The Eternal Little League Debate
I have served on boards of Little League baseball for almost 20 years. Every year, every league, in every country, every city, every borough, and every town has the same debate about this time of year.
How many Major’s teams should we have?
Do not feel alone or abandoned, frustrated or flustered, and above all, don’t give up. The one thing I know for sure is, in the end, it all works out! That said, the debate is always a healthy one and sometimes feelings get hurt. That is the sad part of the equation, nobody joins a Little League Board of Directors w/ the goal of making enemies or hurting feelings. Everyone joins w/ the intent of helping the kids.
In fact, it is my experience that those who battle the most are the ones who have the most in common and some of the best ideas. The spirit of the battle should be about the kids, that’s all, nothing more, nothing less. Coaches, managers, parents, board members, all their opinions are irrelevant. It is the board’s duty to do what is best for all of the kids in the league, period. Anything short of that is unacceptable.
That said, everyone thinks what they are doing IS for the best of the kids. Therein lies the problem and root of all passion on the subject. So how do we resolve this?
Little Leagues provides us with two very clear guidelines to help us determine the number of Major League teams to have in our league:
1. Any child that rates a total of 15 in 5 skills, or an average of 3 for each skill, should play in the major leagues.
2. A league should have 1 major team per each 2 minor teams.
A couple of things to consider here. First, intent, second, reality.
The INTENT of these guidelines is to get EVERY kid who is capable of playing baseball to play in the major leagues. Not the best, not the studs, not only home run hitters, but EVERY child aged 11 and 12 UNLESS they are extremely weak or maybe a first year player w/ little coordination.
Last year Little League made it mandatory that all 12 Year Olds play in the Majors because so many leagues were pushing them down to minors. The bottom line is, any 12 year old kid that is 1/2 coordinated can play in the major’s division. Additionally, Little League has STOPPED calling it the major league division, and now refers to it as the Little League division, this is because too many people were making it too competitive.
Those that have been readers of this blog know I am ALL for competition. I love it and the life lessons it teaches are irreplaceable. So why do we want to deprive average kids from getting these life lessons simply to have a superstar major’s program? Again, Little League wants AVERAGE kids to play Little League baseball. It is sort of their birthright as Americans, who are we to deprive those kids of this opportunity?
Want more proof? Little League does not allow any board of directors to have more than 50% of the members be coaches or managers. Why? Coaches NEVER think there is enough talent. They just got done with all-stars and they are comparing the new crop of raw talent to that they have nurtured for years to the level they have become.
Some parents, of course, think their kid is better than he or she is and want them to move up too fast. This is another issue a board must address. Finally, some parents refuse to allow their kids to play up, unfortunately, nothing a board can do about this. If a kid is drafted into the major leagues, that’s where he plays, if the parent doesn’t want him to play there, he can’t play. How can a board send a kid that is drafted into majors down to minors? What grounds do they have? What if he hurts someone? That is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
So what are we to do as board members? The solution is NEVER a simple one, but the league should ALWAYS err on the side of moving kids up, rather than forcing them down. Each team needs a few bubble kids to develop. It is amazing how much progress they make over the year in majors vs. how little they would make in minors.
One year I held my oldest boy down. He was the star of the team, he didn’t push himself and he didn’t improve nearly as much as if he had moved up. That was a mistake. The next year, he wasn’t the stud any more and he improved 100%.
When in doubt, move kids up, but do not do it to the detriment of the league. There is absolutely no reason to have a kid up that does not have the skills to perform as an “average” player. NOT an “average existing major league player”, but an “average player for his/her age”. Kids should be judged among their peers and the top % should move to the major leagues. It really is that simple, if only deciding how to accomplish that were so simple.
How does your league determine how many major league teams to have?
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Fall Drafts Tonight
My old league used to place fall players based on who they played with the prior season. This league puts all returning majors, juniors, and seniors on the same team they came from and drafts the balance. I don’t know which is better, both ways seem to work. At least if it’s a draft, nobody can complain.
Some people get too competitive in the fall. The fact is, winning is insignificant in the fall. Look at it as spring training. Get as many players as many reps as possible. Then, when you are in the championship game next year, even your 7,8,9 hitters will have loads of experience. That’s how to approach the fall season.
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