News and Announcements

Post Author Picture

2023 FALL NEBAS

Posted by NEBAS League at Jul 31, 2023 5:47AM PDT

Dear Coaches and town representatives,

As we open fall registration, we would like to first take this opportunity to thank Jim Oettinger for his decades of service to the NEBAS League. Without Jim’s hard work and dedication to the game, this great league would not be in existence. We also would like to take the time to introduce ourselves as we move forward in this transition. The NEBAS league will be run by Anthony Austria, Steve Bottieri and Mike Fanelli. The three of us are coaches who currently have children playing in the NEBAS league. As we move through this transition we will look to make some minor changes to the league that we hope will enhance the experience for both the players and coaches.

The nebasleague.com website will continue to be used. If you have any questions or need to contact us, our new email address is nebasleague@gmail.com.

FALL 2023

League format

  • We will offer divisions at 7/8u coach pitch, 8u, 9u, 10u, 11u kid pitch, 12u (46×60 and 50×70) and 13u (50×70 fall only and 60 × 90).
  • The 7 game regular season (8 games guaranteed) will include an expanded playoff bracket with up to 8 teams making the playoffs, will run from Sept 10th through October 22th. Playoffs will begin the weekend of Oct 29th with Championship Games occurring on November 12.
  • We will remain a Sunday League, but all coaches should work together to play the games at mutually convenient times.
  • For the fall season, your team moves up one age group. So if you played 9u for the summer your team will be Fall 10u. We are not changing any of the age requirements.

Registration

  • Registration opens on August 1 and closes on August 29th. The town commitment form and payment must be received by August 29th. The Fall 2023 Season Town Commitment Form is under Documents.
  • Payment will be $275 for all age groups. Payment can be made by check, credit card or paypal or venmo. All instructions are listed on the town commitment form.

Fall 2023 Rule Changes
The new commissioners look forward to hearing from the coaches throughout the fall season on suggestions and rule changes for the spring. We will implement the following for the fall season:

  • Expanded playoff bracket with up to 8 teams making the playoffs. If a division has more than 8 teams a consolation game will set up between those teams not making the playoffs.
  • Elimination of innings pitched per game and replacing the innings pitched to outs per game.
  • Creation of the evaluation system to grade your team based on the number of competitive pitchers on your roster. The goal is to have a competitive league where all the games are close. While this system may not be perfect we strive to create divisions where all the teams are matched equally.

Updated Rules will be available by the end of August.

Post Author Picture

Important notice regarding playoffs

Posted by NEBAS Admin at Jul 16, 2023 6:05AM PDT ( 0 Comments )

ANY Team playing make up games on or before Weds 7/19, MUST send in the game results within 2 hours of the games completion on 7/19 OR the results might not count for the playoff seedings.

The league will NOT be extended past Weds 7/19 even if it rains every day and no further games take place.

Here is the format for the Summer NEBAS playoffs
8u, 9u, 10u, 11u, 12u 46×60*
top 6 teams in each division make the playoffs
Top two teams receive byes in the first round

*12u 46×60 is a single division but this season there are only 6 teams so all teams make the playoffs, normally it would be 8 top top teams.

12u 50×70 top 8 teams make the playoffs

First round of all playoffs must be played Friday 7/21 (unless both teams agree to play earlier if possible OR on Saturday/Sunday 7/22, 7/23 (games of rest available for both teams pitchers)

All rounds of playoffs up until the FINALS are played at the higher seeded towns fields. ON the given night of regular season play** unless both teams agree otherwise AND It is approved by the NEBAS Board.

**8u will play on Monday and Weds, NOT Weds and Friday

8u, 10u, 12u 46×60 Monday & Weds
9u, 11u, 12u 50×70 Tuesday & Thursday

Teams split the fees for the umpires for all rounds of the playoffs except for the finals.

The NEBAS board will send umpires to all games AFTER the first round. (the home team is responsible for lining up umpires for the games to be played on 7/21).

Game info for the semi finals MUST be given to the NEBAS commissioner and league director by Saturday at 7/22 at 12 noon.

As per league rules, ALL teams must be ready and able to play on any given day determined by the NEBAS board.

ALL Playoff teams MUST turn in their playoff announcing form by Weds 7/19 at 12noon OR they will NOT receive a plate on the town team trophy should they advance to the finals the following week. (THIS IS URGENT AND BINDING) the form is attached.to this email and posted on the NEBAS site.

