SSNL GENERAL TECH STANDARD RULES AND REGULATIONS

The following regulations will apply to ALL tournaments under the jurisdiction of School Sports Newfoundland and Labrador (SSNL).  Please consult the technical standards, which follow the specific sport rules.

1. All SSNL sports have some sport specific rules that differ from Provincial Sport Organization or National Governing body playing rules so make sure you and the Officials review these in the tech standards that follow. They MUST be followed.

2. No player will be permitted to play wearing a cast made of plaster, fibreglass or any other material considered dangerous by the official.

3. All school teams MUST register through the SSNL Registration Form process. Teams Junior Varsity can submit their rosters directly to the convenor or Junior Varsity Coordinator. All players must be registered prior to their FIRST GAME STARTING in order to be eligible to play in an SSNL Tournament. Failure to comply will result in default of the games in question and awarding of points to the opposing teams.  

4. SSNL has instituted a maximum point spread to be used in tie breaking situations and to promote SSNL ideals of sportsmanship. All games should be recorded on the SSNL JV tournament page website and at the playing venue(s) and reported to media using only the maximum point spread as set out in the technical standards of each sport. In the tie-breaking procedure, the goal/point spread must credit all the points for the losing team only (eg. If sport has a max 7-point reporting spread and score was 12-2 then report/post as 9-2, not 7-0).

5. There is a no fighting policy in all SSNL events. Any violation will result in an immediate expulsion from the tournament and a possible multi-year suspension from all SSNL activities.

6. Players and fans are not permitted to engage in behaviour where they are intentionally trying to distract players or are impeding on the playing surface. Failure to comply could result in in-game penalties, expulsion from the playing venue, and further discipline from SSNL.

7. SSNL has banned the use of electronic and mechanical noise makers (Air horns, mega phones) during SSNL events. SSNL will provide signage to all schools.

8. Teacher Sponsor: SSNL follows the Schools/District Policy regarding the requirements for a Teacher Sponsor, please ensure that your school is aware of requirements.

9. All members of the coaching staff for each team MUST complete the free coach.ca “Safe Sport Training” & “Rule of Two”; one member must complete the  “Making Headway” concussion course in order for their school’s team to be eligible for SSNL tournaments.

All SSNL JV Coaches will be required to complete the online Coaching Registration Form.

10. Players who are not dressing for a game are permitted to still sit in the bench area, but are still subject to all rules governing appropriate team behaviour.

11. Team composition is at the discretion of the coach.

12. SSNL game referees are to be instructed to remain on the floor after the game to sign the score sheet and participate/oversee the shaking of hands by teams.

13. In-Game Protests: It is expected that all tournament game related protests be made in-game when the issue arises. Teams wishing to protest must do so in game by telling the Referee (or in sports where self-refereeing is used, stop and tell the convenor or other designated official) at the next available stoppage in play. The Tournament Protest Committee shall review and rule on the issue within a reasonable time before the game will re-commence. For Provincials, the SSNL Rep may be used to help with the ruling. You CANNOT protest discretionary calls by the referee. Protests must still be accompanied in game by a $50 protest fee or they will not be considered. See “Protest, Disciplinary Infractions, and Appeals” section in the SSNL Varsity Manual for more details.
    
14. Coaches are not permitted to change any SSNL rules at the coaches meeting or at any other time by consensus vote. Any change in rules in this situation could result in a loss of points by infringing teams, potential school fines and sanctions, and/or the entire tournament being voided.
    
15. The use of unauthorized video replays is banned from SSNL events as a measure of officiating.
    
16.  No cell phones or any person who is not a minor official are permitted at scorer’s tables.

17. Game officials MUST provide written reports to the convenor for all major rule infractions.

18. SSNL philosophy values team accomplishments and sportsmanship.  Aside from SSNL sports with an individual component, the Sportsmanship and MVP medals will be the only individual awards presented at SSNL tournaments. There are to be no other individual awards (i.e. Player of the Game or All-Star Team) to be awarded at our tournaments. Failure to comply with this will result in a $100 fine and possible further sanctions.
    
19. Fines:

1. If a team pulls out of the tournament Wednesday 5pm of the registration week they will also be required to pay a $150 fine and possible further sanctions.
2. Aside from the fines, teams will still be responsible for any expenses they incurred regarding the tournament (e.g. t-shirts, meals).
3. Any school that fails to pay the assessed fines by June 30 of the current year, will be suspended until the fine has been paid.

20.  SSNL believes in a philosophy of fair play and sportsmanship; it is the coaches responsibility to ensure that fairplay is being practiced.

2025-26 SSNL VARSITY SLO-PITCH TECHNICAL STANDARDS

EVENTS

Unless there is a competition between at least three teams/individuals in any SSNL tournament, there will be no medals or banners awarded.

Regional champions will be declared in:

1. Boys and Girls (or Co-ed)

TOURNAMENT DATES

Tournament dates are set at the discretion of, and or, in conjunction with the Regional Contact; Host/Convenor and or the Junior Varsity Coordinator.

