What are Brighton Cal Ripken All-Stars?

All-Stars is a post-season opportunity for selected players to represent Brighton Cal
Ripken in district and state tournament play. It is designed for players who demonstrate
strong skills, effort, and sportsmanship throughout the regular season.

All-Stars is more competitive than regular season baseball and requires a higher level
of commitment from both players and families.

How Are Players Nominated?

Players are nominated by regular season coaches at or around the 1⁄2 way point in the season. Each
team at each age level is asked to nominate up to a specific number of players for each age group for a
chance to tryout for the All-Star teams.

Rookies will have 7U and 8U teams. Minors will have 10U teams. Majors will have 11U and 12U Teams.
Babe Ruth may have 13U and 16U teams as well. Players are nominated based on:

● Player Statistics and on-the-field skills and performance
● Observed attitude, effort, and sportsmanship

Not every player will be nominated; most teams nominate between 2-4 players. Not all nominated players
will make an All-Star roster.

All-Star Assessments

Nominated players will be invited to attend an All-Star Assessment typically right after mid-season. This
is a structured tryout-style session where players are evaluated on:

● Hitting, Fielding, Throwing, and Base Running
● Pitchers and Catchers(if applicable)
● Game awareness and effort

The assessment allows coaches and independent evaluators to see all nominated players in the same
environment, to try and put together the right team combinations for post-season success.

How Are Teams Selected?

After the assessment, the coaches and evaluators for each age group will meet and select rosters for
each team based on assessment result, season performance, and team needs.

The goal is to form the most competitive and balanced teams possible, not simply the best individual
players.

Commitment Expectations

Practices

All-Star teams have an additional time commitment to their regular season schedules. In addition to their
regular season teams, All-Star teams will also start practicing during the final 2-weeks of the regular
season, as well as through our regular season championship week–typiucally 1-2 days per week. When
the regular season ends, most All-Star Teams practice more frequently than regular season, typically:
4-5 times per week through the first 3 weeks of June, with some morning practices, as well as evenings
and weekends.

Tournaments

We try to have every team play in a “warm-up” tournament before the official district matches. In past
years our teams have played in The Sandlot, Summer Splash, The Swarm, and other tournaments in
early June to give them a chance to prepare against challenging competition.

After these warm-up tournaments, the District tournaments typically run during the 3rd week of June,
before the State tournaments near the end of the month. If one of our teams wins state they do have the
option to move on and play in a regional tournament in July.

If your child is going to participate in All-Stars these considerations need to be taken to make sure teams
are not short players on their rosters.

Additional Costs

All-Stars involve additional fees, to cover the cost of uniforms, tournament entry fees, and umpires. All
of our coaching staff are volunteers and receive no compensation for their roles. All-Stars fees may range
from $150-200 depending on which team and tournaments we will be playing in.

Important Notes

We understand that the All-Stars process can be emotional, and that some players may feel disappointed
or hurt if they are not nominated or selected. This is completely normal and something most young
athletes experience for the first time through All-Stars. While difficult, learning to handle competition,
setbacks, and not always making a team is an important part of growth in both sports and life, and we are
committed to treating every player with respect throughout the process.

● Participation is optional, but once accepted, players are expected to fully commit

● Playing time is not guaranteed and is based on competition and team needs. This means that
some players may not get the opportunity to play in a district or state tournament game.

● All-Stars is a privilege, not an entitlement. Players have to go above-and-beyond to earn a spot
on the team, and are expected to hold themselves to a high standard of conduct on and off the
field as these players reflect our league and community.