Ohio MSBL Rosters

Twenty men, and a reason for the number

The league encourages rosters of no fewer than fifteen and no more than twenty, and anything above twenty needs written approval from the commissioner or president. Its stated reason is blunt: the cap is intended to prevent the hoarding of players. That is a league protecting the teams that recruit badly from the teams that recruit well, and it is the sort of thing most leagues believe and few write down.

Age is handled with the same precision. A player qualifies for a division if the relevant birthday falls in the current calendar year, and each team may carry three players up to two years under the limit, unrestricted in where they play. Anyone younger needs the commissioner's written consent. Managers are responsible for verifying their own players, an opposing manager may challenge any identity at any time, and a protest requires a driver's licence copy and a roster copy mailed to the league office by the Friday of the following week. An unregistered or underage player costs every game he played in and suspends both him and his manager for the rest of the season.

Players may appear for teams in different age divisions but must declare a priority team before the season so that a fixture clash has an answer already.

None of those rosters is published. A High Cheese team page carries the roster the rules describe, at an address the club owns, which is also the fastest way to settle an age challenge without anyone mailing a photocopy anywhere.