At the ISC Board of Directors meeting in Kimberly, the following changes were approved for implementation in 2009. They appear below in no particular order of importance.

1. ISC II Player Reclassification Request Deadline – Appeals to have current World Tournament players reclassified for ISC II eligibility, must be submitted no later than June 1. See new process for requesting reclassification below.

2. Reclassification and Appeal Form Created – A new form and process for reclassifications and appeals has been created and is now displayed on the ISC Web Site www.iscfastpitch.com Click on Rules & Forms link in the left margin of front page.

A. The initial team request or appeal must be sent to the Regional Vice President.

Decision to be made within 5-business days.

B. Player reclassification requests from teams, denied at the Regional level, may be appealed to the ISC II Reclassification Committee jrwilliamson@foodfacility.com and blairjs@rogers.com and a decision will be made within 5-business days.

C. Player reclassification requests denied by the ISC II Reclassification Committee and all other appeals denied at the Regional level, may be appealed to the ISC Executive Committee by submitting the appeal form and a non-refundable $100 credit card fee and sending it to the ISC Executive

Director. Decision to be made within 5-business days.

D. Appeal decisions made by the ISC Executive Committee are final.

3. PRAWN Age Factor – If a non-PRAWN player makes an ISC All-World team in or after the calendar year of his 45th birthday, that player will be considered a PRAWN for only one year. PRAWN players who have made or make an ISC All-World team in the calendar year of their 41st through 44th birthday may request to be excluded from the PRAWN list in the calendar year of their 46th birthday by providing proof of age to the ISC Executive Director by May1.

The changed PRAWN rules are shown on the ISC Web Site (Rules & Forms) and the 2009 PRAWN list is also on the web site (Tournaments link and scroll down to the bottom of the page).

4. ISC II Move-up Berths – Beginning with 2009 ISC II Tournament of Champions, the top two finishing teams will be provided automatic berths in the following year’s ISC World Tournament (2010), and will not be eligible for ISC II qualifiers or the Tournament of Champions in that following year.

5. Mexico and Caribbean Return to US Regions – For 2009 ISC play, residents of Mexico and Caribbean countries will be attached to US Regions as they were in the 2007 season. Mexico is divided between US West and US Central while all Caribbean countries become part of US East. The revised Regional Definitions will appear on the ISC Web Site and in the 2009 ISC World Championship Guide.

6. South American Player Rep – Due to the number of South American players, now participating in ISC and ISC II play, a South American Player Rep has been named to serve on the ISC Player Rep Committee. Juan Potolicchio has been named to this new position and can be reached at juanpotol@hotmail.com

7. Out of Region Form Discontinued – The Out of Region – Player Letter of Intent Form will be eliminated beginning in 2009. The new process involves having the Out of Region player, send an email commitment to the ISC Executive Director iscken@comcast.net no later than May 1. The team manager is to be copied on the email. On or before May 1, the team manager completes the Out of Region Team Recap Form and mails it to the ISC Executive Director with the appropriate fee. The Team Recap form is displayed on the ISC Web Site (Rules & Forms link).

Sample email commitment from player is simply: “I intend to play the 2009 ISC season with (team name). My home region is (insert region of residence)”. Most player email addresses contain the players name so few if any problems are expected with this new, simplified process.

8. Roster Forms – Beginning in 2009, there are roster forms for both World Tournament and ISC II teams. The difference between the two are the list of email addresses the rosters are to be sent to. Those email addresses appear on the roster forms themselves. Both roster forms are available for downloading from the ISC web site (Rules and Forms). If you’re unable to download, email iscken@comcast.net and request the proper roster and we will email attach it to you. Preliminary rosters for both World Tournament (PRAWN declaration) and ISC II are due by May 1. Rosters can be changed during the season on July 15 and again on August 10.

9. Courtesy Runner Rule – While the ISC generally adopts ASA playing rules, we do have some differences. For 2009, the ISC is rejecting ASA’s new rule that allows courtesy runners for both pitchers and catchers. The ISC rule is: Courtesy runners are not allowed in ISC play.

