Welcome (and welcome back) to DC Liberty! We like to think we have the most competitive, most charitable and most fun kickball league in all the land and we hope you enjoy all we have planned for you this season.

Since almost all of us have played before, we have chosen to distribute this Captains’ Handbook in lieu of having an official captains’ meeting. However, if anything is confusing, or you just have questions, please do not hesitate to ask me for clarification.

WHERE WE PLAY

Marie Reed Community Center
2200 Champlain Street NW
Washington, DC 20009

Two fields: Bleacher Field and Backstop Field

WE WILL NOT TOLERATE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES ON THE PLAYING FIELD!

Any team caught drinking on the field will receive a paper forfeit and the offending player(s) will be kicked out of the league. This is an Elementary School and we could lose our permits if anyone is caught drinking on the fields. There are bars literally 30 steps away… if you need a drink that bad, go take a shot of Jameson and come back. The same rule applies to any need for “relief” on the field.

WHERE WE PARTY

The Town Tavern

http://www.towntaverndc.com/

2323 18th ST NW
Washington, DC 20009

For those that haven’t joined us at Town Tavern before, we party upstairs with two full bars, flip cup tables, DJ & dancing, and general debauchery. We will also receive these specials this season:

$8 Domestic Pitchers (until midnight)
$4 Rail Drinks (until close)
$5 Burgers

GAME SCHEDULE

We have 16 teams this season, so we will play two games at a time at 6:30, 7:15, 8:00 and 8:45.

REFFING RESPONSIBILITIES

As usual, we are asking each team to provide refs directly before or after exactly half of their games (just four out of eight weeks). However, because we have so many experienced teams in the league, in order to spread the head reffing duties around a little more, we are asking each team to provide three refs (home, 1st base and 3rd base) for their scheduled duty.

Teams that do not provide refs when scheduled will receive a paper forfeit. While paper forfeits will not count as a loss in the standings like regular forfeits, they will count towards the limit of two forfeits for the season. A team with three forfeits and/or paper forfeits will be excluded from postseason play.

We understand that some newer teams may not have experienced home plate refs, so we ask only that you be responsible for lining someone up as a home plate ref, regardless of what team they are on. There are many experienced players in the league who can help out (possibly for a minor alcoholic donation). If you don’t have an experienced home plate ref and don’t know anyone to fill in, just let us know and we will try to find an experienced replacement. You will still be expected to provide two base refs regardless.

RULES

Most of us know the rules like the back of our visors (and aren’t afraid to point to our rule books and let you know it), but in case you don’t, please review them in full here: http://www.kickball.com/rules.

Some incredibly basic highlights as if you just fell off the moon onto the kickball field:

Field of Play

Three bases and a home plate, just like baseball.
Actually, there’s an “extra” base at 1st to keep the runner from colliding into the baseman.
Fair balls and foul balls, just like baseball.
Strike zone is one foot high and one foot from the sides and back of home plate. Strikes must also bounce at least twice or roll before crossing home plate.
11 fielders on defense, including one pitcher and one catcher.
All fielders must remain behind the 1st-3rd base line until the ball is kicked, except the catcher, who must remain behind the kicker until the ball is kicked.
Teams

Rosters up to 26
All players kick
Maximum of 11 players in the field on defense
Minimum of 4 men and/or 4 women on the field at all times (so minimum of 8 total).
6:30 games receive a 15-minute grace period to meet these minimums; later games receive a 5-minute grace period.
Teams not able to meet these requirements in time shall receive a forfeit loss.
Players must be 21, have adequate and current health insurance, and be registered with WAKA in DC Liberty on the team they are playing for.
Any team fielding an ineligible player will forfeit that game and be banned from the playoffs.
Games

A regulation game lasts 5 innings.
If a game is not completed within the 45-minute time limit, the score shall revert to the previously completely full inning.
A game must last at least 3 innings to be official.

