TEAM GUIDELINE

Team Classification Guidelines

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Teams

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“B” teams, NSA has only 2 sets of criteria for determining whether a team should be classified “A” of “B”.

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1. “B” teams may not have any college players.

2. “B” teams typically consists of league players or players not able by ability to play on “A” teams. It doesn’t matter if they come from multiple leagues or jurisdictions, these are the basic criteria.

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Unfortunately, too many teams have tried to take advantage of this flexibility and have been playing “B” when they should be playing “A”. Therefore, NSA has established some criteria to help determine who is “A” and who is “B” when the team doesn’t properly classify during the year.

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**Note: Teams classified “A” at the end of any year may not play “B” the next year if 6 or more players are returning.

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Guidelines for Teams Moving from “B” to “A”

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• Teams classified “A” in any given year, and bringing forward 6 players from the previous year’s roster may be considered “A” in the New Year. This is not a hard and fast rule, but the State Director will review each situation, leaning toward the team playing “A”.

• Top 3 teams in each age from State Championships may be reclassified to “A” unless moving up in age.

• Top 3 teams in each age from the World Series will be reclassified to “A” whether moving up in age or not.

• During qualifying events, teams who win 2 tournaments consisting of 4 or more teams may be reclassified to “A”. Once playing in 2 additional tournaments, the team may petition to be moved back to “B”. (See guidelines for “A” teams moving to “B”)

• Any team can at any time request to be reclassified to “A”. They may only request reclassification once per year under this guideline.

Guidelines for Teams Moving from “A” to “B”

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Once per year any team has the right to petition to be reclassified from “A” to “B”. The requesting team must have played a minimum of 8 games in NSA events. The requesting team’s listed coach must provide an email or letter of request to the State Office no later than 10 days before their next scheduled tournament, providing at the very least the team names and scores of all games played qualifying them for the request. The State Director will review each request and communicate the decision and reason back to the coach requesting the new classification. If the State Director feels after a few tournaments that the team is not competing at the “A” level, the team can be reclassified. The listed coach will be notified by email.

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Guidelines For Teams Playing Up in Age/Class

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• Any “A” team may play up in age classification at any time. Teams are awarded double points for playing up in age, however, the double points will not be included when bracketing for the World Series.

• The team may not pick up any players who otherwise would make the team age ineligible at the sanctioned age.

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Teams may play up in class and age without penalty.