Team composition of each team shall be as follows:
- 12-Year Olds: Not allowed unless approved by Player Agent.
- 11-Year Olds: No maximum or minimum.
- 10-Year Olds: No maximum or minimum.
- 8 & 9-Year Olds: Are allowed based on approval of Player Agent, participation in player assessment process, and player scoring appropriately in assessment to play at this level.
Prior to the league draft, a pairing of one team manager and one assistant coach is allowed whose child(ren) will be automatically assigned to their team. Additional arrangements involving players in the draft pool is prohibited.
The team selection process is a two-step process; player assessment and a calibrated assignment.
a) Player Assessment
AAA players are first evaluated in a comprehensive skill evaluation and then teams are formed based on the composite scores from the evaluation (and manager evaluations from the end of previous season if available).
AAA and Majors Division Baseball will use the same skill evaluation scoring system for consistency. Separate Draft Meetings are held with the Player Agent, Division Coordinator and Managers for each division. The detailed format of assessment scoring will be at the discretion of the Player Agent(s) and Division Coordinator(s).
All data from the skill evaluations will be entered by skill and will end with a single composite numeric score (based on a special algorithm that converts running to be comparable to the other skills) for each player. Player scores will be placed in rank order from highest to lowest and separated by league age.
Player assessment information is strictly confidential and not shared with players or parents of players. The Division Player Agent is responsible for this information.
The Division Player Agent is responsible for confirming all players' eligibility (including opt-out families and play-up requests).
For more information on how player assessments are conducted, please see this page.
b) Calibrated Team Assignment
1) Step One: League Player Assignment
Initial team formation is based on distribution of pitchers and catchers across teams. At the majors level, this has typically resulted in at least two higher-end pitchers and one or two quality catchers per team. This creates the "pitchers/catchers pool." The remaining players will be placed on teams in a serpentine draft according to their league age and the rank order of their composite scores by the Player Agent and the Division Coordinator. Teams are referred to by number at this point in the player placement process, not team names. Player names and pitcher/catcher information, if any, will be listed on the team formation matrix. The result is the basis for a modular team formation of (a)pitcher/catchers and (b) remaining teams have with the understanding that ultimately groups (a) and (b) are paired together to form a team.
For clarification, remaining players (non pitcher/catcher pools) are distributed by aggregate assessment score in a serpentine method as follows:
Team 1, Team 2, Team 3, Team 4, Team 5, Team 5, Team 4, Team 3, Team 2, Team 1, Team 1, Team 2, etc.
2) Step Two: Player Agent & Division Coordinator Re-Alignment
- Modification 1: Manager's and 1 Assistant coach's child(ren) are identified so each team will have one Manager's child and one Assistant coach's child on the roster.
- Modification 2: Any siblings are put onto same roster.
- Modification 3: Any parental requests for their child to be put on a certain team - for a reason that ensures their ability to participate in the program (medical, transportation, or other hardship) - are considered.
- Modification 4: Player changes are made to balance teams for aggregate skill scoring, pitching, catching and any other factors the league officials believe best achieve the Parity Priority. Any player selected to an All-Star team the previous year shall be identified. Player Agent, Division VP and Managers should bear in mind that the first 4 rows of the oldest age group and the first two rows of the next age group are the most important in terms of ensuring balance among teams. Player changes within these rows should be limited if possible.
3) Step Three: Manager Input
The Managers, Player Agent, and Division Coordinator meet together to look at the teams and make further adjustments based on the Managers' knowledge of the players from recent assessments, previous seasons, and Manager feedback from the previous season. During that process the following will be entertained for team parity and balance:
- Adjusting teams to ensure each Manager has a committed, competent assistant coach.
- Adjusting teams based on knowledge of position play.
- Adjusting teams to create parity based on Managers knowledge of or relationships to players.
Intent: The idea with the addition of this step is that Managers review all the teams together looking for parity across the division regardless of which team they will be managing. This is not an opportunity to seek competitive advantage.
4) Step Four: Team
A manager returning to the same team in the same division may remain with the same team sponsor. Any new coaches in the division will draw their team from a hat in order as determined by the Division Coordinator.