ineligible player

Question
Mark,
Women's Slow Pitch
In our local league tournament a player for the visiting team forgot her jersey
and wore a shirt similar in color but without a number on the back of the
shirt. Our league has a blind draw for the tournament so this rule is not
enforced during our regular season but we stressed to each coach in a
meeting this rule would be enforced during the tournament.
The visiting team won a great game by one run but the home team had
noticed the player's "jersey" and, during the game, notified the officials and
one of our league representatives that the game would be protested, which
they did immediately after losing the game.
Our league ruled, based upon ASA Rule 9, Section 7. C. "When a protest for
ineligibility is determined to be valid, the offending team shall forfeit the
game being played or the game last played to the offending team."
Unfortunately, this was an elimination game but our decision was straight
from the book.
But, our board members could not agree on Rule 9 Protests, Section 5,
"Protests of eligibility can be made or appealed at any time. Eligibility
protests can not be waived by the local league."
What does the term "any time" mean?
Our board members all agree it means a protest can be made after the
officials have left the field, but how long does "any time" last?
And if a local league cannot waive this rule, can a team come back two days
later, a week later, and protest using this rule?
Is there a time limit on when a protest can be made?
Thank you,
Dave  

Answer
Hi dave,

umpires don't deal w/ eligibilty  qs. The TD with or w/out consults w/ higher ups do. That being said I don't see why this is a eligibily q but rather a simple uniform q.  If the player was on the roster they can't be ineligible in that sense of the rule.

We simply handle the uniform problem right at the time, there are a number of ways to do it, my gosh a black marker can make a # on the back of a shirt.  If the losing team is looking for a forfeit simply because of a uniform problem I don't see how that's going to fly.

You rally need to talk to your state commish on this to get it handled properly.

Mark