If you have any questions please reach out to the league level commissioner and Jim Oettinger for clarifications

Post Author Picture

**** IMPORTANT updates on Summer NEBAS ****

Posted by NEBAS League at Jun 27, 2023 4:12AM PDT ( 0 Comments )

Coaches, we have decided the following based upon the incredibly difficult season we have faced so far with weather, district games, graduations and the upcoming July 4th holiday.

PLEASE KEEP THIS EMAIL HANDY FOR REFERENCE DOWN THE ROAD AS IT PERTAINS TO THE SEASON ENDING.

We are being proactive and EXTENDING THE REGULAR Season until the LATEST date of Weds July 19th.

No regular season games will be played past this date, BUT this also means that the first round of the playoffs WILL BE PLAYED THE SAME WEEK. And the final two rounds will be played the week of July 24th with the LAST POSSIBLE day for the finals to be played on the weekend of July 29th.

We are urging all coaches to NOT take this extension as a reason to put off make up games AS SOON AS POSSIBLE and weather permitting. The other thing that we are hearing a lot of is: “no one is around on the weekends”. With the sheer number of cancellations, teams are going to have to start utilizing more call ups and get games made up ASAP as the last week of the season will be packed with games including the first round of the playoffs. Once the playoffs start, EVERY TEAM MUST BE WILLING AND ABLE TO PLAY ON ANY DAY AND THIS INCLUDES WEEKENDS. SEE CLEARLY DESCRIBED RULE IN THE NEBAS RULES:

Playoff Games – Cancelled Games – Regarding cancelled or continuation games, ALL TEAMS NEED TO BE AVAILABLE TO PLAY ANY DAY OF THE WEEK, including Saturday’s or even Sunday’s if weather is a factor. We have such tight timelines regarding the completion date of the Tournament; we need to make sure that if a game is cancelled it should be made up the very next day. We need to “be prepared to play on any day” and at any field, even if you are the home team at another town’s fields. It is imperative that constant communication be held between the towns playing to ensure that the games be played on those scheduled dates.

And a reminder that ONLY one forfeit win will be allowed during the last week of the season.

Lastly, PLEASE utilize the tab on the NEBAS website to report “unplayed make up games” so that it is clear to each commissioner that games are being made up.

Please get your games rescheduled as soon as possible and PLEASE consider celebrating July 4th by playing on that morning prior to any BBQ or festivities. It is imperative to get back on track with games being played.

thank you
Jim Oettinger

Post Author Picture

2023 Summer NEBAS [Host Town: Closter]

Posted by NEBAS League at Apr 23, 2023 9:31AM PDT ( 0 Comments )

2023 Summer NEBAS Timetable

Fri, May 19 – Town Commitment forms and league fees for all teams that you are entering are due back to Closter Recreation. Field usage (locations, lights, curfews) and level of play must also be submitted at this time. League fees should be paid via check (made payable to Closter Recreation). You will find the Summer NEBAS forms (town commitment form and roster form) under the Documents tab. Please read the instructions carefully on the forms.

URGENT THIS YEAR. We are usually very lenient with taking teams past the May 19th timeline.
This year due to the fact that Closter will be hosting the USA PATRIOTS AMPUTEE SOFTBALL TEAM on May 24-29, we need to have all teams that are interested in playing in Summer NEBAS in by May 19th. The schedules for this league is a huge undertaking and we cannot accept teams AFTER May 19th. PLEASE reach out with questions about this timeline.

Tue, May 30 – Rosters are due back to Closter Recreation – sent electronically via email ONLY.

Tue, June 6th – Schedules / Rules given out to all participating towns. (Meeting will be held via Zoom- more details to follow)

Mon, June 12 – League play starts

Sat, July 15ALL regular season games must be completed ON 7/15

Mon, July 17 – playoffs begin

Sat, July 29 – Finals of playoffs must be completed by Saturday July 29th (this includes extra days for rain out/make ups).

Post Author Picture

2023 Spring NEBAS

Posted by NEBAS League at Jan 23, 2023 4:44AM PST

Folks, here is information about Spring and Summer NEBAS.

