EBAL TRACK & FIELD BYLAWS Revised 2-1-24


I. General Rules 
  1. The starting date for the season and number of allowed contests will be determined by the NCS and will be posted on their website.
  2. All meets will be contested using NFHS rules, unless otherwise agreed upon by all head coaches prior to a meet or league by-laws state otherwise.
  3. League by-laws may be changed by a vote among head coaches.
    1. 80% of league head coaches need to approve a proposed change in order for it to be
      implemented.
    2. Each school gets one vote with DLS/Carondelet counting as one combined vote.
    3. If a school abstains from voting on a proposed change or doesn’t respond to a request for a
      vote in a reasonable time, that will be considered a “no” vote.
  4. Changes to the by-laws should occur prior to or at the pre-season EBAL coaches meeting. Any
    changes after that date must be approved by a unanimous vote. Once approved, changes are immediately effective.
II. EBAL Championships Structure
  1. The final score of the league championship meet will be the sole determiner in declaring a league champion each year for all divisions. In the case of a tie in scoring, all schools involved in the tie will be co-champions.
  2. League meet scoring will be 10-8-6-4-2-1 for 1st-6th place in all events.
  3. The varsity league meet will be finals only on the Friday eight days prior to the Tri Valley Area meet.
  4. The frosh-soph league meet will be finals only on the Saturday prior to the Tri Valley Area meet.  Starting time for both meets to be determined at the pre season coaches meeting. 
  5. Each day of the league meet will be run as timed finals in all running events, with all finals heats eligible for placing and advancing to the Tri valley Area meet (varsity only)
  6. Field events contested with the following groups going first and the opposite gender beginning competition 20 minutes after completion of the first group. Girls LJ, Boys TJ, Girls SP, Boys DT, Girls HJ & Boys PV in even numbered years and Boys LJ, Girls TJ, Boys SP, Girls DT, Boys HJ & Girls PV in odd numbered years. 
  7. In the event of inclement weather, any events not contested on the Varsity championships will be moved to the following at the starting time of the frosh soph competition. The number of participants may be reduced to manage the size and duration of the meet.
  8. The league meet bulletin will be amended and distributed by the meet director prior to the seeding meeting. If any conflicts occur between the meet bulletin and the league by-laws, the league by- laws will take precedence, unless agreed upon by all head coaches.
  9. The Unified events will not be scored towards the league championship, but will still qualify athletes to the Tri-Valley Area meet in the same manner as all other events.
  10. The honest effort rule as defined in the meet bulletin will be enforced at the league championships.
  11. See meet bulletin for additional meet specifics.
III. EBAL Championship Meet Qualifying & Entries
  1. The goal for the league championships will be to have 24 participants in each event.
  2. An at-large standard will be used taking a 3-year average of the 16th place in each event from the previous five years, taking out the high and low marks in that period.
  3. If there are not 16 competitors in an event for any year, the last place mark will be used for calculating the at-large standard.
  4. Any athlete achieving the at-large standard will automatically qualify for the trials in that event.
  5. If less than 24 competitors in an event have achieved the at-large standard during the season, additional entries will be added, based on entry marks, to make up a field of 24 participants
  6. Head coaches will enter athletes into the meet using Athletic.net with entries due by 8:00pm on
    the Sunday prior to the meet
IV. EBAL Championship Meet Minimum Marks & Opening Heights for Field Events
  1. Minimum measuring marks and opening heights will be finalized at the seeding meeting for all divisions. This is to ensure the meet proceeds in a timely manner.
  2. For horizontal field events, a minimum mark for measurement will be established based on the 20th percentile entry mark for all participants, with all first attempts being measured even if they are short of the mark.
  3. For vertical field events, an opening height will be established based on the 20th percentile entry mark for all participants.
V. EBAL Championship Meet Hosting & School Responsibilities
  1. The school hosting the EBAL Championship meet & meet responsibilities will rotate among the member schools on a yearly basis (see section below).
  2. The meet director for the EBAL Championships will be the head coach for the school scheduled to host.
  3. If a school cannot, or wishes not to host at their site, one or more other schools can offer to host in their place, and the league’s head coaches will vote on a replacement site. This does not affect the regular hosting rotation. The school initially assigned to host the meet will still be responsible for all site and staffing responsibilities, unless otherwise agreed upon by the new site director.
  4. The meet director will be responsible for securing a meet referee, to be approved by all head coaches.
  5. A final seeding meeting will be held at the host school the Monday prior to the first day of the championships. The meet director will provide specific information the week before the meeting.
  6. In the event of new schools begin added to the EBAL, they will be added to the meet responsibilities rotation, starting out at the bottom.
VI. EBAL Championship Meet Hosting and Responsibility Rotation
a. Each participating school has a specific responsibility for the league meet. Each year the schools move upward in the rotation.
Responsibility
School (2020)

Host, Announcer, Entries, Scoring, Heat Sheets, Results, Facilities Manager, Finish Line Director, Finish Line Recorder, Gate Collection, Head Umpire, Hurdle Crew, Meet Director, Meet Referee, Starter and Recall Starter, FAT System
San Ramon Valley

Clerk of the Course
Livermore

Block Crew and Track Umpires
Monte Vista

Discus Official and Crew
Amador Valley

High Jump Official and Crew
DLS/Carondelet

Shot Put Official and Crew
Foothill

Triple Jump Official and Crew
Granada

Pole Vault Official and Crew
California 

Long Jump Official and Crew
Dougherty Valley

Implement Weigh-ins and Track Umpires
Dublin

Exchange zones/break line
All Head Coaches
VII. EBAL Championship Meet Approved Expenses
  1. One ticket taker and one ticket seller at $50 each per day.
  2. One starter at $150 per day.
  3. One recall starter at $125 per day.
  4. One site director at $100 per day.
  5. Finish Lynx Timing System operator at $750 per day
  6. Athletic Trainer at $150 per day
  7. Announcer at $125 per day
  8. $250 for starting gun ammo
  9. $100 for hip numbers
  10. 6 standard portable toilets, 2 handicapped portable toilets, 2 wash basins (all at market price)
  11. Site custodial expenses
VIII. Regular Season Dual/Tri/Center Meets
  1. Meets during the season between two or more EBAL schools are optional and do not contribute towards the league championship.
  2. It is up to any schools interested in participating in these meets to schedule them, determine the host school and provide staffing.
  3. Scoring is optional, and the meets may be run as a scrimmage/time trial.
  4. Unless otherwise agreed up by the competing schools, the meets will be run in state meet order. ​

Rules Infractions
1. Upon observing a potential rule infraction, the official should raise their flag, then clearly write down a brief description of what they saw and present it to the meet referee. It is important for the official to describe the athletes involved by school as best as possible. If the referee needs additional detail, they should get more information from the official at this time.

2. No coach shall attempt to explain the rules or try to influence the official or meet referee prior to any decision being made. Once a decision has been made, the coach may exhaust the appeal process through the proper protocols. However, still trying to explain the rules or trying to influence the officials is still not appropriate. Penalty may include ejection of the coach from the competition at the meet referee's discretion.

Jury of Appeals/Protests
1. The jury of appeals will be made up of the head coaches from the schools responsible for clerk of the course, high jump, and pole vault. This ensures that the members of the jury are from different schools each year, and that no coach will be on the jury of appeals more frequently than once every three years.
​
2. A coach first protests to the meet referee. If the coach still feels that the application of the rules have been misapplied or misinterpreted, a written appeal shall be made to the jury within 30 minutes of the referee’s decision using the form from the meet bulletin (see below).
3. The jury of appeals will then convene and make a decision regarding the appeal. The decision made by the jury of appeals is final.