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Player Eligibility

Player Eligibility

Why does CYBL have Player Eligibility rules?

CYBL has these rules for 2 main reasons. The first reason is to ensure that players competing against one another are of a similar age and of a similar skill level.

The second reason has to with the limited amount of gym space available to CYBL for winter basketball season practices and games. This in turn limits the total number of participants that CYBL can admit to the program each season. CYBL is also aware that there are other organizations that have winter basketball season teams for 1st thru 12th grade boys and girls who are Chelmsford residents and/or Chelmsford school attendees.

In order maximize the total number boys and girls participating in an organized winter basketball program, CYBL believes that it is in the best interests of ALL involved that, in general, participation in CYBL is limited to those 1st thru 12th grade boys and girls (Chelmsford residents and/or Chelmsford school attendees) who do not play winter basketball on other organization’s teams.

From the CYBL Constitution & By-Laws

BY-LAWS, ARTICLE 2 – ELIGIBLE PLAYERS

SECTION 1.

Any individual currently residing in Chelmsford or currently enrolled in the Chelmsford Public Schools as a tuition student, who is within the age and grade limitation as detailed below, has properly filled out a current league registration form, paid the proper fee and has a legal certificate (if requested) indicating the individual’s correct date of birth is considered to be an eligible player. In certain circumstances for the player’s or the league’s welfare, a majority vote of the Board of Directors may elect not to accept the individual as a player.

SECTION 2.

A. Boys Mini-Mites Division players will be in the first or 2nd grade and not have reached their 9th birthday by September 1 of the current school year to be eligible. Boys Mites Division players will be in the second and third grades and not have reached their 10th birthday by September 1 of the current school year to be eligible. Girls Mites Division players will be in the first and second grades and not have reached their 9th birthday by September 1 of the current school year to be eligible.

B. Boys Cadet Division players will be in the fourth,  fifth and sixth grades and not have reached their 13th birthday by September 1 of the current school year to be eligible. Girls Cadet Division players will be in the third, fourth and fifth grades and not have reached their 12th birthday by September 1 of the current school year to be eligible.

C. Boys Junior Division players will be in the seventh and eighth grades and not have reached their 15th birthday by September 1 of the current school year to be eligible. Girls Junior Division players will be in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades and not have reached their 15th birthday by September 1 of the current school year to be eligible.

D. High School Division players must be in high school
and not have reached their 19th birthday by September 1 of the current year, to be eligible. (Exception: If a player has left high school, he or she may play until their class graduates.)

E. Travel Division players are typically in the grade for the team they are playing on, i.e. 5th graders play on the 5th grade travel team, 6th graders on the 6th grade travel team, etc. Exceptions can be made to this general rule – please contact the appropriate Travel Division Director for details.

SECTION 3.

A player must be registered by the (2nd) second Friday in December, and can play for only one division – that for which he or she is eligible. The one exception is the High School Division where players must be registered 5 running days after last school team cut. 

SECTION 4.

A. Players not eligible are girls and boys who have graduated from high school or who will be 19 by September 1 of the current year. Also college students; high school varsity, junior varsity and freshman basketball team students. Any player who appears in the summary of an official school basketball game listed as varsity, junior varsity, or freshman contest will be considered ineligible for play in the league that season. Exception: Those players who are dropped from an official school roster prior to January 1 will be eligible.

B. Any player on a travel team is ineligible to play on another basketball team during the travel league season.

C. Players are ineligible to play in the Cadet and Junior programs if they play on another organized basketball team, i.e. school teams, church teams, travel teams, tournament teams.

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PLEASE NOTE: The determination of player ineligibility will be made on a case-by-case basis by the CYBL Board of Directors. Based on that determination, players found to be ineligble will be informed of their status and asked to withdraw from CYBL.