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What is the Base School

Skools

Well-Known Member
Jul 10, 2009
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If new Charter school opened up and will be using a church as their "School" for the 2019-2020 year before they move into their brand new school in 2020-2021.........Do you use the church or the new school address as their base school for the summer of 2020 Legion Season?
 
The physical location of the school on March 31, 2020 is the answer. You can likely be given multiple other responses and some of those in an official capacity. Thought NC Legion Leadership banned private and charter schools for base schools. I'm out of the loop so take my post with appropriate weight. Just ask your Commissioner and be prepared to challenge it if it doesn't sound right. Protect your turf....it's rare if anyone else will.
 
Post 36 thank you for the information. Is there anything in the state rule book that states that a charter school or private school can not be a base school? Also is that a national rule? So for your area WEsleyan Christian academy, Greensboro Day School, Westchester Country Day, Forsyth Country day couldn't be used as base schools?

Also is there a rule that states a team's base school is set and can not be changed after a certain date?
 
Skools, sorry, but everything I'm sharing is from memory because I don't get state rule books or the Area emails anymore. The base school restriction would only be a state rule as it is not a national rule for sure. The base school restriction was only necessary when NC banned the option rule aka Form 77 so no clue the current status on either. This is the only restrictive rule that I've ever been a fan because it actually created more opportunity for players.

Base school changes must be communicated by rule before the winter meeting. The date always varies on this meeting, but it will always occur before the state & national convention. Each Area Commissioner can set what they want is the truth as long as it happens before the convention. My complaint has always been that new team formation and base school changes affect other teams, but you don't normally hear about them until it's too late. A NC Legion representative wants a baseball team at every post in the state. This is counterproductive to a healthy program, but as long as the theory lives, some teams will suffer because of it. Obviously, every post having a team will not happen, and agree that telling a post they can't have a team is wrong; however, choosing a base school for the post "should" be managed so that it does not come at the detriment of an existing team. That's always been my beef. Not only did leadership allow a base school to be established 9 miles from a feeder school that is less than 6 miles from our then base school in the past, they then allowed that base school to be shared between two programs. If I would have chosen to not move our base school in reaction, kids with a Kernersville address would have needed a release to play for Kernersville Post 36. Fortunately, I caught wind of the change by accident in time to manage around it somewhat. That is just one example out of many instances of an ongoing problem and the reason you should inquire. Hope this helps.
 
Post 36

I hope all is well with you and your family. As you are well aware, moving a base school for some is certainly not a problem in our area. Previous Director moved his base at least 3 times, maybe more depending on which schools were playing for them that year. Not even sure where that base is now.

I miss seeing you at the meetings and certainly miss see you at the ball field. I hope if it is your desire, you get back in it. This area certainly needs voices like yours.
 
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Thx Sportsnut......I miss certain aspects of coaching and the relationships. The super cool part is that I continue to be connected to a large number of past players which makes it so much better. Kudos to you guys who are still in the trenches doing right by the kids. You are definitely making a difference even when it seems fruitless.
 
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I’m not that familiar with Legion rules. Is it true that teams from any given post have to identify which high schools are in their territory? And is there a maximum “population” for the cumulative total of students in those schools?
 
I’m not that familiar with Legion rules. Is it true that teams from any given post have to identify which high schools are in their territory? And is there a maximum “population” for the cumulative total of students in those schools?

When Post are rostering players they must list the High Schools that they attend. All the schools players attend can not exceed 5000 total, grades 10-12.
 
When Post are rostering players they must list the High Schools that they attend. All the schools players attend can not exceed 5000 total, grades 10-12.
Thanks. So is there a list of what schools are assigned to a particular Post?
 
Thanks. So is there a list of what schools are assigned to a particular Post?
Not assigned, there is base school, Post designates what high school when applying to have team as their base. All players from base school must play for that Post. From there any other potential players must play for the Post (fielding a team)nearest their residence. Then as a team adds players from other high schools that total cannot exceed 5000. The 5000 rule is hard fast and can not be negotiated. Others areas get muddy.
 
When Post are rostering players they must list the High Schools that they attend. All the schools players attend can not exceed 5000 total, grades 10-12.

The new national amount is 6,000. Unless North Carolina is mandating teams can't go higher than 5,000. Which I would be surprised that they would be allowed to do that.
 
I’m not that familiar with Legion rules. Is it true that teams from any given post have to identify which high schools are in their territory? And is there a maximum “population” for the cumulative total of students in those schools?

So each American Legion Baseball team has a base school. If the school your son attends is a base school for a legion team he has to play for that legion team.

If your son attends a high school that is not a base school he has a option. Option 1: He can play for the American Legion Baseball team closest to his high school he attends. You will need find the other base schools around you....then use Google Maps to determining the shortest length of distance. Not driving time. You have to use google maps. Do not use Apple maps as they have different distances.

Option 2 your home address. He can play for the team closest to his home address to the closest base school.

Any other questions please let me know.
 
Not assigned, there is base school, Post designates what high school when applying to have team as their base. All players from base school must play for that Post. From there any other potential players must play for the Post (fielding a team)nearest their residence. Then as a team adds players from other high schools that total cannot exceed 5000. The 5000 rule is hard fast and can not be negotiated. Others areas get muddy.
If a team selects a player who lives closest to that team’s post, does that player’s high school then count toward the 5,000?
 
