Metro Swim League

Established 1993

League By-Laws

Preface

The Metro Swim League is a Winter League organized to provide competitive swimming activities for the youth of member clubs. These activities are intended to be a source of enjoyment wherein the children can improve their swimming skills, as well as learn good sportsmanship.

League Membership

The Metro Swim League is composed of the following Member Clubs:

Concord Recreation Otters
Flaherty Dolphins
Hayden Dolphins
Longfellow Stingrays
Mystic Valley Swim Club Killer Whales
Nashoba Aquatic Club Piranhas
Revere SandSharks Swim Club
Suburban Sharks
Thoreau Sharks
Wayland Junior Warriors
Wayside Waves
Westford Dolphins

There will be a cap of twelve teams allowed to participate in the Metro League. There will be a waiting list kept with the League President in order that they are received. Additional clubs may be admitted by 80% consent of member clubs by secret ballot. All clubs shall be private in nature. Clubs desiring to join the Metro Swim League must submit a written proposal. They will then be invited to make a presentation to the league after which will be a question and answer session. They must leave after their proposal and will not be included in any discussions.

The purpose of the league is to provide a program of competitive swimming activities for the youth of member clubs. The first year is a probationary year to be reviewed at the end of the season by the official League Membership.

Eligibility

To participate in the Metro Swim League Swim Meets a swimmer must be a member of and train with a Metro League Team. Questions of eligibility must be presented to the Metro Swim League Board for approval before the athlete can participate in any Metro League activity. Age group categories for the season are determined by the child’s age as of November 1^st of the current season.

US Swimmers are not allowed to participate in the Metro League, This is any swimmer that is a registered US Swimmer.

Championship Eligibility

For a swimmer to get credit for swimming a meet they must be registered with the league in advance of a meet. To participate in the Metro Swim League Championship a swimmer must swim in at least 4 meets of record in the Metro Swim League Meets. If a swimmers starts after the first of the year a majority of the teams must agree to allow swimmer to participate in Championships (swimmer must still be able to make 50% of the meets)

Times submitted for Championship must be times a swimmer has swum at a Metro Swim League meet.

League Organization

A Board of Representative shall govern the league. Each member club shall designate one or more representatives to attend Metro League Meetings. Each club shall have a single vote when balloting upon league matters. Attendance at league meetings is mandatory.

Officers

The league officers shall consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. These officials shall be elected by the Board of Representatives at the Wrap-up meeting each year and shall serve through the wrap-up meeting of the subsequent year. Elected officers are limited to two consecutive years in office. The board may choose to deviate from this procedure to accept volunteers for positions. If any officer is unable to fulfill their position, the position will be re-voted at the next Metro League Meeting. If the President cannot fulfill their position, than the Vice President will call an emergency meeting.

Duties of the President

The President shall act as chairperson of all Metro League Meetings and shall serve as central coordinator to interpret league policy and assure smooth operation of the competitive program. The President shall also act for the Board in any matter arising between seasons when meetings are not normally scheduled. In case of a tie vote the President will cast the deciding vote on League matters. The President shall be from a team of record in the Metro League of at least two years. The President must have at least five years of experience in organized youth swimming.

Duties of the Vice President

The Vice President shall act as and represent the President whenever the President cannot attend. If the President must step down for any reason the Vice President shall take over the position as President for the remainder of the season (to complete the current term) until the wrap-up meeting. The Vice President shall be from a team in the Metro League of at least two years. The Vice President must have at least five years experience in organized youth swimming.

Duties of the Secretary

The Secretary shall record and publish the minutes of each meeting, as well as league schedules, list of representatives and similar pertinent information. The Secretary shall maintain the League Records and publish all new records. A separate League Record Recorder may be established at the discretion of the President to maintain League Records.

Duties of the Treasurer

The Treasure shall collect dues from the member clubs and make disbursement as approved by the Board of Representative.

League Meetings

There shall be two league meetings held for the league. The first meeting will be held in September or October to set up the meet schedule and go over Championship information. The second meeting will be held at the end of the season for a wrap-up to go over any concerns that occurred during the season. There will be a possibility of a third meeting to let the teams know what they are responsible for during the championships.

