has been verified and signed by a ASA/USA SOFTBALL MA official, your players are not on your team’s roster and are free to join other ASA travel teams. Once your roster has been signed, in order for a player to join another travel team, you must release the player from your team. This can be done by completing the Permanent Player Release Form. A copy of this form is located in Appendix C of this handbook. This Permanent Player Release Form must be signed by the coach and parent of the player to be released as well as the new team picking up this player. Then a copy of this form is sent to the ASA/USA SOFTBALL MA office for our files. Once a player has been released from a team, they CANNOT rejoin that team for the remainder of the season.

Player releases, where they exist, are designed to keep players from hopping back and forth between teams. They aren't intended to be used to hold a player hostage.

Player rosters for the 2017 season aren't even in the system. It should be a clean slate as of the new year.

This program tends to be late with paperwork and as I recall, we had some tournaments where the coaches were signing for parents/players because they had never actually submitted a roster.

With this program, if the PD tried to hold a player hostage it wouldn't surprise me. He made a big stink about releasing two players (twins) who weren't getting any playing time anyway. gave them a hard time for no reason.

Thank you!

smddad said:

Player rosters for the 2017 season aren't even in the system. It should be a clean slate as of the new year.

Click to expand...

That was the case when everyone was on the calendar year (Jan thru Dec) for registration. I don't know if that's true where they've gone to the Sept-Aug registration year. Does anyone know for sure?

The MA ASA guys have always been really helpful with issues like this. Some coaches get cranky and threaten to not release but I haven't heard of anyone ever doing it.
Are you looking at other teams in the area? There are definitely some organizations to stay away from and others that certain coaches are much better than others.

At first I wasn't sure what to do, but to make a long story short, DD's pitching coach hooked us up with a program that I was somewhat familiar with (looks like a horizontal move to a better team environment). looks like a good fit, right place, right time, coach of this particular team is experienced and in it for the right reasons. the cost is in line with the program we are leaving.

Email your state's ASA or ABC org/sanctioning body President that the team supposedly signed/rosterred you with. Explain to him/her the situation. Most of them are extremely helpful and there is a one time release per year per org for most of them and can be granted by the State head person. By the same token, let the new HC know what the situation is. If he or she's smart, they'll file their roster January 1st and then the point is moot. Nothing like screwing the guy who likes to screw others