First off, we are very proud and happy to announce that Closter will be the host of 2023 Summer NEBAS. Closter will be sending out information in late February for the summer season which will start tentatively on Monday, June 12th. Any town interested in hosting Summer NEBAS this year or in future years, please email Jim Oettinger ASAP joettinger@closternj.us.

NEW this year. We will be offering a 12U 50×70 division along with a 12U 46×60 division.

SCHEDULE
The Spring NEBAS league is set up for games to be played ON Sundays, unless both teams agree amicably to move the game to another day. The spring season will consist of 8 regular season games played on Sundays starting on Sunday, April 2nd through Sunday, May 28th. There will be no game played on Easter, Sunday, April 9th. Right around that time is spring break with many towns having different weeks off from school. A game will be scheduled to be played there with the expectation that some towns won’t have enough kids to play due to vacations. The last game of the regular season will be over Memorial Day weekend. Again, games will be scheduled there but we are asking all towns to work with each other and get these games in on a mutually agreed upon day.

Game times on the schedule will ALL be posted on the website (last week of March) as TBA on Sundays and home teams will be responsible for scheduling the actual game time with their opponents.

Playoffs for the top four teams in each division will be on Sunday June 4th and 11th. Top two teams get individual and team trophies.

Summer NEBAS season starts the week of June 12th. Please see tab for NEBAS Game Days for Summer on the NEBAS website (nebasleague.com).

Spring NEBAS registration is open NOW for anyone wishing to MAIL IN payments or pay by credit. Regardless of whether you are paying by check or credit card, we NEED the TOWN COMMITMENT FORM to be emailed back in Excel as we use the information on the form to set up the season for grouping similar level teams, scheduling, and coaches contact lists. The Town Commitment Form can be found under Documents.

REGISTRATION
1) Registration deadline for Spring NEBAS League is Wednesday, March 15th.

2) Fill out the Town Commitment Form and Roster Form under Documents – “2023 Spring NEBAS Forms” and email both forms as soon as possible to Jim Oettinger at joettinger@closternj.us.

  • IMPORTANT: REGISTER YOUR TEAMS CORRECTLY. Enter teams at the correct age level. We will be following the Williamsport age cut offs. Check the Player Eligibility tab for age requirements for each level.
  • Please note when grading your teams on the Town Commitment Form, we have changed the process. There are now only two options. “Weak/Average”, or “Strong/Average”. PLEASE grade your team appropriately. This should alleviate teams being placed in the wrong divisions playing against the wrong competition.

3) Payment: Please send in the Town Commitment Form and league fee of $125 per team no later than Wednesday, March 15th.

  • If paying by check, PLEASE (1) email the Town Commitment Form asap to joettinger@closternj.us and (2) mail form again with the fee payable to “Closter Recreation”, P.O. Box 143, Closter, NJ 07624.
  • Credit card payment is available on the site. Click “Credit Card Payment” on the NEBAS website (nebasleague.com).

LEVELS
We will be offering the following levels:
• 8u coach pitch
• 8u kids pitch
• 9u
• 10u
• 11u
• 12u 46×60
• 12u 50×70
• 13u 60×90
• 14u 60×90

All 8u-12u levels are played on 46×60 fields. New this year is 50×70 for 12u.

Historically, we do NOT have enough teams to offer 9/10u intermediate or 11/12u intermediate, so any combination level teams would be placed at the higher level, IE, you enter a team of 11 and 12u players, they would play in the 12u level.

PLAYER ELIGIBILITYAGE LIMITS
Please see Player Eligibility tab.

FREE AGENTS
Towns that have players available but no team to enter can sign up these players on the Free Agents-Spring NEBAS tab on the NEBAS website (nebasleague.com).

UMPIRES
Each team will have 4 home and 4 away games. The home team will supply and pay for umpires for their home games. For the spring, we recommend one umpire for 8u kids pitch-12u 46×60, and 2 umpires for 12u 50×70, 13u and 14u.
The NEBAS board will send umpires to the semi-final and final playoff games, but both teams will split the fees for the umpire on the field.

RULES
Rules for SPRING NEBAS will be posted in early March for everyone’s review. There will NO pre-season meeting, but everyone will receive all information via email prior to the season.

Any questions, please send us an email. PLEASE feel free to share this email with other towns AND if you are not the travel baseball contact person any more, PLEASE send this to them but let us know who has replaced you in this capacity.

Thank you,
Jim O
joettinger@closternj.us
cell 201-625-2063