Current Bylaws Proposed for Movement into the RGS Book



Please Note: Some portions of the following Articles of the current Bylaws (below) are proposed for movement into the new RGS Book. The specific information involved here is indicated above. Some additional information and/or re-wording may be included in the proposed re-write.


ARTICLE III: Membership

SECTION 2. Juniors may join at a reduced fee designated in these bylaws. Boys and Girls are eligible to compete as Juniors up to the age specified in ART. XII, SECTION 4f.

SECTION 8. Any member may be suspended for:
a. Willfully violating any official playing rule or bylaw of the NHPA.
b. Fixing games, cheating, or any other conduct unbecoming a member.
C. Placing a bet of monetary value on a contestant, or self, when participating in a competition.
d. Using unsanctioned shoes in a tournament.
e. Forfeiting in a tournament for an unapproved reason.

SECTION 9. For any of the reasons above, a member may be suspended for one year.


ARTICLE VII: Charters

SECTION 7. Each Charter must hold an NHPA sanctioned State Championship yearly unless there is more than one charter in the State in which case the State Tournament will be rotated unless otherwise agreed upon by the involved Charters.

SECTION 8. The State Championship Tournament must advertise and provide an entry form stating the intent to crown champions in at least Men, Women, Junior and Elder Short Distance Pitcher Divisions. Other Divisions are an option left to the discretion of the tournament committee. Any Division not receiving at least four (4) entrants can be cancelled but the entrants must be given the opportunity of pitching in another division. All age limitations for Divisions shall be in accord with Art. XII, Sec. 4.

SECTION 9. The Championship Class of the Men and Women's Division in a State Championship Tournament cannot be mixed play. All classes below the Men's and Women's Championship class as well as all classes in any other Division may be mixed at the discretion of the Tournament Committee. When other Divisions are mixed in the Championship class, the champion of each Division will be the highest finishing player in their respective Division. Handicap systems may be used in State Championship play but any Division Title must be determined by a scratch system of play.

SECTION 10. State Championship Tournaments are open only to those NHPA members who legally reside (see ART. III, Sec. 7) In that State and meet the regular eligibility requirements imposed for the event. An exception to this shall be members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families who may pitch in the Championship of the State in which they are stationed/reside provided they meet the other eligibility requirements. No one will be allowed to pitch in more than one State Championship Tournament per year

SECTION 11. All sanctioned tournaments shall provide a playing opportunity for all eligible Full and Short distance pitchers. Exceptions for special tournaments such as invitational's, juniors only, etc., can be authorized by the NHPA Executive Council in accord with Art. XI, Sec. 1.

SECTION 12. All sanctioned tournament results must be reported promptly in a prescribed format to NatStats, the NHPA Center for Pitching Averages. It is the responsibility of the charter president to designate the reporting person. All sanction Club/League results shall be reported to the designated NHPA Club/League Director, promptly at the conclusion of any league, who will then forward results on to the Natstats Director.

SECTION 13. All officers of a Charter must be members of the NHPA and subscribe to the NHPA magazine Newsline. Two charter officers housed in a common residence require only a single subscription between them.

SECTION 14. Only NHPA members in possession of a current combined State-National card are eligible
to vote on any matter pertaining to the election of Charter officers, the sanctioned tournament schedule or anything else that may directly or indirectly involve NHPA business, bylaws or official playing rules.

SECTION 15. Each Charter must comply in all ways with the Official Playing Rules and the Bylaws of the NHPA. Deliberate violation of same will be cause for possible NHPA suspension of Charter Officers, the revocation of the Charter, or both.


 

ARTICLE X: World Tournaments
SECTION 1. The World Tournament Committee shall consist of all members of the Executive Council present at the Tournament. The NHPA President shall designate the Tournament Director who will confer with the President on the format and schedule.