If a team selects a player who lives closest to that team’s post, does that player’s high school then count toward the 5,000?
Yes, the enrollment of all players selected goes toward the 5000. OBTW, I have not seen the rule changes for 2020, so they may have raised that limit to 6000. Also, remember that enrollment is 10-12 grades. 9th grade is not included.
 
Yes, the enrollment of all players selected goes toward the 5000. OBTW, I have not seen the rule changes for 2020, so they may have raised that limit to 6000. Also, remember that enrollment is 10-12 grades. 9th grade is not included.
I appreciate the explanations.
School A is not a base school, but has two Posts with teams in close proximity to that school. Conceivably one player from that school could live closest to one Post, and another player to the other. Would both Posts be required to count school A?
Assuming that each Post counted the two players on their rosters, of course.
Some rosters indicate a college affiliation, rather than a high school. How does that factor into the numbers?
 
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I appreciate the explanations.
School A is not a base school, but has two Posts with teams in close proximity to that school. Conceivably one player from that school could live closest to one Post, and another player to the other. Would both Posts be required to count school A?
Assuming that each Post counted the two players on their rosters, of course.

Yes, they could go to same HS and due to residency have to play on opposing teams. Happens all the time. There are such things as releases, where one coach releases players so they can play for another team. Some organizations freely do this and others do not. We generally have taken the approach if player doesn’t want to be with us we freely release them. I could go on for hours and bore you with the politics within American Legion baseball.

Also base schools do move, some move them regularly, part of that is the politics I was referring to.
 
Yes, they could go to same HS and due to residency have to play on opposing teams. Happens all the time. There are such things as releases, where one coach releases players so they can play for another team. Some organizations freely do this and others do not. We generally have taken the approach if player doesn’t want to be with us we freely release them. I could go on for hours and bore you with the politics within American Legion baseball.

Also base schools do move, some move them regularly, part of that is the politics I was referring to.
We have an unusual situation in Thomasville.
There are two high schools in the Thomasville city limits...Thomasville and East Davidson. Thomasville, of course, has its own school system , while East is in the Davidson County school system. Additionally, Ledford isn’t in the city limits, but many of its students live in the city limits. (I know, that’s crazy!)

Where questions often arise is that the High Point post plays on a field located in, and owned by the City of Thomasville. Or more accurately, owned by the taxpayers. Many of whom are parents of kids at Thomasville, East or Ledford. So most folks assume that the roster would be heavily loaded with kids from those schools. Many years, there are no kids from any of those schools and the speculation is that it’s related to the 5,000 rule. I believe last season there were four Ledford kids and one Thomasville, but that’s unusual.

I believe, but don’t know for sure, that kids from those schools often play with the Davidson County team, which plays in Lexington.

You can probably see why the taxpayers (parents) don’t always understand why more of their kids aren’t playing on the field that they own and pay for. I’m just trying to understand it myself.
 
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Reread my last statement in my last post and this will clearly give you the answer you are looking for.
 
I hear you. That’s the only question I’ve asked that I already knew the answer to:)
The politics in your immediate area has died down some since Area Director is no longer from Davidson County. Home base moves in his rule has caused a lot of friction. See Post 36 statement above, he refers to theses moves from the past. Post 36 was an excellent promoter of American Legion baseball. I really miss him now that he has stepped away. We always had some crossover players, but settled it an adult way.

Moving bases is not the answer. The program is dying because it has failed to keep and attract the youth of today. The real evil is showcase and as a Legion program you have to adapt to that or not have a program. This is the sole reason less than 10 years ago our Area had 20+ teams. Last year I think they had 12 and several of those 12 are hanging on by A thread. I have the upmost respect for current and past military and what the American Legion stands for, when I say this I don’t mean the respect that they expect, but their playing rules, politics and paperwork requirements has driven many away.
 
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The politics in your immediate area has died down some since Area Director is no longer from Davidson County. Home base moves in his rule has caused a lot of friction. See Post 36 statement above, he refers to theses moves from the past. Post 36 was an excellent promoter of American Legion baseball. I really miss him now that he has stepped away. We always had some crossover players, but settled it an adult way.

Moving bases is not the answer. The program is dying because it has failed to keep and attract the youth of today. The real evil is showcase and as a Legion program you have to adapt to that or not have a program. This is the sole reason less than 10 years ago our Area had 20+ teams. Last year I think they had 12 and several of those 12 are hanging on by A thread. I have the upmost respect for current and past military and what the American Legion stands for, when I say this I don’t mean the respect that they expect, but their playing rules, politics and paperwork requirements has driven many away.
Yes, especially the remark about kids having to get a release. For one year, a coach had formed a team that was essentially a Thomasville team. I don't know which school was the base school. Our city council insisted that the new team would have preference of playing dates, but both teams played at the city owned field. That only lasted for one year due to the friction between the teams. The lease was for three years, but the team moved to Lexington after one.
 
Yes, especially the remark about kids having to get a release. For one year, a coach had formed a team that was essentially a Thomasville team. I don't know which school was the base school. Our city council insisted that the new team would have preference of playing dates, but both teams played at the city owned field. That only lasted for one year due to the friction between the teams. The lease was for three years, but the team moved to Lexington after one.
OC, without revealing totally who you are referring too, (unless you want to) are we talking of a situation from several years ago?
 
OC, without revealing totally who you are referring too, (unless you want to) are we talking of a situation from several years ago?
The two teams on one field was probably seven years ago. The concern about where our kids play is ongoing.
 
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