All-Star Selection Process

Updated September 28, 2019

I. Scope and Application

This All-Star/Select Selection Process applies to all Oakville Little League (OLL) teams. This All-Star/Select selection process applies to all divisions and age groups. The selection process order is as follows:

1. All-Star/Select Manager Selection
2. Players turn in signed commitment forms
3. Open Tryouts
4. Teams are formed at selection meetings by the Manager
5. Teams are announced

II. Team Composition

The objective is to fairly and impartially select the most skilled and competitive teams possible for Tournament play.

Teams will consist of a maximum of 14 players per Little League International rule, with the exception of Senior (16 player max). The All-Star/Select Manager for each division may determine the size of the team roster with due consideration to recommendations as provided by the OLL board. The recommendation of the OLL Board of Directors is as follows:

Teams will consist of the following number of players per age group:

III. Manager Eligibility

a) The All-Star/Select Manager must be rostered as a manager or coach of an OLL House League team during the current season.

b) At the end of each season, OLL will send out to the membership notification that All-Star Manager applications are being accepted. There will be a deadline provided or application submission. Applications must be received prior to the deadline in order to be considered eligible to manage a team.

c) An All-Star/Select Manager is a representative of OLL and will conduct themselves in accordance with all OLL policies and procedures. This will be monitored by the OLL Board of Directors.

Managing a team within OLL is a highly scrutinized position, and the implementation and publication of this document is one of the many steps that OLL takes to insure a fair and unbiased process. The goal of OLL is to move to permanent All-Star/Select Managers for all age groups. OLL has decided to move in this direction to build a program around development and skill progression.

IV. Manager Selection Committee

a) The Manager Selection Committee will include Board approved individuals, and like player evaluations (see VII), may include an All-Star/Select coordinator from a division other than the manager being chosen.

b) OLL will advertise the process of All-Star/Select Manager Selection and announce to the league and community when they are receiving applications to manage an All-Star/Select team along with the appropriate requirements and deadlines.

c) The Selection Committee will contact each potential All-Star/Select Manager candidate and set up an interview with the Selection Committee.

After the interview process and discussion, the Selection Committee will recommend to the Board, an All-Star Manager for each All-Star/Select and Select teams.

d) The Selection Committee will recommend an All-Star/Select Manager for each team and will bring the selections to the OLL Board of Directors for approval.

e) All-Star/Select Managers will be notified of their selection for the upcoming season, in writing, by the Selection Committee.

f) A Non-Parent All-Star/Select Manager will be allowed to select, and obtain approval for, their selected coaches in advance of the upcoming season. In order to approve the selected coaches by the selection Committee, the proposed coaches must also be Non-Parent coaches (i.e. they may not have a child on the team they are involved in).

g) The All-Star/Select Managers will notify the Player Selection Committee and their respective All-Star/Select Convener prior to the Player Selection process how many players he/she will carry on the roster.

V. Player Interested in becoming an All-Star/Select candidate

a) Any player currently registered for house league may be considered for one of the OLL AllStar/Select teams.

b) OLL will distribute the All-Star/Select Commitment form to all players. If a player is interested in being an All-Star/Select candidate, he/she must sign the commitment form and return it to OLL by the date indicated on the current year Commitment Form (see section VI below). If the Commitment Form is not received by the date of a players 1st tryout, OLL reserves the right to not allow the player to participate in said tryout.

VI. Player Eligibility

a) Per Little League International, to be eligible, a player must be rostered on an OLL regular season team.

b) All-Star/Select Players must bear in mind that their first commitment is to the OLL AllStar/Select team before any other Non-Little League team or to any other sports camps or sports teams during the All-Star/Select season.

c) All All-Star/Select candidates must bear in mind that being part of the OLL All-Star/Select program is a privilege and that House League must remain the primary focus. Should a scheduling conflict arise, after the All-Star/Select practice and tournament schedule is published, the player will require permission to be excluded from the house league game or event by their house league coach. Each player must maintain proper attendance during the House League season. Failure to maintain proper attendance may result in temporarily being removed from the roster until house league attendance is improved.

d) Parents of All-Star/Select players are expected to participate and volunteer throughout the season.

e) All-Star/Select players will be expected to take part in player development for the younger AllStar/Select age groups. This may include, but not be limited to, helping with practices and volunteer coaching. Any volunteer hours incurred can be used toward the players Ontario Secondary School Diploma. Tracking and recording these hours will be the responsibility of the player, not OLL.

