Article 303 PICK-UP PLAYERS.
A. General Rule. All teams are permitted to pick up three players as follows:
01. The team adding pick-up players must select eligible roster members from USA Softball registered teams.
02. Pick-up players must have played for a USA Softball-registered team during the current season.
EXCEPTION: Senior Slow Pitch and Junior Olympic (JO) Fast Pitch
03. (JO ONLY) Pick-up players must be registered during the current season. Players must be registered seven (7) days prior to the start of a National Championship Final.
04. Pick-up players must be selected only from USA Softball registered teams no longer eligible for championship play.
EXCEPTION: A player that has been released from a team’s championship roster prior in accordance with the Player Release form.
05. Pick-up players must be from the team’s same or lower classification. (Adult Slow Pitch Only) A player who is individually classified may be picked up by a team with the same classification. Said
classified players may only play one class lower than their current team’s classification. For those players who are not individually classified, their current team’s classification
applies.
EXCEPTION: Players who are age-eligible may be picked up by a lower age classification team.
CLARIFICATION: In Junior Olympic play there are two types of classifications, one type of classification is Gold, Class A and Class B; the other type of classification is age classification, 18-Under, 16-Under, 14-Under, 12-Under and 10-Under.
Therefore as an example, a player who has competed on a Junior Olympic Girls’ Fast Pitch 16-Under team is an eligible pick-up player for any team below the 16-Under age classification if she meets that age classification
criteria. Another example, once a player participates on a Class A team, they are not eligible to participate in Class B even if moving up in the age classification.
CLARIFICATION: A player who has competed in any Junior Olympic Girls’ Fast Pitch National Championship Finals is an eligible pick-up player in a higher classification. Therefore, as an example, a player who participates in a Western
Championship Final is an eligible pick-up player for any team at the USA Softball National Championship Final.
06. Players (Adult and Junior Olympic) whose teams have qualified to compete in the highest level tournaments within a classification shall not be eligible pick-up players.
CLARIFICATION: A player who has competed in any Junior Olympic Girls’ Fast Pitch National Championship Finals is not an eligible pick-up player for any other Junior Olympic Girls’ National Championship Finals.
EXCEPTION: A player who has competed in the Men’s 23-Under championship play is eligible to participate in other adult championship play during the same season as a pick-up player.
07. No player may be picked up for National Gold Qualifying tournaments.
08. In adult divisions of play, a pick-up player may be substituted for after participation.
09. In Junior Olympic divisions of play, a pick-up player may not be substituted for after participation.
10. A player may play as a pick-up player with only one team other than their rostered USA Softball registered team within a division in a season.
11. Teams adding pick-up players must submit a completed official USA Softball pick-up player form attached to the official roster before the team plays in the tournament.
B. Fast Pitch, Modified Pitch, and Slow Pitch Pick-up Players. A player may be picked up at any level of championship play prior to the National Championship Final as follows:
01. If players are picked up prior to the local association championship, they must be governed by their local association rules.
02. If players are picked up after their local association championship, the pick-up player(s) must be governed by Article 303 of this Code.
Note: Men’s Modified Pitch pick-up players may come from the teams’ respective region or the associations bordering state(s).