Any and all rule changes will occur at the wrap-up meeting at the end of the season. A majority vote by team representatives will be considered a rule change.

League By-Laws

The Metro Swim League By-laws are the rules, which govern the operation of the League. The maintenance and updating of these By-laws is the responsibility of the Metro Swim League Board of Representatives. By-law changes should be presented, discussed and included in the minutes of the applicable Metro Swim League meeting. All changes to the by-laws will be listed under amendments to the rules for one year. At the end of that year those amendments will be moved to the body of the by-laws. No voting or adopting of By-law changes should occur until the following league meeting in order to allow club representative sufficient time to consider and discuss the proposed change(s) before casting their votes.

League Season

The Metro League Season shall run from November 1 until the Championship Meet. Every effort should be made to hold championships the first or second weekend of March 15.

Financial

Dues for the following year will be set at the wrap-up meeting. Dues are $350 per team or $8.00 per swimmer. Teams must pay the higher rate.
Team dues will be based on the number of swimmers who swim in one or more meets during the course of the season. If a team overpays their team dues they will get a credit toward the next seasons dues based on the overpayment.
Dues are used to pay for all league expenses (championships pool rental, officials, ribbons, etc).

· If a team has a swimmer join after the dues are submitted to the league, that team is responsible for paying dues for that swimmer.

· A team roster must be sent to the League by November 1^st of the current season. The initial roster must be an exported team roster zip file from Team Manager.

· After the initial roster is sent any additional swimmers must be submitted as a list. This list must include the team name, the athletes first and last name, the age as of November 1^st of the current season, the Date of birth and the gender of each swimmer submitted. This list should be sent whenever a new swimmer is added to your roster. Failure to submit a name may result in that swimmer not receiving credit for a meet swum.

Expulsion

Clubs may be asked to leave the Metro Swim League. Some reason for expulsion:

· Canceling three meet

Failure to follow Metro Swim League Rules
Three major infraction of League policy within one year
Unsportsmanship like conduct
Not Attending League Meetings

Procedure for Expulsion: There will be a written warning, suspension and then an expulsion vote by 50% of league members, excluding the team that is under consideration for expulsion. Complaints must be filed within 10 days of the incident to League President. A major infraction is determined by a majority vote of the league.

Meet Arrangements

The home team is to call the visiting team the Sunday before a meet to confirm the meet location, date, warm up and start time as well as any issues with submitting the line up. The home coach should also:
- Determine the lane assignments. (This must be done at least 3 day prior to the start of the meet)
- Decide if any events are to be added.
- Confirm meet warm-up and start time. Teams must show up within 20 minutes of the start time or forfeit the meet, unless there are extenuating circumstances, i.e./ weather.
- The away team must send a copy of their Team Manager line up to the home team at least 24 hours in before the start of the meet.
- Notify the visiting team of any rules particular to your facility.

Dual Meets and Multi team Meets

All meets will be run in accordance with USS Rules as of November 1 of the current season except:
- Metro Swim League will abide by two false start rule.
- No false starts for 6&Unders except in the case of a flagrant rule violation.
- Teams shall alternate lanes, with the visiting team choosing even or odd numbered lanes.
- Teams are expected to use flyovers for all individual strokes on the front unless it is unsafe to do so.

· Diving will not be allowed from the shallow end in any Metro Swim League meets or events. The second and fourth swimmer of the 100 yard relays must start in the water. Relay swimmers who must start at the shallow end will start in the water with at least one part of their body touching the side of the pool.

· Each team shall swim a minimum of 8 dual meets per season. (A tri meet will count as two meets.)

Age Group

· A swimmer’s age group is determined by the age of the swimmer on November 1^st of the current season.

· Age group breakdown: 6 and under, 7&8, 9 & 10, 11 & 12, 13 & 14, 15-18 (Swimmers in the 15-18 age group must be in high school).

For individual events, swimmers may move up a maximum of 2 age categories during the regular season but they may not move up an age category at championships.

