Player Selection Procedures

Principals and Goals

Little League is a program of service to youth. It is geared to provide an outlet of healthful activity and training under good leadership in an atmosphere of wholesome community participation. The movement is dedicated to helping children become good and decent citizens.  It inspires them with a goal and enriches their lives towards the day when they must take their places in the world. It establishes the values of teamwork, sportsmanship and fair play.

Every Little League program has a Player Agent. The Player Agent's objective is to protect the interests of every player and to make sure the teams in every division are as equal in strength as possible. The ideal season, from the Player Agent's perspective, is when every team wins and loses the same number of games. If the teams are equal in strength, everyone will have a better and more enjoyable season. It will give everyone the opportunity to learn to be gracious winners and losers. More competitive games will also encourage players to give it their all every time they play. To accomplish this ideal, Little League has approved specific player selection systems.

Tee Ball, Rookie Ball and Farm Ball Divisions

In these divisions, SEPLL groups children by schools and neighborhoods, while ensuring a relative balance of ages among the teams. We do our best to honor requests to play with specific friends or coaches, but cannot make any guarantees.

Minor, Major, Junior and Intermediate (50/70) Divisions

In these divisions, SEPLL initially runs player assessments where league representatives evaluate each player using a standard grading system. SEPLL's assessments are not designed to serve as comphrensive evaluations. Rather, assessments provide a brief evaluation of every player to assess their general skills as compared to the other players in their age group.

Shortly after assessments are complete, the Player Agent and division managers will conduct a blind, serpentine draft. Every player will be ranked in order from the highest to lowest overall assessment score. The draft will then takes place in serpentine order. For instance, if there are 4 teams, the order will be: Team 1, Team 2, Team 3, Team 4, Team 4, Team 3, Team 2, Team 1, Team 1, Team 2, etc.

After all the teams are filled, the team managers will be assigned the team on which their son or daughter appears. If two managers have players on the same team, the Player Agent will direct a trade of the lower ranked player in exchange for the player with the closest assessment ranking. Similarly, if the draft results in siblings on different teams, the Player Agent will direct trades to put siblings together in exchange for the player with the closest assessment ranking. Finally, a team manager may choose one assistant coach before the draft. The Player Agent will direct trades involving the children of assistant coaches in exchange for the player with the closest assessment ranking.

Please understand that SEPLL does not accept requests for particular teams, managers or teammates in these divisions. We believe that creating competitively-balanced teams is the most effective way to create a positive experience for everyone involved.