SECTION 2. A World Tournament shall include separate championship divisions for Men, Women, Senior Men, Junior Boys, Junior Girls, Elders and Senior Women. If class pitching performance is used as a "qualifier" for determining who will advance to Championship Division play, the Championship rounds shall be assigned a separate sanction number and both Class and Championship play shall count as tournaments pitched.

SECTION 3. The title of Champion Horseshoe Pitcher of the World can be contended for only in tournaments authorized by the Executive Council.

SECTION 4. The winner of each division of the authorized World Tournament shall be declared the Champion Horseshoe Pitcher of the World of their respective division, and shall hold the title until the next authorized World Tournament.

SECTION 5. In a World Tournament, games won and lost shall determine the order in which the winners are listed. Pitchers tying for first place of a division shall decide the winner as follows: if two tie, a one playoff of 40 points; If more than two tie, the first place shall be decided by a ladder-type playoff based upon ringer percentages; in all others ties (second and below) trophies and prize money shall be awarded based upon percentage. First place ties at the "class" level will be determined by 40 shoe games.

SECTION 6. Any record set in a Sanctioned Tournament shall be called a World Record. Any record set in a World Tournament shall be called a World Tournament Record. The statistics will be different sets of records and recorded as such. The Executive Council will decide on the authenticity of any disputed record.

SECTION 7. All pitchers competing in a World Tournament must have, as a minimum, their last name and State or Country abbreviation professionally lettered on the back of their shirts. Said shirts cannot be
sleeveless. Further dress code can be imposed by the Executive Council if all entrants are notified not
later than the mailing of their pitching schedule.

SECTION 8. All United States residing adult entrants to the World Tournament must have completed at
least four (4) NHPA sanctioned events at their Division pitching distance in the twelve months preceding the cut-off date listed on the current World Tournament entry form. Only one event is required for Juniors. All entrants shall have their eligibility and entering percentage verified by NatStats. Foreign entrants not in the NatStat data base will be verified by other means.

SECTION 9. The Prize and Trophy list will be developed by members of the Executive Council and
approved by a majority of same:

a. The Championship Division cash prize list, including the Junior Trusts, will be paid from the NHPA funds collected based upon the $3.00 set aside for each adult member reported in the prior year (see ART. III, SECTION 3).
b. Men's Championship cash prize for first place shall be a minimum of $2,500 and Women's Championship cash prize for first place shall be a minimum of $2,000.
c. The Executive Council shall determine an amount of money, not to be less than $3,000. to be added to the World Tournament cash prizes. This money may come from any source available to the Executive Council.
SECTION 10. At the World Tournament, the use of Alcoholic Beverages, Illegal Controlled Substances, and any form of Tobacco while in the confines of the courts shall be prohibited for all contestants, officials and scorekeepers.

 

ARTICLE XI: Special Tournaments or Events
SECTION 1. The Executive Council may authorize or conduct, at its discretion, special tournament, matches, exhibitions, open, invitational or celebrity pitching events anywhere that it deems suitable.

SECTION 2. Any Special tournament or event, including the World Tournament, will be conducted in accord with these Bylaws and the NHPA Official Playing Rules, except that the Executive Council may approve a waiver if it will aid in the promotion of the sport and/or success of the event.

The Executive Council may authorize a limit to the number of entries to any Special Tournament or Event if it feels time, court or any other restraint make it impossible to reasonably schedule an unlimited number. In such
cases, limits may be set by any manner deemed suitable.

SECTION 3. In World, National, Regional and State Championships, all ties for first place must be broken by a play-off game. Ties for other places may be settled by play-off, percentage or who beat whom.

 

 

ARTICLE XII: All NHPA Tournaments/Leagues
SECTION 1. All NHPA Tournaments shall be sanctioned in accord with the published guidelines or directives for NHPA Regional Directors.

SECTION 2. Entry for all NHPA tournaments is restricted to players holding a current NHPA membership card, unless otherwise allowed by the NHPA council under Article XI.

