SACO LITTLE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT TEAM SELECTION PROCESS POLICY
Majors and Minors Divisions
This policy was reviewed and approved by the board in April 2025.
Selection of All-Star Players
Player candidates for All-Stars should meet the following criteria to be eligible for All-Star play:
- Availability – Only those players who will be available for the duration of practice time and the tournaments should be considered.
- Eligibility – Only those players who are members in good standing, have met Little League playing requirements, and exemplify Little League attitudes are to be considered.
- Playing Ability – Only those players who possess superior playing skills should be considered. Regular season statistics (GameChanger), Managers in person meeting to rate and get a consensus ranking of available and eligible players, an evaluation with all division managers in attendance to evaluate the players on the ballot for consideration. Selection of All-Star Players follows the same methods regardless of division.
Families will be sent an electronic form communicating the commitment required and requesting a response of Yes or No regarding whether they want their child included on the ballot.
Managers should ensure that all players nominated meet the criteria to be All-Stars as indicated above, especially their Availability.
Managers in Majors and Minors are reminded that there are several All-Star teams their players may be eligible for (10/11/12, 9/10/11, and 8/9/10). Players are nominated to be All-Stars, not for a specific team.
Once all families have responded, the ballot will be created.
Manager Vote – Player Agent and/or Division VP will provide the ballot to all division managers. Managers will rank all players on the ballot. (1st choice is 1, 2nd choice is 2, etc.) Managers may seek input from their assistant coaches but are not required to do so. A meeting will be convened to discuss and develop a consensus ranking of all eligible players; attended by all Division Managers, Division Player Agent, and the President. (If the President or Division VP is the TTM, the president will select another board member to fill this role.)
Manager Selections – The Managers’ selections will be used to obtain the first 8 spots on the team. If a player is on all Managers consensus Top 8, that player will have a “reserved” spot on the all star team. However many “Reserved Spots” are given out, the remaining roster spots will be decided on after all players on the ballot, including the players with a reserved spot status, participate in an evaluation where all Managers are in attendance. After the evaluation all division Managers will reconvene to select the remaining roster spots until there are 8 spots filled. Once the 8 Players are selected, the All-Star Manager and his staff then selects the 4+ additional players of their choosing to fill out their rosters.
The All-Star Manager must select at least enough players to bring their roster to a minimum of 12 players, per Little League rules. If the All-Star Manager declines, the All-Star Selection Board (or in their absence, the League President) will select the additional player(s). If there are not enough eligible All-Star Player candidates to reach 12 players, the League President can apply to the District 4 Administrator for a waiver.
Since the 10/11/12, 9/10/11, and 8/9/10 teams overlap ages, the selection of additional players to fill the All-Star roster must occur immediately prior to the selection of the next All-Star team. Note that no players are “reserved” for a particular All-Star team.
If a player drops off the All-Star team after the Manager Selection process (for whatever reason, including injury), the All-Star Manager can name a replacement player with the approval of the League President. The replacement player can be any eligible player in the appropriate division that was on the ballot.
CRITERIA FOR CHALLENGING A SELECTION – The TTM may appeal the appropriateness of a player selected to the team. This appeal will be made to the President, Division VP, and Player Agent. That group may seek input about the player in question from the player’s regular season coach, other coaches, or umpires. The President, Division VP, and Player Agent will have the final vote regarding retention or removal of the player from consideration. The criteria for challenging a player would be as follows: 1. Sportsmanship, conduct or attitude 2. Player skill level would create a danger to themselves or others 3. Player commitment/availability has substantially changed since signing the Commitment Letter.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF TOURNAMENT TEAM – All ballot results shall always remain confidential throughout the process. All players that were on the ballot will receive a message from the respective division player agent, letting each know that they were or were not selected at the same date/time as agreed by board for announcement. After all players have been messaged by Player Agent, then the TTM will reach out to those selected and the teams will be posted on the Saco/Dayton LL website. Typically, these results would be after June 1st and no later than 1 week prior to final date of the season.