[Alsfastball] Senior men's nationals : residency - by Chad Rawn - II

[Al Doran]

From: "Chad Rawn" <chadrawn at hotmail.com>
To: ivan.hapggod at nf.sympatico.ca, aldoran at pmihrm.com
Subject: Senior men's nationals : residency
Date: Wed, 01 Sep 2004 13:21:43 -0400



NOTE:  Mr. Hapgood's Correct E-Mail Address is: 
ivan.hapgood at nf.sympatico.ca  and NOT as used in his previous postings. AD


Senior men's nationals : residency - by Chad Rawn - II


Mr. Ivan Hapgood,

Thank you for your reply.  I think I'll just clarify one issue and you can 
tell me if I'm wrong about this.  In your email you stated that "once the 
provinces approve that a player has met the requirements [of residency], 
our hands are tied".  My understanding of the 2004 Special Operating Rules 
is that if there is a dispute about residency between two or more p/t 
associations that Softball Canada would make the final determination as per 
section 2.7(d).  The wording of that section does not establish any 
deadline for requesting Softball Canada's determination of the matter.

Part II, Article III of the 2004 SOR's also indicates that an Association 
representative will act on a protest regarding player eligibility provided 
it is lodged in writing and signed by a coach/manager before midnight of 
day one of the tournament.  If that deadline is not met then the provision 
states that it would be dealt with after the conclusion of the 
championship.

If residency is a genuine concern by any team in the tournament, then I 
think the SOR's provide for either of the following options to be pursued:

(1) Notice could be provided to Softball Canada at any time that a p/t 
association disagrees with the eligibility of a particular player or 
players and that they request a ruling on the player/player(s)residency as 
per 2.7(d).  If Softball Canada is satisfied with the documentary evidence 
that the player is a resident of that province, then the player is 
eligible, if not, then the player would be ruled ineligible thereafter.

(2) A protest could be filed during the course of the tournament by a 
provincial/territorial  Association representative (having received a 
written protest signed by a manager/coach from one of their province's 
representative teams).  This protest would then be dealt with after the 
conclusion of the tournament, presumably by Softball Canada.

If option (2) were chosen, in theory I think it could result in a team 
winning the national championship, only to have a later determination by 
Softball Canada that particular players were ineligible due to residency 
problems.  In such event, I could not see Softball Canada do anything but 
disqualify that team and to declare an alternate champion.

None of this becomes an issue if the p/t associations have all collectively 
decided to turn a blind eye to the residency rules (if they have, then I 
argue that there are some very poor p/t association reps out there).  But 
perhaps that's what you meant earlier when you stated that "decisions have 
been made and the appropriate parties notified"?

Nonetheless, if any p/t association did decide to protest I'm sure they'd 
have a pretty good basis for doing so.  The big downside to that of course 
is that a team full of ineligible players would have influenced the outcome 
of the tournament, even if they were later disqualified.  For example they 
may have eliminated certain teams in the playoff round.


Chad Rawn
mailto:chadrawn at hotmail.com


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