SEPLL’s Baseball Postseason offerings typically include teams entered into All-Star tournaments or Honors tournaments.

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 in the Little League All-Star Tournament. This latter goal has greater emphasis during All-Stars and fielding competitive teams takes a high priority.

The focus of SEPLL’s Honors teams is to provide postseason opportunities to additional players in local Honors tournaments, representing SEPLL's goals of good teamwork, good sportsmanship, and excellence on the field.

SEPLL strives to have robust participation in All-Star and Honors tournaments at each available level. The purpose of these Guidelines is to help the league achieve those goals through a fair and transparent process.

All-Stars

All-Star Manager Selection

• After regular season rosters are announced, all coaches are invited to nominate themselves or another coach for All-Star Manager consideration. Candidates must complete a nomination form created by the Board, which typically asks candidates to describe their coaching philosophy and provide a sample practice plan/explain how they run practices. Typically 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, or the Board does not approve a candidate, the President or designee shall solicit interest among eligible managers and coaches.
• The board will set a date by which all candidates must be nominated.
• Feedback on each nominee is solicited from official umpires (i.e., experienced volunteers who have been around for years) and managers and assistant coaches at majors and minors.
• In late April or early May: Board members who are not candidates shall participate in the Selection Committee to meet to discuss the candidates (the meeting may be live, remote, or simply electronic communication). Board members who are candidates may participate in the discussion of candidates for programs other than that for which the member is a candidate. Participation in a Selection Committee precludes participation as an All-Star coach at that level.
• The following criteria shall guide manager selection:
• Review of the candidate's nomination form
• Review of feedback from umpires, managers, and assistant coaches
• The candidate's history with the league
• Will the candidate be a good ambassador for SEPLL at the tournament level?
• Will the candidate be a positive role model for the players selected?
• Will the candidate help develop the players selected to be ready for tournament baseball and excellent ambassadors for the league?
• In late April or early May, the Selection Committees for each level shall vote on managers from the eligible candidates. 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 (or in event of conflict, the Vice President of Softball)), the provisional manager becomes the official manager on or after May 15, upon announcement by the Board.
• If the selected manager has a child 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 must be 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.

All-Star 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. Registration should also include interest in participating in the Honors program.
• Registration is mandatory; players not registered for Postseason baseball will be not selected.
• 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.
• Late April - remind families to register interest for postseason play and explain it is mandatory, and provide information of the time commitment and expectations. Managers should encourage interested players to register.
• Early May - confirm interest of registered players and notify that confirmation requires acceptance if offered a position on an All-Star team.
• Early-mid May: managers complete a survey rating or discussing players' development (e.g., hitting, fielding/throwing, pitching, catching, and intangibles). Managers are encouraged to discuss 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. This information is highly confidential.
• Those ratings and comments are shared with all managers at their applicable level, and the President, Vice Presidents of Baseball and Softball, 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.
• Prior to voting on player selection, managers and the Board should again remind families that registration is absolutely mandatory and to register asap prior to selection.
• May-early June: managers vote by secret ballot (i.e., online voting form created by a designated Board member). Eligible players include only those who registered for All-Stars at the applicable level. The primary goal is to field the most competitive team possible. Voters may consider any and all information they believe is relevant to that consideration. Managers must vote for 12 players. The vote is highly confidential and must not be shared with anyone who is not authorized to vote or to review the vote.
• The top 10 vote getters are selected for the team, starting with 12U, then 11U, then 10U (if a player has registered for more than one level). 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.
• If a manager wishes to use a discretionary pick on a player voted for another team, the All-Star Managers should discuss such situations with each other, the President, Vice President of Baseball, and Player Agent, who will resolve the issue in the best interest of the league. The President, or their designee (for example, if the President is a manager at issue), may resolve any disputes in their sole discretion.
• NOTES:
• Only the President, a softball representative, 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. The President, softball representative, and Player Agent may not view voting results of any level in which they have a child registered.
• If the All-Star Manager managed at a different level in the regular season, they get to vote for players at their All-Star level and their regular season level After player selection: the League shall notify families of selected players and announce the Postseason teams.

Honors Teams

The following guidelines shall apply to Honors manager and player selection; however, this process may change subject to the discretion of the President.

Manager Selection

• At the same time as All-Star nominations, coaches may submit nominations for Honors managers
• After All-Star managers are selected, the President, Vice President, and Player Agent, or designees, shall select Honors managers

Player Selection

• After players are selected for All-Star teams, Honors managers then work with the President, Vice President, and Player Agent, or designees, to select their teams from eligible players who registered for Honors. If there is more than one Honors team at a level, the respective managers shall work together to draft teams that are competitively balanced.

Team Announcements

• Honors teams are announced at the same time as All-Star teams.

Replacements

If, after team announcements, a player withdraws, the Manager has discretion to replace the player with an eligible registered player, after consulting with the President or designee, and, if another All-Star or Honors player is selected as the replacement, with their respective manager; replacement is also contingent upon agreement of the player and their family. The order of replacement priority starts with 12U All-Stars and goes in descending order among All-Star teams, and then Honors teams.