TOURNAMENT TEAMS: Tournament baseball is a highly competitive program competing against All Star teams from various towns. The level of play is much higher than that of the recreation program and player development is a focus. Tournament baseball requires a serious (time) commitment: managers typically schedule 3 practices per week and games can be twice per week. The official tournament season is from mid-June to late July, and missing a tournament is not accepted. WWLL Tournament Teams will carry rosters of 12-14 players. All Tournament Teams are organized and managed according to WWLL rules and regulations and are dependant on adequate volunteer support.
Parents must agree to the terms and conditions as described in the Summer Commitment Letter, and as set forth by the Post Season Committee, which is comprised of the VP of Baseball, Player Agent, and Post Season Coordinators.
12 Year-old Tournament Team - eligilble players are any player little league age 12 who has participated in 60% of the Spring WWLL season on a Major League team
11 Year-old Tournament Team - eligilble players are any player little league age 11 who has participated in 60% of the Spring WWLL season on either a Major League or Minor League team
10 Year-old Tournament Team - eligilble players are any player little league age 10 who has participated in 60% of the Spring WWLL season on either a Minor League or AAA team
9 Year-old Tournament Team - eligilble players are any player little league age 9 who has participated in 60% of the Spring WWLL season on either a AAA or AA team
8 Year-old Tournament Team - eligilble players are any player little league age 8 who has participated in 60% of the Spring WWLL season on either a AA or A team
7 Year-old Tournament Team - eligilble players are any player little league age 7 who has participated in 60% of the Spring WWLL season on either a AA or A team. Six year-old players may participate on this team if roster space is available and they played in coach pitch during the regular spring season.
Player Selection Process The Manager or designated Coach of each spring season WWLL team will have an important role in player selection of Summer Teams. During regular season games, managers should always be evaluating opposing team players as well as the players on their own team. By early May, managers should inquire with their players regarding interest in participation in Summer Baseball.
The selection process will vary for each team depending on the number of players who register. If more than 14 players register for a team, a Player Rating Form will be given to each Manager to be completed and discussed at a Managers Meeting in June conducted by the Post Season Committee. Managers will rank the players who have registered for post season. Managers can not vote for players from their own team. A 20 rating will be given to the best, 19 to the next best and so on down to number 1. It is critical that all managers show integrity, honesty, and confidentiality during the evaluation process. The votes will be reviewed and tabulated by the PSC to ensure integrity.
Managers may be held accountable to justify their voting. There will be separate meetings for each division: Majors, Minors, AAA, AA, and A. Once the integrity of the vote is concluded, the PSC will present the outcome to the regular season Managers. It is the PSC’s intention to finalize each team’s roster at the conclusion of this meeting.
The Tournament Team Manager will then place telephone calls. The first call will be to the highest ranked player on the roster. If the player’s parents approve & agree to the terms set forth in the Summer Commitment Letter, the player will be added to the team. If they decline, the Manager will continue down the list to the next player. When 14 players are notified and accepted, the Roster is finalized and calls will cease. Once all the calls are made to the team, the Post Season Coordinator will call the players who were not selected. A list of these players is given to the Treasurer to process full refunds. Once all calls have been made, a roster for each Summer Team listing the names of selected players will be posted on the WWLL Website and on the bulletin board in the indoor facility.
Coaching Staff Selection- Managers are selected and approved by the WWLL Post Season Committee from a list of applicants for each summer season. By Little League rule, managers are presented to the President who recommends them to the Board for approval. New managers are selected based on several basic criteria - coaching/playing experience, knowledge of the game, teaching ability (age appropriate), motivational skills (age appropriate), organizational skills, commitment, and availability. Current Managers must re-apply each season.
Playing Up
The policy of WWLL is to encourage the development of players in the post-season and to allow the maximum number of players to participate in those teams, particularly at the younger age levels.
Players will have the opportunity to try out for a Tournament Team at the higher age (e.g., an 11-year-old can try out to be on the 12-yr-old team) only if there is a need to do so in order to complete a roster.
Roster availability will be the main factor for Tournament Teams (7, 8, 9). If a child at 6 plays up on the 7 year old team, the only way they can play up on the 8 year old team the following year is if players are needed. At the younger ages, we want to encourage players to participate; our preference is to not ‘deny’ players the opportunity because we allowed a younger player to play up.
Vacations/absences
Parents are expected to make a commitment to the All-Star team for the duration of the post season, which begins on the last day of the spring WWLL season (awards day) and runs through the conclusion of the second All-Star tournament – usually the first weekend in August. Players are expected to be available for practices and games. Extended or significant numbers of absences by a player hurts the team, particularly when there would have been another player available to be on the team who would have been available for all games and practices. Players are expected to NOT miss any games. Missing more than four practices is cause for dismissal from the team. For late starting tournaments (ie District 11’s starts July 10), the team manager has more flexibility with the practice schedule.
Parents are required to disclose any vacation, camp, or other plans that will cause a player to miss any time during the All-Star season. Players who fail to disclose such plans in advance and are later absent from a significant number of games/practices may be dismissed from the all-star team without refund at the discretion of the manager, and may be disqualified from future All-Star teams at the discretion of the League.
Players who register for All-Star teams and who disclose that they will miss significant time (games and/or practices) may be left off All-Star teams based on their lack of availability at the discretion of the coordinator(s) and the manager. Playing time for such players on the All-Star team may be reduced at the discretion of the manager based on absences during the All-Star season.
