a. The Program shall comprise one or more Leagues.

b. The Program is managed by a Program Executive Council (see Article IV).

a. Each League shall consist of a number of Teams.

b. Leagues shall meet all qualifying standards established by these By-Laws (see Article V) or by the Program Executive Council.

c. Each League is represented to the Program by a League Commissioner or an Assistant League Commissioner acting in his/her absence.

a. Each Team shall consist of a number of individual Players.

b. Teams and Players shall meet all qualifying standards and eligibility requirements established by these By-Laws (see Article VI) or by the Program Executive Council.

c. Each Team is represented to other Teams or to the League by a Team Manager or an Alternate Team Manager acting in his/her absence.

a. The League Commissioners shall be elected at the annual meeting of Team Managers in March by majority vote of the Team Managers from their respective Leagues.

b. The Executive Council Members-at-Large shall be elected at the annual meeting by plurality vote of all attending Team Managers registered in the Program. The exact number (eight, nine, or ten) of Members-at-Large to be elected shall be determined by majority vote of all the Team Managers just prior to the actual election. The League Commissioners are not eligible to be elected Executive Council Members-at-Large.

c. Only Team Managers, or Alternate Team Managers acting in their absence, of Teams officially registered in the Program are eligible to vote for League Commissioners and Executive Council Members-at-Large.

d. The term of office for all Executive Council members shall be one year, starting with their election and ending with the next annual election.

e. Executive Council Officers and Standing Committee Chairmen shall be elected at the Council's inaugural meeting by majority vote of all voting members of the Council . Executive Council Members-at-Large are the only people eligible to serve in these posts, and no person may hold more than one of these positions.

f. All Non-voting Aides and Special Committees shall be appointed by majority vote of the Executive Council without any restrictions on eligibility or dual service. Non-voting Aides and Special Committees shall serve for unspecified terms, at the will of the Executive Council.

a. The voting members of the Council are the elected Members-at-Large and the elected League Commissioners. The Members-at-Large include the Executive Council Officers and the Standing Committee Chairmen.

b. All decisions by the Council are made by majority or two-thirds vote of the Council's voting members, provided that a quorum of at least half the voting members cast votes. All normal business is conducted by majority vote, except where two-thirds vote is specifically required by these By-Laws.

c. Non-voting Aides and Special Committee Chairmen may attend Council meetings and participate in discussions, but they shall not vote and shall not count toward the voting quorum.

a. Every February the Executive Council shall call for Teams and individual Players to register for the upcoming season.

b. The Executive Council shall call an annual meeting in March of all Team Managers of Teams duly registered during the February registration. At this meeting, new League Commissioners and Executive Council Members-at-Large are elected or reelected for the upcoming season.

c. The new Executive Council shall conduct its inaugural meeting within one week of the Team Managers' meeting in March, and shall conduct additional regularly scheduled meetings at least once every two months throughout the year, including an end-of-season meeting in September.

d. The Program Commissioner or any group of at least one-third of the voting and non-voting members of the Executive Council may call for a special meeting of the Council. The Program Commissioner shall schedule such a meeting as soon as practical and give at least three days notice to all Council members.

e. All meetings of the Executive Council are chaired by the Program Commissioner or the Deputy Program Commissioner acting in his/her absence.

a. An Assistant League Commissioner may represent his/her League at Executive Council meetings and may vote whenever the League Commissioner is unavailable.

b. Any Council member may be removed from the Council by two-thirds vote of the Council members for conduct detrimental to the Program.

c. A vacancy in a League Commissioner's post is filled by ascension of an Assistant League Commissioner or by special vote of the League's Team Managers. Vacancies in any other Council positions are filled by majority vote of the Council.

a. Program Commissioner. The Program Commissioner shall be the principal executive officer of the Program and shall in general supervise and control all of the business and and affairs of the Program. He shall preside at all meetings of the Executive Council. He shall be a member ex officio of all committees; and in general he shall perform all duties incident to the office of Program Commissioner and such other duties as may be prescribed by the Executive Council from time to time.

b. Deputy Program Commissioner. In the absence of the Program Commissioner or in the event of his inability or refusal to act, the Deputy Program Commissioner shall perform the duties of the Program Commissioner, and when so acting, shall have all the powers of and be subject to all the restrictions upon the Program Commissioner. The Deputy Program Commissioner shall also perform such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the Program Commissioner or the Executive Council.

c. Program Secretary. The Program Secretary shall keep the records of the Program; keep a record of the minutes of the meetings of the Executive Council, see that all notices are duly given in accordance with the provisions of these By-Laws or as required by law, attend to all correspondence of this Program, keep the roll of all Executive Council members and their addresses as shall be furnished by the members, and in general perform all duties incident to the office of Program Secretary and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the Program Commissioner or the Executive Council.

