NCLL will enforce the 2018 Official Regulations and Playing Rules for all divisions of Little League® baseball and softball; updates may be found on the Little League® website. A few of the rules and guidelines listed here are duplicated directly from the 2018 Official Regulations and Playing Rules in an effort to highlight issues that are commonly encountered.
NCLL may participate in Inter-league play and local tournaments. In those instances separate rules may apply, however, any local/tournament rules will never supersede rules set by Little League International as described in the 2018 Official Regulations and Playing Rules.
NCLL may establish additional volunteer policy rules, manager selection rules, player level rules, and All Star program rules. NCLL has approved the local rules set out below; to the extent that any local rule conflicts with Little League® rules, Little League International rules will apply.
1. Manager Selection
a) Managers shall be selected annually and automatically released at the end of every season. No manager retains a right to manage or coach from year to year.
b) All Managers are recruited from the set of returning Managers and the families of kids registered for the 2016 season and voted on as a slate. Occasionally, community members without children in the league volunteer to manage or coach. We use their registration information and references to determine their suitability for the league.
c) All Managers and coaches must be registered and have a completed background check on file. Further, all Managers in NCLL are required to attend a) Positive Coaching Alliance training; b) Safety & logistics training; c) Skills and Drills training.
d) Managers may be asked not to return if they have violated Little League Rules or failed to follow or enforce safety procedures.
2. Team Umpires
a) All NCLL umpires are volunteers. Most are parents of current or former players. All persons participating in NCLL events will act in a manner that is respectful and polite towards all umpires. Any person who demonstrates inappropriate behavior towards an umpire may be required to leave the event and possible become subject to further discipline.
b) Managers (Majors and Minors and 89ers) must identify at least two and preferably three Team Umpires who shall each (1) complete at least one session of field mechanics training and one session of rules training annually and (2) commit to the Manager to fulfill the team umpire obligations for the entire season (including local end of season tournaments).
c) Umpire coverage for each game is ultimately the responsibility of the Managers. It is vital that team umpires are trained in using the on-line sign up tool and are signing up for each game they plan to work well in advance of the games.
d) If umpires are "team umpires," the home team will supply the home plate umpire and the visiting team will supply the field umpire. If the umpires would like to switch responsibilities it will be done by them with no influence from the competing teams.
3. Game Day Responsibilities
a) Home team must prepare the field for play in a manner that ensures the game can begin at the scheduled time. After the game, both teams shall put away equipment as well as dispose of trash in dugouts, spectator areas and field after every game.
b) Only players and coaches are allowed on the playing field unless invited by the manager and approved by the umpires and have completed a Little League Volunteer form.
4. Rain Out Policy and Procedures
NCLL has limited ability to play games on fields that are closed by Parks. Practices can occur only in the outfield on closed fields. The primary criteria behind the decision to play or not play is the safety of the players. If safety is even a remote question, the game will be called. The secondary consideration is the amount of field dry to get the field in shape. No more than 2 bags of field dry will be used to get a field game-ready. The game-time decision will be made by the umpire in consultation with the managers.
5. Pitch Count and Catcher Eligibility
a) All pitch count and catcher eligibility rules are defined by Little League and can be found in the Official Regulations and Playing Rules book provided to every manager. All managers must be cognizant of these rules and league age of their pitchers.
b) The Home team is the official scorekeeper of the game and will also maintain the official pitch count record for both teams. As a best practice, scorekeepers and pitch counters from both teams should compare information at the end of each inning.
c) Managers shall provide each other information about pitcher eligibility at the pre-game meeting at the plate. Umpires may facilitate the exchange of information, but are not responsible to address eligibility questions.
d) Violations of pitch count and pitching/catcher eligibility will be charged against the manager of the offending team and will be penalized as follows:
- First violation - Warning
- Second violation - One game suspension
- Third violation - Suspension for the season
6. Head Injury
All parents, players, managers, and umpires will be familiar with the WA State Lystedt Law regarding concussions.
7. Player Assignment Process
Please see the Player Assignment page for information on the player assignment process.
8. Local Rules of Play
Please see the Divisions Rules page for information on each division's rules/guidelines.
9. Replacement Players (Full Season)
a) Managers shall promptly notify the Player Agent upon learning that a player will not be able to play with the team for the remainder of the season.
b) The Player Agent shall assign a replacement player from the division below (i.e. Majors from AAA; AAA from AA) after consultation with the replacement player's family and managers involved and approval by the Officers. Alternatively, the replacement player may be drawn from a waiting list if in the Player Agent's discretion (i) the draw is in the best interest of the player and the league, and (ii) there has been no intent by anyone involved to circumvent the draft or gain unfair advantage. The Player Agent's decision shall not be subject to protest or appeal.
c) The replacement must be completed within seven days after learning a player is to be lost for the season if the loss will cause the roster to become less than 11 players, except in the final two weeks of the season, when a Manager shall not pull up a player from the division below except by permission of the Player Agent.
10. Call Up Pool Players
A call up pool is formed for the Majors using AAA players and for AAA using AA.
a) The Player Agent polls the managers at each division to get names of the top 3 players on their team who might be ready for a few games at the next division. With consent of the parents of these kids, a "call up pool" is created for both divisions.
b) Each Majors team and each AAA team is then given a list of 3 call up players to be "called up" during the season (with a preference given to having younger siblings in the call up pool for their older sibling's team). It is the manager's job to rotate play up requests fairly between those three players.
c) No other players are to be called up besides the three on the Manager's list. In the event that none of the players on his list are available, the Manager can make contact with someone else on the call up list - which is made available to everyone.
Please see the Little League International Regulations and Playing Rules book for further detail on Playing Rules for Majors and AAA.