Strikes, Balls, and Outs

A strike is a legal pitch that crosses through the strike zone, or is swung at and missed.
A ball may include pitches that:
Cross home plate outside the strike zone and are not kicked;
Do not bounce twice or roll before crossing the plate;
Bounces over one foot while within the kicking box at home plate.
A foul ball may include kicks that:
Land or are touched in foul territory, or touch foul territory before 1st or 3rd base;
Touch an out-of-play object in foul territory;
Are kicked above the knee or touched more than once by the kicker (double kick);
Are kicked outside the kicker’s box.
Four balls is a walk. Three strikes or four fouls is an out. Strikes and fouls count separately.
Other outs include:
Caught kicked balls;
Tagging of a base to which the runner is forced before the runner arrives;
A runner touched by the ball while not on a base while the ball is in play;
Tagging of a base from which the runner has not tagged-up on a fly ball;
A runner off-base when the ball is kicked (i.e. no lead offs);
A runner physically assisted during play;
A kicker kicking out of order;
A runner passing another runner on the base path;
A runner outside the baseline;
A runner missing a base.
Please be aware that these are very basic rules. For a full explanation, including diagrams, please visit http://www.kickball.com/rules.

CHARITY

We are a very competitive league and also a very fun league. However, I believe what sets us apart from other divisions is our unwavering dedication to charity. During the calendar year of 2009 we raised over $8,000 for Devotion To Children. Last season we raised over $4,000 for various charities in and around the DC area. This year, we would like to break those records in raising money for the 20% Foundation in conjunction with I’m Too Young For This! and The Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic. The overall goal is raise money to bring young-professionals (18 – 35) afflicted with cancer in the Washington, DC area together to cope, reconcile and heal, both physically and mentally, in a setting that is conducive for our age group. Money raised will also go to granting the last wish of a young professional in the DC area as well as continuing to fund rare cancer research.

There are several ways we raise money for charity:

Superlative Voting

Every season we sell votes for “Superlative Awards” (yes, like in your high school yearbook). Some are highly coveted (Kickball Queen, Best Dance Moves, Most Fun Team), some are well-earned if not exactly desired (Douchiest, Sorest Losers, Most Likely To Wake Up ON A Gutter), and some are just plain accurate (Biggest Lush, Most Likely To Hook Up, Most Likely To Close Down Millie & Al’s).

Each week, members of the charity committee will be coming around to collect votes for superlatives, which also double as donation to our charity cause. $1 gets you two votes. $10 allows you to make a new category. $20 gets you a bonus of 50 votes. So bring those dollar dollar bills, y’all!

Awards will be given out at the end of the season, both in certificate and Facebook tagging form. J

Special Charity Events

We will also have numerous charity events throughout the season, in addition to our budgeted parties. Proceeds will benefit our designated charity, or possibly a specific one-time cause. Events may include but are not limited to:

Guest Bartending
Date Auction
Flip Cup Tournament
Skills Competition
Karaoke Contest
Please encourage your teams to participate. If you have any additional ideas or causes, they are always welcome.

Tangible Donations and/or Volunteer Opportunities

We don’t always limit ourselves to monetary donations. We hope to incorporate more tangible donations (e.g. food drive, clothes drive, etc.) as well as some more volunteer opportunities (e.g. field clean-up days, charity weekends, etc.). Again, the more ideas, the better.

NEWSLETTER (“Ghost Man On Third”)

As famous as DC Liberty is for our competition, our parties and our charity efforts, we have actually won a WAKA award for having the best damn GMOT in all the land (fist bump for Kickball Carrie!). This season, the board will tag team in order to put out our legendary newsletter. We ask the following of all captains and other contributors:

GMOT submissions should be sent to dclibertykicks@gmail.com. Anything you want to go in the newsletter (write-ups, pictures, etc.) should be sent to that email address.

The submission deadline will be Monday night at midnight. That doesn’t mean “send an email Tuesday morning begging for forgiveness and send your write-up at 7:30 PM and some pictures to go with it on Wednesday morning.” That means Monday night at midnight. Putting together a 20+ page newsletter each week is a lot of work, and the earlier you send your write-ups, the easier it is for everyone involved.

By default, captains are responsible for their weekly submissions, meaning they’ll be the ones getting the nasty emails if the write-up is late. If you would like to designate other members of your team to handle that responsibility instead, send a note to dclibertygmot@gmail.com with the names and email addresses of those individuals and you’ll be off the hook.

Division BOARD & Contact Information

WAKA Rep – Donnie Herrity (301-752-6005)
WAKA Division Website: http://www.kickball.com/season/dclibertyfall2010
Division Website: http://dcliberty.com/