d. Program Treasurer. The Program Treasurer shall be the financial officer of the Program and shall maintain financial records both as required by ERC and as required by the Executive Council. He/She shall prepare an annual budget proposal for the consideration of the Executive Council, including such matters as team fees, field rental, equipment costs, and the ERC support budget. He/She will serve, at the Program Commissioner's will, as a negotiator with ERC in the matter of the support budget. The Program Treasurer shall be responsible for all funds and property of this Program, except that all such funds are to be deposited with ERC.

e. Program Registrar. The Program Registrar shall maintain a computerized database of all Teams and individual Players registered in the Program, and shall publish and update a master list of all registrants. The Program Registrar shall monitor compliance with all Program-level registration and eligibility rules, and advise the Executive Council as necessary. The Program Registrar shall assist and advise the League Registrars in their enforcement of League-specific registration and eligibility rules.

f. Chairman, League Structure Committee. The Chairman of the League Structure Committee shall be the presiding officer of that Standing Committee responsible to the Executive Council in matters of league formation requirements and the review of new league petitions (see Article V), and in other related matters as directed by the Executive Council. He shall call meetings, set agendas and generally control the business of the Committee.

g. Chairman, Registration and Eligibility Committee. The Chairman of the Registration and Eligibility Committee shall be the presiding officer of that Standing Committee responsible to the Executive Council in matters of team registration rules and deadlines and player eligibility and the review of team registration (see Article VI), and in other related matters as directed by the Executive Council. He shall call meetings, set agendas and generally control the business of the Committee.

h. Chairman, Program Rules Commitee. The Chairman of the Program Rules Committee shall be the presiding officer of that Standing Committee responsible to the Executive Council in matters of Program-level rules of play, rules of conduct and rules of rules of operation, except as established by these By-Laws as the responsibility of another Standing Committee. The Chairman shall also convene and preside over a joint meeting of a League Rules Committee and the Program Rules Committee to resolve a conflict between program rules and league rules (see Article VII). He shall call meetings, set agendas, and control the business of the Committee.

a. Any group of 15 or more eligible Players may register as a Team during the annual February registration period.

b. A Team is automatically admitted to the Program unless its registration is disapproved by two-thirds vote of the Program Executive Council after review by the Registration and Eligibility Committee. The only grounds for disapproval shall be noncompliance with the registration and eligibility requirements or nonpayment of Team fees.

c. A properly registered Team stays registered in the Program for a term of one full year, until the time of the next annual registration, unless it disbands voluntarily or is removed from the Program according to the procedure in Article V. The Team maintains voting privileges and rights of representation throughout the entire year.

a. Each Team shall select a Team Manager and one or more Alternate Team Managers. The selection can be made via any method acceptable to the Team.

b. The Team Manager, or an Alternate Team Manager acting in his/her absence, is the Team's sole representative to other Teams and to the League.

c. The Team Manager takes full responsibility to see that the Team meets its scheduled commitments and adheres to League rules of play and standards of sportsmanship.

a. Every December the Program Treasurer must submit a budget to the Executive Council accounting for all expenditures during the previous year and forecasting the planned expenditures for the upcoming year.

b. The Executive Council shall amend the forecast budget as necessary, and approve an operating budget for the upcoming year. The Council may amend the operating budget throughout the year as necessary.

c. All expenditures during the year must fall within the operating budget, and must be approved by both the Program Treasurer and the Program Commissioner.

a. Teams and individual Players may own property used in conjunction with the Program without being accountable to ERC for such private property.

b. All property procured by the Program or a particular League is Program property. All Program property is owned by ERC and must be budgeted and accounted for.

c. Once a year the Program Treasurer must report the inventory of all Program property. This inventory must account for the disposition of all old property and the acquisition of all new property.

a. The Program Commissioner shall negotiate the rental of fields and other necessary facilities, and shall report the costs of such facilities to the Program Treasurer for inclusion in the annual budget.

b. The Executive Council must approve all expenditures for leased facilities.

a. The Executive Council shall determine appropriate fees to charge each Team for participation in the Program. Each Team's fee shall be based on the actual cost for that Team's participation, minus its fair share of any subsidies provided by ERC. The Executive Council shall decide the fair allocation of costs and subsidies, subject to ERC directives.

b. The Executive Council shall establish deadlines for payment of all Team fees. Teams which miss the deadlines for payment of fees may be excluded from participating in the Program.