· For relays swimmers may move up a maximum of 2 age categories during the season and at championships.

Meet Events

The list of events to be swum in all dual meets shall be represented at the start up meeting of the upcoming season.

Events Policies and Rules

A swimmer is permitted to enter a maximum of three events, no more than two of which may be individual events.
Girls can only swim girl events, boys can only swim boy events.
Events may be added but not subtracted from the order of events.
Extra heats are allowed at the discretion of the home team.
As many relays may be entered with the possibility of only one scoring per team.
There will be no sweeps.
The Graduated Medley will consist of a 10 and under girls team a 10 and under boys team an 11 and older girls team and an 11 and older boys team.
The 10 and under Graduated Medley relay will consist of two swimmers from the 8&Under age group and two swimmers from the 10&under age group. (Note you can have four 5 year olds in this relay)
The 11 and older Graduated Medley relay will consist of one 12&Under swimmer, one 14&Under swimmer and two 18&Under swimmers.
Dual meets and multi team meets are seeded fasted to slowest. With all teams agreeing to lane set up.
Championship meets are seeded slowest to fastest.
Teams will do their best to minimize or eliminate the need for a second heat for any relay event.

Stroke and Turn Judges need to tell both the swimmer and the timer of the disqualification. The timer must write this reason for the disqualification on the timer sheet.

Metro League Records

To submit times for consideration of new league record the coaches from both teams must notify the league of the record via phone, email or mail. Records must have at least two timers, or be from a touch pads if they are available. The official time determined as follows:

Touch pad time
The middle time of three watches
The Average of two watch times

All watch times and touch pad times must be included.

If a record is rejected for any reason, the league representative and/or coach must be notified.

A Metro League Swimmer, swimming up in his/her age group, may make a record in his/her own age group and the age group of which he/she is swimming, provided he/she is swimming the same distance.

Copies of League Records will be sent to the representatives of each club at the Start-up meeting. All records must take place in official Metro Swim League meets. Probationary teams are eligible to make league records.

Officials

The home team shall supply: One Starter/referee, one Stroke and Turn Judge (two if possible), Two Runners, One timer for each lane plus one roving timer, one Scorekeeper and one Ribbon Writer.

Visiting team shall supply: One Stroke and Turn Judge (two if possible), one Runner, One timer for each lane plus one roving timer, one Scorekeeper, one Ribbon Writer.

Scoring

Points for dual meet individual events: 1^st place = 3 points, 2^nd place = 2 points, 3^rd place = 1 point.
Points for dual meet relay events: 1^st place = 6 points, 2^nd place = 4 points.
Championship Swim Meet will score top 16 places
Points for championship individual events:

Place	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
Individual	20	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	9	7	6	5	4	3	2	1

Points for championship relay events:

Place	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
Relays	40	34	32	30	28	26	24	22	18	14	12	10	8	6	4	2

No sweeps allowed in dual meets.
Only four swimmers per team can score in the top sixteen in Championships.
At Championships, swimmers will receive medals or ribbons based on the place they finish not the score they receive.
- Medals will be given at championships to all 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place finisher in both individual and relay events.
- Place ribbons will be given at championships to all 4^th-12^th place and all other places will receive Participant Ribbons
Each Team may enter up to two relays at championships but only the A relay can score points.
A completed entry card or time sheet for each swimmer, including first and last name, must be given to the timer in the swimmer’s lane prior to the start of each event.
Scoring is based on times.
For dual meets the home team will supply ribbons and must give ribbons to the visiting team before they leave the meet. They must supply 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place ribbons and participant for all other places. Each team will fill out their own ribbons and ribbons will be handed out at the next team practice or whenever it is convenient, but not at the meet site.
The home team must submit a back up copy of the meet manager file and a Results file for TM by the Tuesday after a meet. Failure to submit the files on time will result in the home team swimmers not receiving credit for that meet.

Amendments to Metro League By-Laws (all amendments become part of the rules one year after the amendment passes – this will allow everyone to know what rule(s) have changed in the last year.)

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