State of the League for S3

[Canadice]

Start of the third season

After a successful prospect draft we have today started the third season of the SSL, with its accompanying Training Camp and start of the Waiver Wire. Free agents are now able to be signed to new teams using the Transfer Budget and current players can re-negotiate for a higher salary in S3 or extensions for S4 if the player is in their final season.

We are currently hard at work getting the FM-file working with the addition of the new teams and the changes to the League and SSL Cup that comes with it. We hope to have a correct schedule up within the week and a file ready to check by managers (and members) a couple of days prior. The first games of the pre-season are scheduled for Saturday and the regular season is scheduled to start up the following Thursday. Between these two days we will have the second SSL Shield game where the winner of the league meets the winner of the SSL Cup. Since managed to pull off the first ever double last season, they will face off against the second placed team in the league, .

Changes to the Rulebook

During the off-season, the Board of Directors and Managers have been voting on changes to the Rulebook. The following changes have been implemented to the current version of the Rulebook.

Salary Re-negotiations
During the past season managers, players and accountants asked for a clarification of the details regarding re-negotiations, the process when a player negotiates a higher salary for their current contract. The following changes have been implemented:

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Section 5 Subsection 2 Rule 3.c.i A player can only renegotiate their salary once per season. Rule 3.c.ii A player may not renegotiate their current contract after signing an extension. Rule 3.c.iii A player cannot renegotiate their contract after the Trade Deadline. A player may again renegotiate their contract once a new season starts.

Essentially this means that a player can only re-negotiate their contract once per season prior to that season's Trade Deadline and prior to signing an extension.

Basis of Punishments
We have also passed a proposal changing what the BoD can use as a basis for punishments, focusing in on attempts at breaking or misusing the rules specified in the Rulebook.

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Section 1 Rule 1.c The SSL Commissioner(s) and/or BoD reserve the right to enforce punishments and suspensions towards any user that attempts to cheat or break the rules. This includes multiple attempts at misusing the rules for an individual gain.

Some minor structural changes to the Rulebook was also implemented in the same proposal, all seen in the current Section 1.

Prospect Eligibility, Free Agents, and Retirements
Another clarification that was proposed was how to handle where players end up in different scenarios. This was two proposals focusing in on allowing players the chance to join a new team if they were not able to find a solution with a team currently holding their rights. Parts of this clarification was already changed during last season in Section 6 Subsection 2 Rule 1.a.

The current proposals that were passed entail the following changes:

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Section 6 Subsection 1 Rule 2.b A Prospect who either has not been claimed through the waiver wire during the season or has not been signed by the team that has their rights prior to the Trade Deadline, is eligible to be drafted in the next Prospect Draft.

This allows a player to enter the draft and be picked up "for free" by any team, incentivizing managers to take a chance on a player they might not otherwise do.

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Section 6 Subsection 4 Rule 1.a The following players are considered Free Agents: i. A player who has concluded a contract, ii. A player who is released from their contract, iii. A prospect that has not been claimed or drafted after the Prospect Draft one season after creation.

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Section 3 Subsection 3 Rule 2: a.iii - Announcing a retirement while being a Free Agent results in the player being retired at the end of the current season.

This final change allows players that are not on a current team to retire after the Trade Deadline and directly re-create for the upcoming season. Rule 2.a states that any player announcing their retirement is set to retire at the end of the next season and cannot re-create prior to that next season. The purpose of that rule was to allow managers time to not be surprised by a late retirement made by a player, but since Free Agents aren't on a team, the exception was needed.

Changes to League Jobs
One of the major changes to the Rulebook and the league concerns League Jobs. There are many jobs still in need of users and in order to help incentivize applications we have both clarified what each job entails, its expectations and minimum requirements, and changed the pay given.

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Section 2 Subsection 2 - League Jobs Rule 1. League Jobs Rule 1.a All current league jobs are defined in the League Job Handbook (embedded link). Rule 1.b The BoD reserves the right to add, remove or adjust the League Job Handbook when required. Rule 2. Job Posting Rule 2.a All jobs will be hired through an open application process led by the BoD or the relevant Department Head. Team and Assistant Managers are not covered by this rule, see Section 4 Subsection 1. Rule 3. Job Earning Rule 3.a A user who fulfills their position's minimum requirement will be able to claim earning for that week. Rule 3.b A user who holds multiple jobs is not able to claim multiple Capped TPE during a week. Rule 3.c A user who holds multiple jobs is not able to earn more than the combined earnings of the lowest and highest tier. Rule 4. Minimum Requirement and Accountability Rule 4.a A user who does not meet the expectation or minimum requirement of their position will be issued a warning and/or a deduction of their earning. Rule 4.a.i A user who gives reasonable prior warning of not being able to fulfil the minimum requirement for a single week, will not be given a warning. Rule 4.b A user who has accumulated three warnings will be removed from the position. Team and Assistant Managers are not covered by this rule, see Section 4 Subsection 1. Rule 4.b.i A warning will only be counted towards the accumulated total for two seasons. Rule 4.b.ii A user who has been removed from a previous held position is not allowed to hold any league job for two seasons after the removal. Rule 4.c The BoD reserves the right to remove a user from their position, without issuing a warning, either if they are punished or suspended in accordance with Section 1 of the Rulebook or if the BoD by unanimous decision votes for the removal of the user.

The mentioned League Job Handbook can be found here. We hope that this can give users wanting to help out in aspects of the league another incentive to take the chance.

We wish all the teams the best of luck in the upcoming season as we continue to grow and learn as a league!

/Board of Directors