2009 ISC Qualifiers
February 24, 2009

Canada East Region
Blair Setford, Vice President – blairjs@rogers.com 905-826-2697
World Tournament – 3 + 2 berths awarded from ‘08
ISC II ToC – 7 + 4 berths awarded from ‘08

(more…)

The official ISC ball remains the Worth C120WISC for 2009. Here is information on sources for the ball in both US and Canada.

US Retailer
MVD Sports
Mike Van Dine II
1226 East Main Street
Ashland, OH 44805
419-281-4429 – Store
567-203-9104 Cell
Magicn2@yahoo.com

Cost: $53 per dozen plus shipping

Canada Warehouse
Rawlings – Worth
70 Morton Ave E – Unit 1
Brantford, ON N3R 7J7
519-730-1380 ext 228 – Jason Shipley
jshipley@rawlings.com

It is suggested teams and tournament directors contact their local Worth
sporting goods retailer for the balls. For retailer location information,
contact the warehouse at above address, phone or email.

Cost: Will depend on individual retailer and their location.

February 17, 2008 – The International Softball Congress is announcing
updates to the ISC II Ineligible Pitchers List.

As of February 15, 2009, six pitchers have been added to the list while five others have had appeals granted to play ISC II. In all reclassification cases, the eligibility is exclusive to the player’s team, is not transferrable and is reviewable at the end of the season. Pitchers added to the list may not appeal for reclassification until the conclusion of the upcoming season.

Added to the ineligible list:

Tyson Barkman
Sean Cleary
BJ Hunhoff
Matt Leahy
Bryan Newton
Andrew Putnam

2009 Reclassifications

Jeremy deBelleval
Scott Evans
Bob Ginger
Rick Lang
Doug Sleep

Teams and players are reminded that appeals for reclassification must be made jointly by a team and player. The appeals form can be found on the ISC website at www.iscfastpitch.com on the rules and forms page. A completed form should be sent to your ISC Regional VP.

The deadline for reclassification appeals is June 1, 2009.

For more information, please contact:

ISC II Vice-President
Jim Williamson
jrwilliamson@foodfacility.com

ISC II Commissioner
Blair Setford
blairjs@rogers.com

Eligibility Requirements for ISC II

ISC II Eligibility Guidelines

Below are the Guidelines for ISC II eligibility for teams, position players and pitchers. Please note that all eligibility issues must be resolved prior to any team, player or pitcher participating in any ISC II Travel League, Regional Qualifying Tournament or Championship Tournament. See below for submitting appeals.

Teams Teams that competed in the previous year’s ISC World Tournament, the previous year’s ASA “Major” Tournament or the previous year’s Canadian Senior Men’s Championship and are returning at least 70% of their roster cannot play in the ISC II Tournament of Champions unless an appeal is granted.

Appeals will be considered through the process outlined below until June 1 of the current year.

Position Players

Any player who participated in the most recent Pan-Am Championship or the most recent ISF World Championship is not eligible for ISC II play.

Players that participated in the previous year’s ISC World Tournament, Canadian Senior Men’s Championship or ASA “Major” tournament cannot play in the ISC II Tournament of Champions unless an appeal is granted.

Appeals will be considered through the process outlined below until June 1 of the current year.

Pitchers

ISC II Ineligible Pitchers List

Any pitcher who pitched in the most recent Pan-Am games or the most recent ISF World Championship or whose name appears on the ISC II Ineligible Pitchers list published in the ISC II section of the ISC website is not eligible for ISC II play.

Pitchers that participated in the previous year’s ISC World Tournament, Canadian Senior Men’s Championship or ASA “Major” tournament cannot play in the ISC II Tournament of Champions unless an appeal is granted.

Appeals will be considered through the process outlined below until June 1 of the current year.

Rosters All ISC II team rosters must be approved by the ISC prior to participation in any Qualifying Tournament or Championship Tournament.

No team, player or pitcher will be allowed to compete in both the ISC World Tournament and ISC II Tournament of Champions in the same season.

No player or pitcher may attempt to qualify for the ISC II Tournament of Champions from more than one region or for more than one team in any one season.

Pitchers or players who play on an ISC team which qualifies for the ISC World Tournament but does not attend are not eligible to play in the ISC II Tournament of Champions.

