USSSA Eligibility Question

Hoping for a simple explanation to our situation --

DD is an 02 pitcher - plays league for a house team and that also plays 4-5 tournaments per year -- mostly local but some travel.

The organization has an 03 team that won a USSSA qualifier last year and had a great experience going to nationals, which they hope to repeat and improve on.

03 team approached DD to fill in for USSSA tournaments where they might have gaps, which she'd like to do. At the same time, her regular team is also looking to play in some tournaments, some of which may also be USSSA tournaments and possibly even the same tournaments.

I looked through the USSSA rulebook and guidelines, and it seems that she can't be rostered for the same tournament on two teams, but that she can get a waiver from her "real" team to play for another team as a guest player if her team isn't playing in it.

Do I have that right? is there a limit to the number of teams that one can play for? Is there a cutoff when rosters become locked?

There is a cut-off. I heard about a girl last year who got frozen on the wrong roster due to a USSSA pick up but supposedly they've changed it this year so that won't happen. It's toward the end of spring season IIRC.

I think with USSSA it can vary by state or region. Have your coach contact that state director to make sure everything is good to go. You don't want to accidentally have her play in a "qualifier" only to find out that the roster is now frozen.

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55dad said:

I think with USSSA it can vary by state or region. Have your coach contact that state director to make sure everything is good to go. You don't want to accidentally have her play in a "qualifier" only to find out that the roster is now frozen.

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Click to expand...

^^^^This right here^^^

Call the State or Regional director, and get the rule directly from them.

I think USSSA changed their rostering process last year where the parent has to approve being placed on the roster for a team... In normal weekend tournaments, "pending" being next to a player's name is not a big deal but when it comes to nationals NITs they cannot be "pending"... Just picking up with another team, should not be a problem as long as she is still "pending" on the roster... A bunch of parents on DD#2's travel team never got the login (basically ignored the email or coach used dummy email addresses for each player)...

Rosters are locked when a team plays its first outdoor USSSA competition (Roster may still be changed, but must go through state director)
Rosters are frozen once a team qualifies for a WS berth (limited to 3 roster changes for rest of year)
Pick up players may be used in all tourneys except post season (State and World Series), may only use players on frozen roster in those.

Several years ago we picked up a pitcher for State and World Series. Her team wasn't going to play in either, so they dropped her from their roster and we added her to ours. I think this can still be done, as long as the number of allowed roster moves has not been exceeded.

I am not an expert on USSSA rules, but I think it is probably different for a qualifier vs. a regular tournament. USSSA sponsors the 18U gold cup events we play in and some of the big organizations have two teams entered. Since we are getting into prom season sharing players is common, especially on Saturday which is pool play, then we play single elimination bracket play on Sunday. Teams are playing to get better (and prep for college) so no one cares or complains about players swapping teams or playing for multiple teams.

Not to high jack the thread but if DD plays on a 23U team, can she sub on a 18U team?

Bryce said:

Hoping for a simple explanation to our situation --

DD is an 02 pitcher - plays league for a house team and that also plays 4-5 tournaments per year -- mostly local but some travel.

The organization has an 03 team that won a USSSA qualifier last year and had a great experience going to nationals, which they hope to repeat and improve on.

03 team approached DD to fill in for USSSA tournaments where they might have gaps, which she'd like to do. At the same time, her regular team is also looking to play in some tournaments, some of which may also be USSSA tournaments and possibly even the same tournaments.

I looked through the USSSA rulebook and guidelines, and it seems that she can't be rostered for the same tournament on two teams, but that she can get a waiver from her "real" team to play for another team as a guest player if her team isn't playing in it.

Do I have that right? is there a limit to the number of teams that one can play for? Is there a cutoff when rosters become locked?

Click to expand...

Although it's possible for someone to be on two different USSSA rosters, the teams would have to be the same classification (A/B/C Rec). Rosters are LOCKED on March 1st. After March 1st, players can still move, but roster changes are reviewed and approved by the state office.

Through the season, a player can guest play up to the point where rosters are FROZEN for state tournaments and nationals. At this point, as I understand it, a player cannot be double-rostered.

A guest player is not added to the roster, but the team will submit some type of notification to the tournament director that they have a non-rostered player. The procedure will vary by state, and it's the team manager's job to figure that out.

A player will not be allowed to play with two different teams in the same tournament division, and I don't know why anyone would want to. Generally, a player cannot guest play on a team with a lower classification (A/B/C Rec) than the team on which they are rostered. Even after team rosters are FROZEN, USSSA allows three roster moves where players can be added. Last year, my DD played for one team up through the state tournament, and since that team wasn't going to nationals, joined (was rostered on) another.

When in doubt talk to the tournament director or State director. I have seen a lot of exceptions given for specific tournaments and/or situations. Although due to abuse, a lot of that flexibility has been taken away.