RULES

There are rules listed in the Slo-Pitch Tech Standards that are specific to SSNL tournaments. It is the responsibility of the tournament Convenor to make sure all Officials are aware of these rules. SSNL defers to the SPN (Slo-pitch National) rulebook for all other rules not listed in these technical standards.

TEAM COMPOSITION

1. A maximum of 15 players can be registered for SSNL tournaments. All 15 players may dress and be available to play given they appear on the game sheet. All 15 are subject to all conduct rules.
2. You can start or finish a game with 9 players. See “Scoring & Gameplay” for what happens with the missing player in the batting rotation.
3. Only those in grades 7-9 are eligible; exceptions must be requested and approved by the process communicated by the JV Coordinator.

FIELD CONDITIONS

1. Field equipped with regulation bases, properly fastened including a safety base at first base.
2. 1st and 3rd baselines are to be clearly seen from home plate to the fence.
3. There should be a warning track or some indication of the outfield fence.
4. All fences and backstop are to be free of dangerous projections.
5. Team dug-outs and/or benches must be away from the playing area.
6. A regulation field is defined as one measuring 300 ft. all around.

EQUIPMENT

1. SSNL Official Ball: Male Worth 12” Hot Dot, Female 11” Hot Dot. SSNL looks to provide game balls for all tournaments, but in the case we cannot the official ball must be used or in the case of a ball change the previous official ball until the changeover time expires.
2. A pitching circle will be implemented and marked on all fields from which a pitcher must start their delivery with at least one foot inside the circle. The measurements of the circle are as follows:

1. The midpoint of the circle must be 50 feet from the front of home plate and the circle has a radius of 4 feet. This provides a minimum pitching distance of 46 feet and a maximum of 54 feet.

3. Baselines: 65’
4. Home plate/strike mat: rectangular, measuring 22 in. wide and 40 in. long.
5. Any player pitching MUST wear a defensive mask. CSA approved hockey goalie masks and/or CSA approved hockey helmets with CSA approved cages are also permitted to be used. As per PSO recommendations, SSNL also recommends that infielders wear a face mask and strongly recommends the use of a fielding mask at 1st and 3rd base positions.
6. Catcher’s MUST wear a baseball/softball style catcher’s mask with helmet or a hockey style baseball/softball catcher’s mask. CSA approved hockey goalie masks and/or CSA approved hockey helmets with CSA approved cages are also permitted to be used.
7. Infielder face masks are recommended, but not mandatory.
8. Helmets with chinstraps are mandatory at the plate and while on the bases. Any player who takes a pitch, or is on base without a properly secured chinstrap will be called out.
9. Chest protectors: Optional.
10. Full uniform: Minimum of same color and style shirts and/or pants.
11. Pitchers must not wear white sleeves.
12. Bats (as per SSNL bat policy, see below).
13. Hosts must provide a suitable scoreboard, and an independent scorekeeper.

BAT POLICY

1. Only bats bearing the stamp pictured below will be permitted, however, the stamp MUST be clearly visible ON THE BAT ITSELF. Composite and multi-piece bats with a clearly visible USSSA 1.20 BPF thumbprint stamp are permitted.

2. The minimum standard for a legal bat stamp (the bat itself must also meet the criteria listed in #2 above of having been checked and approved by umpire) is a clearly visible USSSA 1.20 BPF Thumbprint-Style Stamp as seen above.

IMPORTANT: There will be zero tolerance for using illegal bats at SSNL Tournaments. Any school team found using an illegal bat at an SSNL Tournament could be expelled from the entire tournament and/or have games voided. It is the responsibility of the coach, players, and school to make sure they understand the rules and do not bring an illegal bat to an SSNL Tournament. It is the responsibility of the tournament convenor and teams to follow the SSNL Bat Policy rules and procedures.

SCORING & GAMEPLAY

1. All players coming up to bat will begin at 1-1 counts.
2. You can start or finish a game with 9 players, however, the missing 10th player will remain as an active spot in the batting order and count as an automatic out each time that spot comes up in the batting rotation.
3. Teams will be permitted to score a maximum of 6 runs per inning except in the last inning of play.
4. The game will be over in the 7th inning when the home team is ahead regardless of the score differential.
5. Teams are permitted to score a maximum of 3 home runs (in-the-park home runs are not included) per game. Subsequent home runs will be counted as an out.
6. Games will end after 4.5, 5.5, 6.5 innings of play if there is a difference of 12 runs. If the home team is losing, the entire inning must be completed. A maximum of a 10-run spread will be used for calculating plus/minus, as well as, for on-site and website/social media entering of scores and for scores provided to general media.
7. As per SPN rules, a game defaulted will result in a 7-0 score for the non-default team.
8. A tie in the round robin remains a tie. In the playoff competition extra innings will be used to decide a winner. During extra innings, teams place a runner (the last out of the previous inning) on 2nd base and the inning starts with 1 out.

LENGTH OF GAME

1. 7 innings OR A minimum of 4.5 innings if there is a 12 run difference after 4.5 innings (see above #4).
2. In the case of a game being called by the umpire for any reason, it shall be resumed at the earliest possible opportunity from the exact point at which it was suspended.
3. It is at the discretion of the tournament convenor if, for the purpose of less daylight hours, the length of games for the tournament needs to be altered. This decision must be made and agreed upon with all stakeholders prior to the start of the tournament.  

