ARTICLE 5. PLAYER REGISTRATION:
TRANSFERS, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TO PLAY REP BALL AND RELEASES
The WOBA objective is to have each association field competitive teams at all or most age groups. Therefore, we do not grant releases prior to registration and require each player to register with their Local Association. WOBA also discourages releases in order to allow our own Local Associations the ability to field teams and grow in strength and numbers and to keep competitive baseball available to all players within the WOBA. Players younger than Minor Bantam must play with a team within their Local Association, the Affiliated Association and Baseball Ontario. If a release is not granted by the Local Association or the Affiliated Association, an appeal may be made to Baseball Ontario for a final ruling.
A Registration
1. All players wishing to play baseball must register with their Local Association by the end of their registration date for the upcoming season. Players who deliberately avoid registration for the purpose of a Local Association team or combined Centre team defaulting in its formation may not be provided a ‘Transfer’ or ‘Release’. If the Local Association has not declared an end of registration date, then the date shall be April 30.
2. Players with valid releases from the prior year may choose to register with the Local Association they played with last season or their Home Association.
3. A player that was released in the past and did not play with a recognized team in the previous playing season voids their release in doing so and must return home to their Home Local Association. They then have the option to apply for a Transfer, Acknowledgement to Play Rep Ball or Release following the guidelines as noted in paragraph (B), (C).
4. If residency or age information is falsified on a player’s registration or certificate, said player may be suspended for the remainder of the year, plus the following year. Violation will leave the manager and/or coach open to suspension for the remainder of the year, plus 1 to 3 years thereafter. Any person acting on behalf of an Association may also be fined and/or suspended at the discretion of the WOBA Board of Directors.
5. If a Local Association is unsure as to whether they will be fielding a team for the current season, a player may apply for Permission to Practice from the Local Association that would allow the player the opportunity to work-out with another specific team within the affiliate until a decision is made, at which point this permission expires.
6. The Local Association must determine the age categories in which they will be fielding teams by April 15th. After this date, players registered in categories where no team is to be fielded or are unsuccessful in making the team in their age group are free to seek a position with a team in another Centre within the WOBA. A Transfer is required if a player finds a team to play on for that season.
7. If a player has played two consecutive seasons with another Local Association as a result of paragraph A(5) above and wishes to remain with that team they may apply for a release.
8. A player may return to their Home Local Association at the beginning of any season without a release.
9. Every registered WOBA player shall participate equally on a Local Association team. A Local Association team player may try out for and be rostered on an OBA or SELECT rep team.
10. Every player that resides in WOBA shall be eligible for the following enrichment and higher caliber programs.
i. May try out for the WOBA BULLS program and shall adhere to the league’s player criteria if selected.
ii. May try out for any AAA program that WOBA has an affiliated Memorandum of Understanding with.
iii. May try out for any Provincial Elite program that WOBA has Membership with.
WOBA shall provide up to date information on the affiliate website about any enrichment and higher caliber programs to which they are affiliated to or have membership with.
B Application for Permission to Transfer within WOBA
1. A player must make application in writing to their Home Local Association before the WOBA Release Committee will entertain any application.
2. Permission to Transfer is only valid for the current calendar season. It is not a release. The player must register with their Home Local Association the following year.
3. Players playing at Midget or below may only move to another Local Association with a Transfer from their Local Association and the WOBA.
4. A player may apply for Permission to Transfer under the following conditions:
a. There is no team for that age group in the Home Local Association.
b. There is no Rep team for that age group in the Home Local Association.
c They were unsuccessful in making the team for that age group in the Home Local Association.
d. In addition to these conditions, the WOBA Release Committee may review other factors in determining whether or not a Permission to Transfer should be granted.
5. Minor Rookie ball players may not transfer to another Local Association even if they are planning to play at the Senior Rookie ball level.
C Application for a Release
1. Players Minor Bantam and up may move from one Local Association to another Local Association within the WOBA by obtaining a release from their home association. When a player has played outside his Home Local Association and wished to go to another Local Association outside of his Home Local Association, releases are required from both the Home Local Association and the Local Association for which the player last played.
