s we enter winter tournaments and are only a few weeks away from our seasons beginning, it is a good time to re-post & re-share our Guest Policy.
Different sanctioning bodies have their own form of guest policies…we are including a link for the USSSA policy, since that is where we play the most. The Vipers have long had our own guest policy that we adhere to internally. This policy is what we have implemented since inception and is what should be followed this year as in all prior years. Any deviation from this published policy needs to receive organizational approval.
USSSA Guest Policies & Viper Policy
By northjerseyvipers | Feb, 2020 |
We are posting the USSSA Guest Player link here for all to see. USSSA is the main sanctioned/ governing body the NJ Vipers participates with (we do others; however, this is the most common) most often and is the best one to share with our coaches, parents and players.
In addition to the guest policy for USSSA, the NJ Vipers policy, formally posted @ 6/18/19 is below:
- Guest players must receive Vipers organizational approval. Guests will only be approved if we have determined no internal options exist (ie. offering the opportunity to another Vipers player first). We do not import players or stack rosters to win trophies.
- Guest players must sign, acknowledge & adhere to waivers and hold harmless documents. No exceptions. Failure for a coach or team to do so can result in disciplinary action.
- Guest Players will bat last (unless another Vipers player from another team…in that case the Viper player can be inserted anywhere). No outside guest player can bat ahead of existing rostered players
- Guest players must play. The Vipers do not offer a guest role to a player to have that player commit to a day, travel (usually in excess of 1 hour) to sit and watch others play.
- Unless the player is playing a “skilled position” (ie, catcher, pitcher), the player should be playing an outfield or secondary position. Again, if another Viper player, coaches need to use their best judgment. All exisitng Viper players should be rotating into the game as well.
- While we want the guest players to play, they should not be playing ahead of existing, rostered Viper players. An example of this is a rostered player should not be sitting a whole game while a guest player plays a whole game. That is unacceptable, regardless of tournament round. Reasonable and suitable substitution opportunities need to be explored and deployed.
- Guest players are to be given team jerseys and pants (if necessary) to ensure the team is outfitted as a team. Coaches can obtain guest jerseys upon request.
- The responsibility of team members to stay in touch with their coaches on availability is critical…guests are great ways to ensure enough players are available and the team is competitive. It is also a way to recruit players onto the team for either the current season (if available) or future seasons.
- The Vipers prohibit existing Vipers players to guest for other Club organizations.
ALL GUEST PLAYERS MUST BE REGISTERED. THE VIPERS WILL NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY PLAYER WHO DOES NOT REGISTER. THE LINK TO REGISTER IS