VII. Player Evaluation

Player Evaluation has 3 components:

• Signing the All-Star/Select Player Commitment form
• Signing Basic Criteria Selection form (parents)
• All-Star/Select Tryouts

a) The VP and All-Star/Select Convener will form a Selection Committee. No member of the Selection Committee shall have a child in the division being evaluated.

b) Tryouts are open to all registered players in OLL. Signed All-Star/Select Player Commitment forms must be completed and handed in prior to tryouts. No player will be allowed on the field if the Commitment form has not been received by OLL.

The tryout dates will commence in late spring with tryouts being held throughout the week and weekends based on a schedule set out by OLL. (Note: Weather conditions may affect the actual days/dates of the tryouts, but it will not affect the minimum number of three (3) tryouts.)

c) All-Star/Select Managers do not run or participate in drills during the tryouts, they can only watch. Drills are run by All-Star/Select Managers from other age groups only, overseen by the All-Star/Select Convener for the selected age group.

Player evaluations will be as follows:

d) Parents will be excused from participating in and asked to avoid communicating with the players during tryouts. If a parent is found to be communicating with a player (eg: coaching from the fence), he/she will be given a verbal warning. If the parent fails to observe the verbal warning and continues to communicate or coach a player from off the field, the player and parent will be excused from the current day tryout. The player will not be eliminated from the All-Star/Select selection process but will be given a conditional invitation to the following tryouts. Only if the parent refuses to follow the conditions of the secondary invitation will the player be removed from the current year All-Star/Select selection process.

e) Players cannot miss any tryouts, unless approved by the selection committee.

f) There will be a minimum of 3 tryouts and will last for approximately 2 hours, unless otherwise noted.

g) The Basic Selection Criteria will contain the following ideals (parent sign off required):

• Skill Level and ability to compete
• Attitude, Hustle, Team Spirit, Team Leadership
• Overall Character, Integrity, sportsmanship, and attitude (coachability)

h) No player will be cut prior to the completion of the second try-out. Players who are cut will be informed via email or personally by the Manager.

VIII. Player Selection

The All-Star/Select Director will meet with each All-Star/select Manager and Vice President / Player Agent to discuss Roster, Asst. Coach Selection, and expectations for the upcoming season.

Prior to the meeting:

a) The All-Star/Select Manager will submit their player selections with Basic Selection Criteria form to the All-Star/Select Director.

b) The Selection Committee will review player selection.

c) The All-Star/Select Manager will be informed, in advance, of any player selections the Selection Committee finds questionable and be afforded the time to justify his/her selections and/or prepare secondary selections.

d) The All-Star/Select Manager will prepare his selections for Asst. Coaches unless they are Non-Parent coaches (see section IV.f above) and have been chosen and approved in advance of team selection.

During the meeting:

a) If a player is deemed by the Selection Committee to be a questionable decision, the All-Star/Select Manager will be asked to present the valuation/reasons for said player selection, to the Selection Committee.

b) The All-Star/Select Managers will select Coaches. The Coaches selected must meet the approval of the selection committee.

c) All selected Managers will be provided with the Whitecaps ‘manual’ and expectations for the season.

After the Meeting:

a) Final approval of each team roster will rest with the OLL President, based on first approval by the Selection Committee.

b) The All-Star/Select manager will be asked to inform, any players not chosen during final selection, in person.

A selected All-Star/Select Coach will be held to the same standard as the All-Star/Select Manager.

VIII-1. Player Age Criteria

OLL is aware that certain age ranges may not have enough base age players attend tryouts to fill a roster. As the goal of the All-Star/Select program is to provide an opportunity for kids to play additional, tournament style baseball, this will be monitored annually, and a decision rendered by the Board of Directors to modify this requirement on a case by case basis. This is not an opportunity for an All-Star/Select Manager to select an underage player if enough base age players attended tryouts for that age group.

See the Little League International 2020 Age Determination Chart (Appendix D)

IX. Team Announcement

The OLL Board will designate a time to announce the All-Star/Select Teams.

All-Star/Select Managers will be introduced.

Players for each All-Star/Select Team will be announced on or after the date specified by Oakville Little League and on the OLL website.

X. Additional Documents (see appendix)

Parent Communication (Appendix A)

All-Star/Select Manager Application form (Appendix B)

Little League International Age Determination Chart (Appendix C)

XI. Dispute Resolution

Appeals, formal or informal will be directed to the Director of the Whitecaps program in writing.

