Region 20 CYO
General Rules and Guidelines
for All Sports
Below is a summary of the rules of the Catholic Youth Organization of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Region 20 CYO. A complete set of rules is contained in the 2006-2007 CYO athletic hand book.
CYO Mission Statement and Philosophy
CYO sports is one component of a parish’s comprehensive youth ministry program which enables the partnership of parents, coaches, priests, religious, teachers, and adult leaders to manage and support a sports program that allows youth to grow in their relationship with God and come to better understand themselves and the Catholic faith.
Such a program:
· Employs healthy and enjoyable competition to promote the sharing of gospel values among athletes, parents, and coaches.
· Assists parish leadership in nourishing the emotional, spiritual, social and physical needs of young people.
· Encourages young people to appreciate the gifts that they possess, and challenges them to share these gifts with their community.
· Allows youth to witness the life of Christian discipleship in their coaches and adult leaders.
· Encourages youth to become responsible members of their faith community.
Region 20 CYO Web Site: www.region20cyo.com
Schedules, coaches’ lists, rules, blank rosters/forms, etc. can be found on this site. Additionally, the site has the addresses of all of the parish CYO programs in the region. You can get driving directions to all of the parishes and most of the parish addresses have links to the parish web sites.
Coaches
All grade school CYO coaches, head or assistant, must be at least 21 years old. All high school CYO coaches, head or assistant, must be 25 years old. All coaches, head or assistant, must be accredited by the Archdiocese. Coaches have a one year grace period to complete the accreditation course. Coaches in their second year of coaching who are not accredited by the beginning of the season in which they are coaching will not be able to coach until they are accredited. To find information regarding dates and places of the accreditation courses, you can visit the web site of the Archdiocese Office of Youth and Young Adults at www.oyya.org.
Criminal/Child Abuse Background Check
All CYO coaches must complete a child abuse/criminal background check to be eligible to coach. Forms must be on file at their parish. If a coach moves in from another parish and had completed the background check at their previous parish, notify the Pastor to contact the Pastor of the former parish to send a copy of the background check so it is on file at the new parish. Also, all coaches must attend the “Protecting God’s Children Awareness” seminar sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Season Start and End Dates
Please refer to the current Archdiocese Hand book for a complete list of season start and end dates.
Prayer before Games
Before each game, both teams meet on the field for a team prayer.
Grade School Eligibility (Please refer to the Archdiocese CYO handbook for high school CYO eligibility)
All athletes must be Catholic and a registered member of the parish which they represent. Non Catholics who are enrolled in the parish school are eligible. If a child is a member of the parish but not catholic (and does not attends the parish school) and wishes to play, they must enroll in and complete the parish RCIA program before being eligible. If a parish does not have a team, players may not play for a neighboring parish. Students who turned 15 years old before September 1, 2006 are ineligible. 6th graders who turned 13 years old before September 1, 2006 are ineligible for junior varsity play. However, they are eligible to play varsity. Athletes have four (4) years of eligibility (2 years of junior varsity and 2 years of varsity). Public school students may not play for both their school team and CYO. Players are ineligible once they make their school team. Varsity teams who allow players to play for both teams will forfeit games in which illegal players participate and will be ineligible for the Region 20 playoffs.
All players must play for the parish in which they reside and are registered, regardless of the parochial school that they attend.
Rosters
Rosters must be filled out in alphabetical order, must contain the signatures of the coach, parish athletic director, and priest moderator. It also must be stamped with the parish seal. In addition to the roster, the coach’s information sheet must also be completed and turned in with the roster. Also, every varsity player who attends public school must complete the player affidavit and those must be attached to the roster. All of these forms can be found on the region 20 web site, www.region20cyo.com.
Teams who do not turn in their roster by the designated Region 20 deadline are ineligible until their completed roster is turned in to the specific sport commissioner.
If any coach wishes to add players to their roster after they have turned in their team’s roster to the Region 20 sport commissioner but before the Archdiocese deadline for rosters for that season, please submit all pertinent information (player name, address, parish, school, birthday, and grade) to your parish athletic director who will then forward it to the baseball commissioner.