SECTION 3. All pitchers averages shall be based on the three highest NHPA sanctioned events pitched in the preceding 12 months or the last ten sanctioned events during the same period, whichever occurs first.. An average is figured by dividing the total number of ringers by the total number of shoes pitched for those 3 events.

a. Any member without a current average at their pitching distance shall pitch a minimum of 100 consecutive shoes to establish their tournament seeding percentage. This qualifying must be scored in writing and witnessed by two NHPA members no more than 30 days prior to entering a tournament. Alternately an NHPA sanctioned club or league average may be used if it covers 400 or more shoes.

b. Members with less than 3 sanctioned events shall use the combined average of the one or two they have pitched.

SECTION 4. Tournament fees: All registration (entry) and any other fees shall be determined by the Tournament Director or Committee.

Tournament entry: Division and age restrictions are recognized where applicable for entry to NHPA
sanctioned tournament play.

a. Open Men - no restrictions.
b. Senior Men - at least 6O years old prior to the day the tournament starts with no maximum age.
c. Elders - Must be at least 70 years of age before the end of the year they wish to declare themselves a short distance pitcher. Once a member declares himself a short distance pitcher, (See Article XII, Section 3,a.) they must remain a short distance pitcher for that membership year. This division includes and male pitcher with a verified physical handicap that prevents them from pitching the full distance, provided an NHPA Medical Exemption form has been completed and approved by the State Charter.
d. Open Women - no restrictions.
e. Senior Women - at least 60 years old prior to the day the tournament starts with no maximum age.
f. Junior Boys and Girls - any who will be 18 years old, or less, for the entire calendar year in which the tournament is played.
g. Handicapped - no restrictions.

SECTION 5. All NHPA Tournaments shall be conducted at the discretion of the Tournament Director or Committee providing these By-Laws and Official Playing Rules are not violated. (see ART. XI, Section 2 for exception) Any division not receiving at least tour (4) entries can be canceled but the entrants shall be given an opportunity to pitch in a class of another division. A class shall complete at least 50% of their scheduled tournament games to credit individuals with an official tournament pitched. In no event shall that be less than two (2) games.

SECTION 6. The Count-All System of scoring is to be optional throughout any pitching activity. The exception to this shall be the World and State Championship Tournaments where only the preliminary qualifying rounds may use the count-all method of total points to determine the championship classes.

SECTION 7. All ringers and shoes pitched under one sanction number, including additional shoes to break a tie and play-off games, shall be counted when figuring the totals for that event. All sanctioned Club/League play must be 400 shoes or more to count as an event.

SECTION 8. Junior pitchers may compete in an adult division of a mixed tournament without harm to their junior standing provided no separate junior division is offered in the same tournament. When a junior division is offered in a non-handicapped tournament, a junior may pitch with the adults without harm to their junior standing, only when their average is at least 20% higher than the next junior.

SECTION 9. Junior pitchers who request admittance and are accepted to an adult class outside the conditions set forth in Section 8 above, will forever forfeit their junior eligibility. A junior boy who forfeits his junior status must pitch the full distance.

SECTION 10. All junior play, mixed class or otherwise, will be conducted on an amateur basis. Awards presented to a junior should have no immediate monetary value. Trophies, medals, ribbons or such & are recommended. Any award with monetary value including trust funds from the World Tournament or the Junior Scholar Pitcher Awards Program shall not be issued before the successful completion of high school.

SECTION 11. It shall be the responsibility of juniors to make sure that their amateur standing is not jeopardized by violation of any of the above.

SECTION 12. Forfeits: In tournament competition, the wins and losses and all statistics accumulated shall remain in the books for a pitcher who has to forfeit one or more games for any reason. A pitcher may miss any number of games due to illness or other legitimate reason approved by the Tournament Director or Committee and still be permitted to return to competition. If a pitcher forfeits for an unapproved reason, the pitcher will not be allowed to return to the competition and will forfeit all prize money and / or awards. Any person who forfeits games shall finish wherever his record puts him in the standings unless he forfeits for unapproved reasons; then he finishes last.