Acton Adult Softball League
Sponsored by: Recreation Department in Acton, Massachusetts 01720
Hosted by: GoDaddy.com

Registration Process

The goals of the AASL registration process are:

• Provide priority registration to the 16 teams returning from the prior season.
• Collect all team registration fees during the pre-season and reduce payments coming into the Recreation Department during the season.
• Collect ALL player liability waiver forms.
• Confirm all team rosters are complete and available to opposing captains.

Team Fees

AASL fees are assessed as a team fee for the 2008 season. This fee is $1,550.

Team captains determine their team’s roster size and divide the team fee accordingly.

Return team members should contact their captain to determine player fees and coordinate payment. It is common (and encouraged) for team captains to exclude themselves from contributing towards the team fee, as their role as captain should have some tangible benefit considering the role they play and the responsibility they have throughout the season. But this decision is made entirely on a team by team basis.

Individual registrants not affiliated with a team should not submit a payment until contacted by a team captain. See “New Players” below for more information.

Players (captains) wishing to form new teams to AASL should read information below (“New Teams”) on how to proceed.

Returning Teams

Returning teams have first priority during registration and have until 4 PM on Friday, March 14 to return a completed 2008 AASL Team Enrollment form and full payment to the Acton Recreation Department. Without these, the team's place in the league is not guaranteed. Returning teams registering after that date might find that a new (waitlisted) team has registered and taken t place in the league for the upcoming season.

Each Player Must Register. When submitting team forms and payment, captains should submit as many completed 2008 AASL Player Enrollment Forms as possible to streamline the registration process. Since all players must be waivered before participating in any AASL practice or game, submitting these early will reduce paperwork burden later on. All registration forms are logged and managed, and pertinent team roster information is available for league officials and other team captains throughout the season.

Captains must coordinate payment of the team fee. Captains may choose to exclude themselves from contributing to the team fees and to divide the team fee amongst the other players (captains contribute with significant time and responsibility and should be rewarded as such)! A few teams in past seasons have sought out sponsors to offset the team fee; feel free to do this.

If a captain determines that more players are needed to fill the desired team roster size, we encourage captains to access new players from the wait list. There are often several new players who wish to join the league each year, and a wait list is kept specifically for this purpose. Both men and women are expected to be available. As these new players are added to a roster, payment should be assessed accordingly, based on equal fees for all players.

For example, assume a Captain Kilroy wishes to have 20 players on his team, but only has commitment from 14, knows of two others who moved to Alaska, and is still waiting to hear from 4. Kilroy calculates the team fees for a 20-team roster (excludes himself) as $1550/19 = $81.57 each player. Even though he only has 14 players confirmed, he should charge them all $81.57 and as others are confirmed, or new waitlisted players join the team, they all pay $81.57 each. Basically, there is no chance of Kilroy not being able to achieve his 20-member roster so he should calculate the fees accordingly and collect payments from the outset at $81.57 per player.

Captains should let league officials know immediately when additional registrants are necessary. Make someone happy and meet somebody new -- pull them from the wait list!

In cases where a returning team's captain is not continuing in AASL, the team should organize under a new captain who will manage the team for the upcoming season. Please alert AASL officials if this is the case. Note that this team still must meet the registration requirements above or may lose placement to a new team.

New Teams

AASL will have 16 teams in 2008 as we did in 2007. It is likely that all teams will return, though this is not ensured. Captains of new teams should submit the 2008 AASL Team Enrollment form and payment as soon as possible to be placed higher on the team wait-list, to be added to the league as space is available.

New teams that cannot be placed will be refunded all fees (payment will not be processed until placement is confirmed).

Individual Registrants

AASL recommends that individual registrants (not affiliated with an AASL team) submit 2008 AASL Player Enrollment Forms as soon as possible for the best chance of placement. AASL intends to place individuals based chronologically on when enrollment forms are received. Placement occurs on a first-in, first-out basis as captains request individual men or women to be placed on their team (or on new teams who register for a team space and then need additional players). If you wish to play on the same team as another person, please note this on your form. When (and if) you are placed on a team, your captain will let you know what your share of the team fee is. (Note that in past years, individual players have submitted payment at time of registration - this caused more administrative headaches than necessary, so we've revised this part of the process.)