The coach will also have to forward a copy of the player affidavit if necessary.
Inclement Weather
In the event of bad weather, the host parish should notify the baseball commissioner as soon as possible, regardless of whether the games are cancelled or not. Please check with your rectory before deciding whether or not to play. Please remember that the geographic area covered by Region 20 is very large. The weather in one parish may be quite different than that in another. If school is closed or has early dismissal on Friday, please make sure that the fields will be available for the weekend. We will post all weather related cancellations/delays on the region 20 web site, www.region20cyo.com.
Junior Varsity Leagues
These are viewed as instructional leagues. Coaches should make every effort to play all players in each game. No standings are kept. There are no playoffs
Varsity Leagues
There are playoffs in all sports and all varsity teams will make the playoffs.
Scheduling
No games, practices, or team events may begin before 1:00 p.m. on Sundays. Each parish athletic director is responsible for supplying “black out” dates to the baseball commissioner. These are dates when there are scheduled parish events that will conflict with Region 20 games. These are events like, but not limited to, confirmations, first holy communions, holiday shows, school/CCD events and trips, service projects, high school entrance exams, dances, coaches attending the accreditation course, etc. Individual coaches are not permitted to supply any of these dates to the commissioner.
If a team cancels a scheduled game for any reason (other than for a previously unscheduled parish event*), the team's parish will be assessed a fee payable to the region. The amount of the fee will be equal to the amount of the total referee/umpire fee that was due to be paid for the canceled game.
*An unscheduled parish event is defined as something that is not on the parish/parish school calendar as of the start of the specific season. If an event is on the parish/parish school calendar before the start of the specific season, the parish athletic director is responsible for notifying the specific sport commissioner prior to the Region 20 schedule being handed out at the beginning of the season. If a parish schedules an event after the schedule is published and the event will interfere with scheduled games, the parish athletic director is asked to notify the sport commissioner as soon as possible so that appropriate measures can be taken to reschedule the games and notify the referees.
If coaches schedule additional games, even if the opponent is from Region 20, the umpires/referees must be paid prior to the start of the game.
Code of Conduct (please refer to the 2006-2007 Archdiocese Handbook for all conduct rules)
Any player or coach who is ejected from a game will be suspended for five games (including Region 20 and Archdiocese playoffs and CYO sponsored tournaments). A second ejection will result in removal from the league for the remainder of the season. Players or coaches who receive one technical foul in three separate games will be suspended for one game. Players and/or coaches who are involved in a fight will be removed from the team for the remainder of the season.
Spectators are expected to act in a civil, dignified manner. Taunting, abusive behavior toward coaches, players, or officials will not be tolerated. Spectators are not allowed to bring balls into gyms. No one will be allowed on any stage. Unsupervised children will not be permitted in hallways or other areas inside of buildings. Disruptive fans will be asked to leave the gym/field. If a fan regularly disrupts games, he/she will not be permitted to attend games.
Blood/First Aid
Any player who is bleeding or has blood from another player on them must be removed from the game immediately. A player can not return to the game until the bleeding has stopped and all dried blood is removed from his body. If a player has blood on his uniform, he must put on a new uniform before he can re-enter. Coaches should always carry an extra uniform for such an occasion. (It is recommended that coaches carry a pair of rubber surgical gloves in their first aid kits.) Also, please remember to notify the referees and the scorekeepers if a player is re-entering the game with a new uniform number.
It is also recommended that coaches keep a record of any player who has a medical condition (asthma, diabetes, etc.) that requires the use of a syringe, inhaler, medication, etc. Players should keep all necessary paraphernalia with them on the bench.
Uniforms
Teams must wear uniforms that comply with the following rules: no jewelry, shirts must remain tucked in, no cut off sleeves, numbered shirts which are uniform with legal numbers, and matching color shorts. Undershirts must match the uniform color and all players must wear the same basic color.