DETERMINING HOME/AWAY TEAM

1. Round Robin: Choice of Home/Away team will be determined by a coin toss before each game.
2. Playoffs: Choice of Home/Away team will be determined by a team’s record (use the tie breaking procedure in these tech standards if needed to determine best record).

PITCHING RULE

1. The home plate/strike mat will be used. If the ball makes contact with the mat, it will be called a strike.
2. Prior to the required stop, any pitching windup may be used.
3. A pitcher must start their delivery with at least one foot inside the pitcher’s circle.
4. The ball must be delivered with a perceptible arc of at least 6’ from the ground.  The pitched ball shall not reach a height of more than 12’ at its highest point from the ground.
5. If the arc of the pitch is not between a range of 6 to 12 feet, the umpire will call no pitch and a ball will be awarded to the batter, unless the batter swings at the pitch, in which case, the pitch will be legal.
6. Pitchers must not wear white sleeves.

PARTICIPATION RULE

1. Teams must bat a minimum of 10 players.
2. Unlimited defensive substitutions will be permitted i.e.The defending team is allowed to place any 10 players from their submitted roster into any defensive position on the field each inning. They do not need to identify to the umpire or scorekeeper what players are being placed into what defensive role. This is completely separate from the batting lineup.

COURTESY RUNNERS

1. Your team can apply the overall courtesy runner rule a maximum of 3 times per game.
2. Any player on a team’s lineup card can be a courtesy runner, but they can only be a courtesy runner once a game.
   

COMMITMENT LINE

1. The commitment line is a line drawn 20’ from the closest corner of the home plate/strike mat facing 3rd base.
2. The commitment line runs perpendicular to the 3rd base line
3. The commitment line shall extend a minimum of 6 feet from the baseline into foul territory.
4. A base runner who touches the COMMITMENT LINE or makes contact with the ground past the COMMITMENT LINE with any part of the body between third base and the safe line at the home plate/strike mat must continue on towards the safe line (at the home plate/strike mat).
   

SAFE LINE

1. All players attempting to reach the traditional home plate/strike mat must do so by crossing the safe line in foul territory and must have 1 foot on the ground either touching or completely over the safe line in order to be counted as a run.
2. If the defensive player has control of the ball and is in contact with the home plate/strike mat before the player crosses or is touching the safe line with their foot on the ground, the runner is out.
3. All plays at the home plate/strike mat are force-outs.
4. Runners are out if they touch the traditional home plate/strike mat or pass over it in fair territory.  

SLIDING

1. There is no sliding at the home plate/strike mat at any time.
2. Sliding is permitted at other bases.
3. Base runners are not permitted to crash into a defensive player who is holding the ball at a base and will be called out if they do so. It is the umpire’s discretion in determining if the contact at the base is excessive.

TIE-BREAKING PROCEDURE

1. If a tie occurs in the round robin, it shall remain a tie.
2. If teams are tied at the end of round robin play, the following procedure will be used:

1. Outcome of the games between the tied teams.
2. Difference of runs for and against among the tied teams.
3. Difference of runs for and against among all teams the tied teams played in the tournament.
4. Coin toss.

UMPIRES

1. The convenor is solely responsible for providing umpires and a scorekeeper.
2. Where possible, rated officials should be used. A contact to find rated Officials can be found on the SSNL web site sports web page.
3. Convenors must make sure that Umpires understand that SSNL has some modified rules and they must review the SSNL Technical Standards and make sure they are followed.

WARM-UP

All teams are entitled to a 5-minute warm-up prior to each game they play in the tournament.

PROTESTS, DISCIPLINARY INFRACTIONS & APPEALS

See the SSNL Junior Varsity Manual or General Tech Standards section at the beginning of the document for policy and procedures on all protests, disciplinary infractions, and appeals.

AWARDS

For each tournament, the following awards are provided:

Junior Varsity

1. Gold and Silver Medals
2. Individual Sportsmanship Award (1 per tournament)
3. Individual MVP Award (1 per tournament)
4. Junior Varsity Championship Banner.

NOTE: *No Player of the Game” / “All-Star” or other individual awards are permitted. Failure to comply can result in a $100 fine for the host school.

REGISTRATION FEE

• All JV events are based on a cost recovery model. Officials, game balls and venue cleaning are eligible expenses to base your registration fees on. Contact your SSNL JV Rep or the JV Coordinator for approval of registration fee total.
• Maximum registration for Slo Pitch is $100.00 per team.
• Host teams must also pay the full set registration fee.

PARTICIPATION FEE

Junior Varsity SSNL Participation Fee - $5 per athlete. If playing an individual event only, then $5 maximum. The host is required to submit the tournament remittance form to SSNL as part of the post tournament process.

**Hosts will no longer be responsible for collecting fees, SSNL will invoice participating schools every 2 months for total fees owed based on the records from remittance forms.

(This fee is in addition to set maximum registration fee, you may adjust your registration accordingly)

SCHEDULING