In past seasons, we've placed only a few individual registrants before the season started, then we were able to place a few more as the season progressed and teams realized they needed additional players to field a team each game. Having a registration/waiver form completed and at the Town provides your best chance of being added to the league.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. When does registration for AASL officially start?
   There is tremendous interest (especially among new players and new teams) about AASL well before the winter snow melts. But it’s the registration process and timeline that determine when things officially begin. Registration begins with the release of the Spring/Summer Acton Recreation Program, which is a booklet mailed via USPS to Acton households. This marks the official start of AASL registration and registration forms are available on www.actonasl.com from that day forward. Generally, this occurs in late February each year.
    
2. Team fees seem to keep going up. Where does all this money go?
   During the offseason, AASL management prepares a detailed budget that accounts for all monies coming in to the Recreation Department through AASL and what is directly expensed. We have significant costs for field dragging/lining, electricity for lights at Elm Street, pre-season field preparation, contributions to capital expenditures like the Elm Street Lighting project completed in 2007, and equipment. We, like you, are players and would prefer to pay less, but we do think that the value you get is worth the cost of the season.
    
3. Is the AASL league budget made available publicly?
   League operating budgets are not published. But any questions about the league budget or financial stewardship of dues collected may be directed to AASL league officials or the Acton Recreation Department.
    
4. If I was waitlisted last year (as a player or representing a new team), am I automatically re-waitlisted again this year?
   No. Our advice is to again register as a new player as soon as possible when registration commences now!
    
5. Should new players contact captains directly for a better chance at being placed on a team?
   The best advice is to get on the official waitlist as soon as possible. If you know a captain or players on existing teams, you are certainly allowed to contact them. But we encourage captains to draw from the waitlist and many do.
    
6. Why don't individual players submit payments like we did in past years?
   In past years we had too many issues with partial payments, checks made out incorrectly to "Acton Adult Softball League", checks made out to captains, and checks from individual registrants who never were placed (so checks were returned). To minimize the administrative overhead we require only the team payment. Captains can then determine the right per-player rate for team members to repay the captain.
    
7. Do per-player fees vary by team?
   Yes. Teams have varying roster sizes. In 2007, the smallest team had 15 registered players and the largest had 28. Since each team is assigned the same number of games/field time, the team payments are equal, but clearly the share of team membership and the amount of playing time a player should expect differs. As a captain, you should start the season with the right roster size to make sure you can always field a team without having to forfeit while making sure you can play a decent amount of the game without sitting too many innings. Through experience, captains find that injury, vacation, family priorities, unplanned business trips (etc) sometimes requires adding additional players to the active roster (note that each new player is required to sign a registration form). These new players would pay a pro-rated registration fee to the team captain.
    
8. If I quit the team, move away, get injured, or otherwise decide not to play, do I get a refund?
   Not from AASL. Our recommendation is to discuss this with your captain who handles team finances.
    
9. If my captain adds more players to the team, should I expect a pro-rated refund?
   Yes. When your captain is forming the team’s roster, he/she is basing the team roster size on a number of factors. Larger rosters mean more players, which could all show up for any given game. If all players show up, each player has less time on the field and as such each player has contributed less to play on the team. If a new player is added to the roster, hopefully the captain has discussed the need with the team beforehand. If it’s to replace somebody (who might have been given a refund by the captain), the net change is zero. Since new players are paying a pro-rated fee to play, captains are expected to reconcile the plans and payments with all players the active roster.
    
10. Can we reduce team fees somehow?
    AASL and the Recreation Department expect a full payment from a team. Some teams offset this cost by securing sponsorship (e.g., a restaurant or bar, a store) or find sponsors to pay for shirts or hats. Other teams have larger rosters to accommodate less active players (or players with less time commitment) and therefore each player has a reduced fee.
     
11. As captain, can I add players to my team at any time?
    Our goals are to (a) collect liability waiver forms from all players and (b) provide reasonable flexibility to avoid forfeiture. Therefore, we allow teams to add players on an ongoing basis throughout the season IF a player submits a liability waiver (registration form) to the Recreation Department before participating. Note that AASL rules specify that players must participate in a certain number of regular-season games to participate in playoffs and that there are penalties to teams who allow unregistered players to play in games.