Regular Season - Player Replacement Process

Introduction

Cactus Foothills North Little League follows Little League International approved rules, guidelines, and regulations for selecting players for teams and for naming replacement players.

Said rules, guidelines, regulations are detailed in the Little League Operating Manual in Registration and Tryouts and Player Selection Systems sections.

This section covers the rules, guidelines, and regulations for replacing players on teams. All player agents and league officials must be familiar with all aspects of the player replacement process approved by Cactus Foothills North.

On this page:

Reasons for Departing a Team During the Regular Season
How to Replace a Player
How to Determine the Available Player List
Moving to a New Team
Wait List Provision

Reasons for Departing a Team During the Regular Season

Players may depart teams during the season for various reasons:

He/she moves to another city or state too distant to commute for practice and play;
He/she is injured and will not be able to return to play within a reasonable period of time (local Board decision);
He/she has for personal reasons decided to terminate his/her association with the team;
Any other justifiable reason, reviewed, and approved by the Board of Directors

How to Replace a Player

If a team loses any play for any of the aforementioned reasons, another eligible player shall be obtained through the player agent to replace the one lost. The process is as follows:

The manager of the team losing a player shall promptly notify the Player Agent (PA) in the impacted division.
The Player Agent shall promptly notify the President, the Chief Player Agent, and the Board of Directors.
If the loss of the player is approved, the President will send a letter of release to the player and parents stating that the player is released from the team in question and the League for justifiable reasons.
The manager will review the Available Player List provided by the Chief Player Agent (CPA) with the divisional Player Agent (e.g., Majors PA, Farm PA) in question and shall select a replacement. The replacement becomes a permanent member of the team. See “How to Determine the Available Player List” for details on the process for identifying players for the Available Player List.

How to Determine the Available Player List

To replace a player, special steps are detailed in this section to determine candidates for the Available Player List. All player agents must understand and apply this process to identify replacement players.

IMPORTANT: All player movement and replacement of player processes follow Little League rules and regulations governing a player's eligibility to move up to or between divisions. These rules and regulations are documented in the Little League Operating Manual and the Official Regulations and Playing Rules (Regulations I - V).

In the event a player must be replaced, the process for determining an eligible replacement is as follows:

The CPA and Divisional Player Agent (DPA) - player agent in the impacted division - will provide the Available Player List (this is the original list of ranked and eligible players from the draft) to the manager.
The manager selects a player from the Available Player List and notifies the CPA and the MPA. The manager should give the CPA and MPA a number of choices (first, second, etc).
The CPA notifies the player and parent. During this initial discussion, the CPA does not provide information as to what team. For example, the CPA will ask questions such as "If the opportunity arises for you to play in the Majors division, would you take it?". The CPA does not mention particular teams. Why? If the CPA says the player has been selected to play on Team A and the player says no, he/she becomes ineligible for the remainder of the season. If he/she says no to the opportunity question above, his/her eligibility has not changed and the player may have an opportunity later if he/she wants.
If the player refuses to move to the new division, the CPA contacts the next choice on the list provided by the impacted manager. If no eligible, registered choices are available, the CPA may refer to the Wait List (see Wait List Provision).

Moving to a New Team

If the player and parent agree, the player will become the recommended candidate from the Available Player List that the CPA provides to the team manager. That player will move to the team in the division where the player is needed and become a permanent member of that team. The CPA will provide all relevant information about the player to the team manager. The manager will contact the parent and player immediately with details on practices, games, and other team rules.

Wait List Provision

In terms of Majors, the objective is to provide an opportunity for players in the Minors AAA division to move up and experience Majors-level play before going to the wait list to seek a replacement player. In the event, that all Minors AAA division candidates refuse to move up, the Chief Player Agent may refer to a waiting list that contains players that registered after teams were formed.

For Majors and all other divisions, eligible wait list candidates will be reviewed in the order in which they were added to the list. Eligible candidates on the wait list must meet league age and residency requirements as dictated in Little League Regulation III(c) and IV.

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