2. Players may apply for a release from the WOBA, upon receiving all the releases as described above in paragraph C(1)
3. If the Local Association is not fielding a team the player shall perform due diligence in their attempt to secure a spot on a team within a forty-five minute drive from their residence before pursuing a release to play outside of the WOBA or Acknowledgement to Play Rep Ball outside the WOBA as noted in Paragraph F(5)
i). WOBA may review other factors in determining whether or not an Acknowledgement to Play Rep Ball outside the WOBA should be granted.
4. The WOBA does not grant releases of convenience.
5. In addition to the above conditions, the WOBA Release Committee may review other factors in determining whether or not a release should be granted.
6. A Player requesting a release must submit their request in writing to the Registrar of the WOBA. Review “G – Procedures” for the process to request a release. A WOBA release request will not be reviewed until the applicant has been granted or denied a release from their Local.
NOTE: A WOBA release request will not be reviewed until the applicant has been granted or denied a release from their Local Association.
a. Releases will not be considered unless the player has received all the required release as described in paragraph C(1)
b. If approved, the release will be issued within 72 hours of the decision of the WOBA Release Committee.
c. If the release is denied, the player may then appeal to the WOBA for an appeal hearing.
d. If the release is denied at the appeal hearing, the player may then appeal to Baseball Ontario.
7. All requests for WOBA Releases will be acknowledged within 10 days of the receipt of the request. Hearings will be held as per the schedule provided by the WOBA secretary and may take up to 30 days
8. No Release hearings will be heard from the period July 1st to the end of Labour Day weekend in September each calendar season for all players.
D Denial of Local Association Transfer or Release
1. If a player is denied a Local Association transfer or release, they may appeal this decision with to the WOBA. The procedure for this appeal is documented under section G – Procedures.
2. The player and the Local Association will be allowed to present their case in person at the appeal hearing.
3. If approved, this grants the player a transfer or release from their Local Association ONLY. If they are 14u or older, they will have to submit in writing a request for release from the WOBA if they are seeking an out of affiliate release from the WOBA.
4. If approved, this grants the player a transfer or release from their Local Association ONLY. If they are Minor Bantam or older, they will have to submit in writing a request for release from the WOBA.
5. If denied, the player may then appeal to Baseball Ontario.
E Process
1. View the procedures listed below for outlines of “Appeals for Denial of Local Association Release” and for “Applying for an Out of Affiliate Release”. Section G - Procedures.
2. Players must be registered with their Local Association to be eligible to apply for a transfer or release.
3. Any player who is under the age of 18 and seeks a ‘WOBA Permission to Practice’, a ‘WOBA Permission to Transfer’, makes an application for a ‘Release’, makes an application for an appeal hearing or attends an appeal hearing must be requested and accompanied by their legal parent or guardian. Third party requests and representation will not be accepted.
4. Players apply directly to their Local Association in writing for Permission to Transfer or Release depending on the age of the player, and a copy of the request must be forwarded to the Registrar of the WOBA.
5. Any player that has requested a transfer or release from their Local Association and the Local Association has neither granted nor denied the request may apply directly to the Registrar of the WOBA after 14 days from the original request date to their Local Association. WOBA will convene a hearing within 14 days of receipt of notification that the Local Association has failed to provide a ruling in the required time.
6. The WOBA Release Committee may review other factors in determining whether or not an out of Affiliate release should be granted.
7. The WOBA decision is based on each applicant’s individual merit.
F Non-local & Out of Area Players
1. Local Associations should NOT register or recruit players out of the local area. Doing so is in violation Baseball Ontario rules.
2. Any coach or manager who allows a player to participate in any game(s), tryout(s) or practice(s) with a team that does not hold their playing rights, WOBA Permission to Practice, WOBA Permission to Transfer, an Acknowledgement to Play Rep Ball from an outside Affiliate or a Player Release from an outside Affiliate will leave the said coach and/or manager open to suspension. Managers and coaches shall ensure that all players attending any team activity as outlined above, has the proper documentation in hand before taking the field.
