SEPLL All-Star Manager and Player Selection Guidelines
The focus of SEPLL's All-Star program is to produce teams that represent SEPLL's goals of good teamwork, good sportsmanship, and excellence on the field. This latter goal has greater emphasis during All-Stars and fielding competitive teams takes a high priority. The purpose of these Guidelines is to help the league achieve those goals through a fair and transparent process.
This process applies only to the 12U and 10U first teams. If there is a 12U Honors team, 11U team(s), or second 10U team, the process for selecting a manager is up to the discretion of the President, Vice President, and Player Agent (there are too many variables each year for those teams to commit to the process below).
Manager Selection
After regular season rosters are announced, all coaches are invited to nominate themselves or another coach for All-Star consideration. Candidates must complete a nomination form created by the Board, which asks candidates to describe their coaching philosophy and provide a sample practice plan/explain how they run practices. Only regular season managers or registered assistant coaches may be nominated. All-Star Managers should indicate the level(s) they are interested in, and are permitted to manage a different level than their regular season team - e.g., a Majors regular season coach could manage a 10U All-Star team.
If no managers are nominated for a team anticipated to participate in All-Stars, the President or designee shall solicit interest among eligible managers and coaches
By April 21, all candidates must be nominated.
By April 25: Board members who are not nominees shall meet to discuss the candidates (the meeting may be live, remote, or simply electronic communication).
By April 26, Board members who are not nominated shall vote on managers. The manager with the most votes is selected as the provisional manager. Unless circumstances arise that make that manager no longer appropriate (in the discretion of the President, or, if the President is the manager, the Vice President), the provisional manager becomes the official manager on May 15 with team announcements.
If the selected manager has a player eligible for that level, their child is not automatically on the team. The player is subject to the Player Selection process below.
The provisional manager may be notified after being selected. The provisional manager may select two assistant coaches who are already registered as coaches (All-Star rules permit only three coaches in the dugout during games). Children of assistant coaches are not automatically selected to the team and are subject to the Player Selection process below.
After player selection, the provisional manager and provisional coaches become official manager and coaches with team announcements.
Player Selection
As soon as possible before the season or early in the season, families are encouraged to register player availability for All-Stars. Registering for All-Stars does not guarantee selection; it is simply notice to the league that a player is interested in - and available for - All-Stars.
All-Star participation is a significant time commitment and advanced planning is necessary. Absent extraordinary circumstances, players are expected to be available for daily baseball activities through the month of June and potentially early July - the District Tournament is typically late June/early July. Families should also be prepared to be available for daily baseball activity in July as well, in the event the team wins the District Tournament and continues to the State Tournament. 12U parents should hope to have the opportunity to watch their child play at the Regional Tournament or World Series in August.
May 1-10 - reminder to parents to register player availability and ensure proof of eligibility
May 7-10: managers complete a survey rating players' development in hitting, fielding/throwing, pitching, catching, and intangibles. Managers are encouraged to rate players who are above average in any given category but they may rate all players if they wish. Managers are also strongly encouraged to provide comments on players to help others understand the player beyond the numbers.
May 12: those ratings and comments are shared with all managers at their applicable level, and the President, Vice President, and Player Agent. Managers consider all available information, including but not limited to player ratings, availability, personal observations, Gamechanger statistics, etc. to evaluate player selection
May 14: managers vote by secret ballot (i.e., online voting form created by a designated Board member). The primary goal is to field the most competitive team possible. Voters may consider any and all information they believe is relevant is that consideration. Managers must vote for at least 14 players per team at their level (e.g., 28 12U players if fielding a 12U and a 12U Honors team)
The top 10 vote getters are selected for the team, starting with 12U, then 11U, then 10U. The All-Star Manager adds additional players at their discretion (12 is the minimum roster size required absent extreme circumstances, which requires District Administrator approval; 14 is the maximum roster size). If there is a tie in votes that pushes selected players beyond 10, the manager has discretion to break the tie and complete the roster within their discretion.
NOTES
If there are two teams for a level, the vote should be done in a manner that ranks the players, with #1 being the player the voter believes is most deserving of All-Stars, in descending order
If there are two teams, the 10 player/Manager selection process applies to the first team selected. The second team selection follows the same process for the top 10 remaining players as being selected for the second team, with the second team manager having discretion to complete their roster.
Only the President, Vice President, and Player Agent are permitted to see the full voting results, and they may share the voting results with All-Star managers to help with their discretionary selection and in the selection of a replacement if a player withdraws.
If the All-Star Manager coached at a different level in the regular season, they get to vote for players at their All-Star level and their regular season level
May 15: managers notify the selected player/their family, starting with 12U. Once the 12U Manager(s) have notified all players and confirmed participation, the 11U Manager may notify their players/families, and once those players confirm participation, the 10U Manager may notify their players. The purpose of this order is to confirm availability for the oldest level and, if a player is not available, time to select a replacement player (who may have been selected for another team), and the affected teams to select their own replacements. If a player withdraws or is not available, the Manager may select another player at their sole discretion. This process, like player and manager selection, and the Majors draft, is highly confidential and shall not be disclosed to anyone other than All-Star Managers, the President, Vice President, and Player Agent.
Selected players and their families should be instructed not to share their selection until teams are announced, which will be on May 15 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Managers for each All-Star team shall notify the President or their designee once each player has confirmed participation. The President shall then inform other Managers they are permitted to notify their players.
After all selected players are notified and rosters are confirmed, Managers or the President, or the President’s designee, shall notify players/families of players who registered interest in All-Stars but who were not selected.
Starting on May 15 and once all players for each All-Star team have been confirmed, the league may announce and celebrate the teams publicly (i.e., on the website and notice to the SEPLL community).