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.