3. No player, coach or manager may approach any other player for whom their team does not hold the playing rights with the intent of securing said player for their own team without the permission of the Local Association that holds the player’s playing rights. Violation of the rule will leave the player, coach and/or manager open to suspension.
4. Players living outside the WOBA may apply in writing to the closest local association requesting opportunity to play Rep baseball; Baseball Ontario rules P1.3(g).
a. Local Associations must inform the outside Affiliate and request an Acknowledgement to Play Rep Ball from said Affiliate.
b. The Acknowledgement to Play Rep Ball is only valid for the current season.
c. The Acknowledgement to Play Rep Ball must be forwarded to the Registrar of the WOBA and the Local Association prior to the player participating in any team activity.
d. This is not a release and the player must return to their Local Affiliate Association at the end of the season.
5. WOBA players wishing to play outside of the WOBA may apply in writing to the closest Affiliate local association requesting opportunity to play Rep baseball; Baseball Ontario rule P1.3(f)(g), P1.5(i)
a. They player must secure an Acknowledgement to Play Rep Ball from both the Home Local Association and the WOBA before the player joins an outside Affiliate team.
b. The Acknowledgement to Play Rep Ball is only valid for the current season.
c. This is not a release and the player must return to their Home Local Association at the end of the season.
G Procedures for Local Release Denial Appeal and for Applying for WOBA Release
Local Appeal for Transfers, Permission to Practice and Local Release, to play in another WOBA local – Procedure
Keep in mind going through this process takes TIME! Plan accordingly.
After you have been denied by your local association, you can appeal to the WOBA. As a rule, we give ourselves a window of up to 30 days to hear the appeal and issue a written decision.
How the Local Appeal Process with WOBA works,
1. Notify the WOBA Registrar via email. This email address can be found on the WOBA website.
2. The WOBA Secretary will form a committee and will find a date as to when all parties can meet.
3. Each party is to forward support materials to the WOBA secretary.
4. The WOBA Secretary will forward these materials and all correspondence on the matter to the committee members.
5. The WOBA Secretary will chair the meeting and will send out an agenda for the meeting to all who will be attending.
6. After the hearing is complete, the WOBA secretary will use best efforts to issue a written decision within 96 hours (4 days).
7. If the player is successful, the WOBA Registrar will request Local documentation be issued by the Local Association. Note: The documentation is not considered valid unless you have a signed copy in your possession. If the local association delays on this by more than 96 hours, please contact the WOBA Registrar or President.
At this point, the WOBA Local Release Appeal process will be complete.
Affiliate Release – Procedure
Keep in mind going through this process takes TIME! Plan accordingly.
If you have been denied or granted a Release by your local association, you can request an Affiliate Release from the WOBA. As a rule, we give ourselves a window of up to 30 days to review the request and issue a written decision.
How the Affiliate Release Process with WOBA works,
1. Email the WOBA registrar to request a release from the WOBA. The request must include the following information;
a. Players name, date of birth, address, local association (if known),
b. Copy of Local denial or release,
c. Reason for request.
2. If the WOBA Registrar determines an Acknowledgement as per F (5) is warranted one will be provided within 14 days and this process will conclude at this point.
3. If the Registrar issues a denial based on WOBA policy for out of Affiliate release, an appeal may be made to the WOBA Secretary for a release hearing.
4. Also forward to the WOBA Secretary any material that supports your request. This material will be reviewed and if additional information is required for clarification, the Secretary will reach out to obtain.
5. If still required, the WOBA Secretary will form a committee and will schedule a date for a hearing.
6. The WOBA Secretary and Registrar will forward the release request and all correspondence on the matter to the committee members.
7. The WOBA Secretary will chair the hearing and will send out an agenda for the meeting to all who will be attending.
8. After the meeting is complete, the WOBA Secretary will issue a written notice of the decision within 96 hours (4 days).
9. If the player is successful, the WOBA Registrar will also issue the completed Affiliate Release Notice to the player. Note: The Release is not considered valid unless you have a signed copy of an Affiliate Release in your possession.
10. If the player is denied a release, the player may then appeal to Baseball Ontario.
At this point, the WOBA Affiliate Release process will be complete.