ISC II teams may have up to three (3) out-of-region players, including from the international region. There is a limit of two (2) out-of-region pitchers per team, including from the international region. All out-of-region players must be registered with the ISC, and the appropriate fee must be paid by May 1 of the current year.

NOTE: It is mandatory that any international region pitcher or player be submitted for approval even if he doesn’t appear on the ineligible list.

Additional details on out-of-region player registration and fees can be found on the ISC website under the Rules section.
Once teams have qualified for the ISC II Tournament of Champions, they are allowed three (3) pickups from ISC II-eligible players from within their region. Pickups must meet all ISC II eligibility guidelines and must be noted on the final roster submitted at the Tournament of Champions registration.

Returning teams must have 70% of their roster to qualify for an automatic berth for the following year.

Appeals All appeals must be submitted no later than June 1 of the current year to your ISC Regional Vice President (see the Contacting Us page for details) using the ISC Appeal form (available on the Rules and Forms page).

Any eligibility questions not covered above should be directed to your team’s Regional VP and copied to ISC II VP Jim Williamson (jrwilliamson@foodfacility.com) and ISC II Commissioner Blair Setford (blairjs@rogers.com).

The ISC strongly suggests resolving eligibility questions early so there are no surprises or disappointments prior to league, tournament or championship play.

Jim Williamson
ISC II Vice President jrwilliamson@foodfacility.com

Blair Setford
ISC II Commissioner
blairjs@rogers.com

February 17, 2009

From the ISC:

Last August, Colin Smith, ISC Commissioner in Ontario since 2003, gave notice of his resignation following the 2008 World Tournament in Kimberly. Colin is hoping to continue serving the Ontario Fastball League in whatever capacity is needed. We thank Colin for his years of service to both the game and the ISC.

To replace Colin in Ontario, we are pleased to announce that Rick Boyd has agreed to serve as a Regional Commissioner. Rick is well known to most fastball players and fans. He has played the game since age 9 and has been actively involved as a player, coach, administrator and tournament director. Rick served as the tournament director for all three Kitchener hosted ISC II championships in 2002, 2006 and 2007.

He began playing at age 9. At age 14 he began playing in the Kitchener Men’s Fastball League and has played in that league for 35-consecutive years. He served as league president from 1992 – 1997.

Over the years, he has been associated with K-W Pride, Waterloo Classics (Masters team) and most recently with the Bridgeport Braves who served as Host Team in both 2006 & 2007 ISC II Tournament of Champions.

Rick has been married to Debbie for 26 years and they have a 19-year old daughter, Stephanie. He is employed by Guillevin International (Electrical Distributors) in Guelph, ON as a branch manager.

Rick is highly respected in fastball circles for his dedication, work ethic, experience and love of the game. The ISC is happy to welcome Rick as a valued addition to the ISC.

Ken Hackmeister
Exec. Dir, ISC

Editor’s note: We congratulate Rick Boyd on the new position — and the ISC for choosing an outstanding person for the job. Rick was the driving force behind the back-to-back T of C’s in 2006 and 2007 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, two of the most successful and well received T of C’s ever. (Rick was also tournament director for the event in its inaugural year, 2002)

Rick’s team, the Bridgeport Braves served as the host teams for the tournaments, showing equal doses of talent and class in the events. It was Rick and the Braves who extended their gracious hospitality to the California Lumberkings, in 2006, the first California team to ever compete in the T of C. The teams wound up exchanging gear, beer and friendship that first year, with the Lumberkings returning in 2007 to capture second place in the prestigious event. The Lumberkings shared their stories of the 2006 T of C, inspiring another California team, A-1 Taylor Farms to travel to Kitchener in 2007, where they took 3rd place, edged out of the title game by in-state rivals, the Lumberkings.

Those two years of stewardship by Rick Boyd generated more interest in the ISC II T of C, and in 2008, three California teams competed, including the Lumberkings — who won the tournament in their third try, along with the River City Rockers and Rude Pac, both of whom advanced to the playoff round. Rick’s hard work in Kitchener furthered the development of the tournament, which will host a record forty (40) teams in 2009.