How many players do we need?
Games are played with 10 people in the field. In order to field a full lineup, your team must have at least 4 women and 1 man on the field for Maxfun leagues (minimum of 5 women and 1 man for Thunderchicken leagues). Most teams in these leagues have between 12-18 people on their roster including subs. Captains can add additional players as the season progresses.
We’re short players- what can we do?
If teams don’t have 10 players, then they are able to play shorthanded as long as they have at least 8 players including at least 3 women and 1 man in order to avoid being subject to the Default Policy. Captains can add subs to the roster to help ensure that a team has at least the minimum number of players to field a lineup for each game.
Who sets up the bases?
For Maxfun leagues, each team is required to have a full set of bases (safety 1st base, 2nd base, 3rd base, home plate, home plate mat, cone for commitment line from 3rd to home, 2 cones to mark encroachment line in outfield).
For Thunderchicken leagues, Urban Rec provides the bases.
In both leagues, the HOME team on the schedule is responsible for setting up the bases.
In Thunderchicken leagues, the team that loses the final game of the night on each field is responsible for putting the bases away.
Who umpires?
Games are self-umpired. The team at bat will provide a player to be the umpire at home base as well as an assisting official at 1st (and 3rd if necessary) who can assist the umpire. The umpire’s final decision will not be argued under any circumstance. Because the batting team is umpiring, any ties/close lpays should be ruled in favour of the fielding team.
The integrity of the league rests on the integrity of the players to fairly officiate the games. Any issues that arise should be resolved between team captains only and if they are unable to agree on a solution, the situation should be brought to the attention of the League Manager as soon as is practical.
Can we use subs?
Of course! The only requirement is that subs are added to the roster and have 1) an Urban Rec member profile, and 2) they have indicated that they have read the online waiver for the current calendar year. It is recommended that team captains add any subs that might be used during the season to the team roster. Note that to be eligible for playoffs, a player should have played at least 2 regular season games for the team and must be added to the roster.
ALL PLAYERS MUST HAVE AN URBAN REC PROFILE AND INDICATE THAT THEY HAVE READ THE ONLINE WAIVER FOR THE CURRENT CALENDAR YEAR.
Is there a limit on substitutions during the game?
Nope! You can subsitute and change positions as much as you want to during the game as long as the minimum player requirements are met in the field (as mentioned above under the first FAQ). The batting order, however, must stay the same for the entire game.
Can more than 10 people bat?
Yes! All players who are going to bat during the course of the game should be added to the batting order prior to the game starting. We recommend that teams create a batting order before the game and share it with your opposing team to avoid any disputes during the course of the game. The batting order cannot have two players of the same gender bat back-to-back.
How many innings do we play?
Games are 7 innings in length, but are subject to a time limit of 90 minutes. No new inning should be started after 75 minutes from the initial scheduled start time for the game.
What are the expectations my team should have regarding sportsmanship/trash talking?
Urban Rec leagues are recreational and stress sportsmanship and fun above all other aspects of the sports experience. It is a time to be sharing a good time with your friends and getting some exercise!
“Trash Talk” or choosing to engage in an argument is a show of poor sportsmanship and often leads to the escalation of a negativity that we do not wish to be a part of the experience at Urban Rec.
If you do hear any comments that you feel are reflective of poor sportsmanship, please bring this to our staff’s attention so they can be proactive in dealing with the situation.
How do I indicate that I have read the online waiver?
The waiver is updated for each calendar year, and if you are already an Urban Rec member (which is required for all UR participants), the first time you go to log-in to www.urbanrec.ca in a calendar year, you will be prompted to indicate that you have read the waiver. If you are not an Urban Rec member, you will be required to create a profile in order to participate (you can do this by clicking on JOIN in the upper right corner of the webpage at www.urbanrec.ca, and during this process, you will be prompted to indicate that you have read the online waiver.
Do you offer men’s or women’s leagues in addition to coed leagues?
At the present time, Urban Rec focuses on providing recreational coed leagues, as there are other providers of men’s and women’s leagues for those players who wish to play in that format.
My team is winning (or losing) all our games. Will we be reseeded?
We do try our best to place teams into divisions initially with other similarly-skilled teams, but differences in skill level can become apparent over the course of the season. With this in mind, we do look at reseeding teams once or twice during the season, with the first time being after about the 4th or 5th week of play to ensure that we have an accurate size of results to determine a team’s skill level relative to the other teams in the league (reseeding after only 1 or 2 games is generally hugely inaccurate as it does not give a true measure of a team’s relative skill level). That being said, we will not reseed just for the sake of reseeding; moving a team up means moving a team down (and vice versa), and we try to ensure as best we can that the team we are moving up (or down) is a better fit in that new division than the team we are replacing them with.
How do I see my schedule?
There are two requirements in order to see the schedule for your league: 1) you must have an Urban Rec profile (you can do this by clicking on JOIN in the upper right-hand corner of the screen at www.urbanrec.ca) and 2) you must be added to a team roster by your team captain.
NOTE- the team captain must add you to the team roster using the same email address that you use for your Urban Rec profile. If both of the above requirements have been met, then please follow these steps to see your schedule:
- Sign-in to www.urbanrec.ca
- Click on MEMBERS in the upper right-hand corner
- Click on DASHBOARD. You will be taken to a page that shows all your teams with Urban Rec for about the past year (the ones that you have been added to the roster using the same email address you are logged into the site with).
- Click on SCHEDULE for the team that you are looking for.
NOTE- if you are not on a team roster for the current season, you will NOT be able to access the schedule (if this is the case, check with your team captain to ensure that they have added you to the roster with the correct email address).