Operating Guidelines

1. Ashburnham 
2. Templeton  
3. Athol Orange
4. Townsend Ashby (TAYBS) 
5. Gardner
6. Westminster 
7. Fitchburg
8. Winchendon 
9. Lunenburg

The Board will be led by two Co-Directors, and Directors will commit to a staggered 2-year term (i.e., both Directors should not end their term in the same year). The same City or Town cannot serve as the Director for consecutive terms; 2 years must pass to be eligible again. 

2023-2024 Fitchburg       

2024-2025 Templeton 

2025-2026 Ashburnham

2026-2027 Athol/ Orange

2027-2028 Gardner

2028-2029 Townsend/Ashby

2029-2030 Winchendon

2030-2031 Westminster

Directors will take on the responsibilities of the administrative roles of the NCMS League. Representatives will be chosen by the individual town/city during their year to serve on the Board no later than January 1st. If any new town/city joins NCMS, that town/city will not be eligible for the Director position for 2 years. 

The mandatory kickoff meeting for NCMS Town/City Directors will be held before January 31st each year to go over Rules and Dates for the season. The Playoff meeting will be held 1 week before the start date each year. A wrap-up meeting will be held each year at the end of the fall season.  

There will be one meeting scheduled before the season starts to provide an overview of Official Babe Ruth rules and the locally adopted NCMS rules for all coaches. This will allow for consistency across all participating divisions and teams. 

The rules outlined on this site will be the primary governing documents outlining the rules to be adhered to. If it is not specifically addressed by the NCMS rules, the Official Babe Ruth Softball playing rules apply for that division.

The NCMS Board of Directors have the right by majority vote to alter any rule as needed before, during and after the season in the best interest of the league.

NCMS is an independent softball organization, and is self-governed with no oversight or governance provided by any other organizations, including local towns, Babe Ruth, ASA Softball, Little League, etc.

To help ensure that all towns use the same set of dates for determining official league ages, we wanted to post these to help everyone stay on the same page. 2026 Official Softball Ages - https://www.baberuthleague.org/league-resources/softball-age-chart

2026 Date Ranges -

• Softball 8U Rookies - 9/1/2016 to 8/31/2019
• Softball 10U Minors - 9/1/2014 to 8/31/2016
• Softball 12U Majors - 9/1/2012 to 8/31/2014
• Softball 16U Juniors - 9/1/2008 to 8/31/2012

Few notes -

• These age ranges are for all three seasons in 2026, spring, summer & fall.
• Younger kids can be moved into older divisions without any prior approval.
• League Age determination date is August 31st of the previous year - not the current one.