XII. Appendix

Appendix A – Parent Communication

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ALL-STAR/SELECT SELECTION

(AKA – How do they select the All-Star/Select Team and why isn’t my child on it?)

Other than team selection, there are very few things as controversial as the selection of an AllStar/Select team to represent a league. Why is that? Well in most cases, only 12 or 14 players are chosen to represent an entire league. At least half of the parents believe that their child belongs on the All-Star/Select team. Now, they may not believe that their child is an All-Star/Select, yet they know that their son or daughter is at least as good as one of the players selected to the team.

The following should be considered when selecting a player to the All-Star/Select team:

A player may be a strong pitcher but only the two or three best pitchers in the league pitch in AllStar/Select. Can the player who is strong as a pitcher hit or catch? If not, he/she probably will not be able to contribute to the All-Star/Select team.

A hitter that hits .400 but is slow or strikes out a lot may not be selected or may be passed over for a faster .300 hitter who seldom strikes out. In All-Star/Select games speed is essential. Often a player who puts the ball in play is preferred over a player who strikes out often.

Can he/she hit fast “All-Star/Select type” pitching or can he/she hit curveball pitching? The player might have a long looping swing and may be able to hit slower house league pitching but he/she is unlikely to hit the faster pitching he/she will see in the All-Star/Select tournaments.

In particular, areas which are considered are: Does he/she get along with other players? Is he/she a leader on and off the field? Does he/she rally the players on his team when they are losing? Does he/she make other players around him play better because of his/her play? If he/she has played infield all season can he/she, or is he/she willing, to play in the outfield for the sake of the team? Will he/she bunt to advance a runner? These factors are often missed from the spectator stands, yet are factors of which team Managers are extremely aware.

Another part of the controversy is that it seems that the managers’ or coaches’ kids always seem to be selected. That perception is probably true. The managers are the ones that select the AllStar/Select team’s so they probably just vote for each other’s kids – right? The league frowns on any conspiracy among managers to “fix” the All-Star/Select selection. It is probably true that some managers vote for other manager’s kids because they know the other manager. Quite often, just the opposite probably happens, too. On-the-field rivalries can cause bias against another manager’s child. The league tries to see that neither of these scenarios occurs but that the best players are chosen regardless of who their parents are. Additionally, whether it is cause or affect, some of the best players are usually sons or daughters of managers and coaches. This could be due to the managers and coaches putting in more time with their own children or they got into coaching because they saw some ability in their child. It is a criticism that we are aware of yet an end result which we feel in most cases has justification.

Usually the Manager uses their last few votes to choose players who may not have had the best statistics or power or pitching ability but rather were good TEAM players who hustled and had good attitudes. A team of All-Star/Selects is not easy to coach and a couple of kids who hustle and have good team spirit can be instrumental in having fun during those long hot July practices and in winning tournament games.

It is important that all our parents understand the focus of the process is to field a roster of 12-14 players who it is felt will result with the best team effort. If your son/daughter is successful in being chosen to represent OLL at the All-Star/Select level, please understand that they will be given equal opportunity to develop their skills. However, during the season, players will be put into positions that best suit their skills. This may not be a player’s favorite, or even a glamorous position, but it will be the one best suited to the player and to the needs and requirements of the team.

Please remember that we are trying to field the most competitive team we can to represent all the players of Oakville Little League. It is not an easy process.

Appendix B – All-Star/Select Manager Application Form

*****Please note that this is just a sample of the official on-line application form*****

The deadline for All-Star/Select Manager Applications will be provided when the initial notification is sent out to the membership.

Interviews will be conducted by the All-Star/Select Manager selection Committee. Successful candidates will be contacted and the names will be posted on the OLL website.

Candidates will be asked to provide references as part of the application. These references should reflect your involvement in coaching youth sports and in working with youth in general.

1) APPLICANT INFORMATION:

2) Is your son/daughter eligible to play on the team you are applying to coach?

Yes or No

3) Team(s) applying for:

6U, 7U, 8U, 9U, 10U Minor All-Star, 11U, 12U Major All-Star, 14U Junior All-Star, 16U Senior All-Star

4) Previous Coaching Experience (please outline your coaching experience in House League and/or AllStar/Select in the past five years, including year and league):

5) Certifications (detail coaching clinics attended and/or certificates obtained):

6) Briefly tell us why you believe you would make a good coach in the Oakville Little League All-Star/Select baseball program:

Appendix C – Little League Age Chart

https://www.littleleague.org/play-little-league/determine-league-age/