|
2009 Summer Baseball and Tournament Teams
To Parents of Players In the Major League and Intermediate League:
Introduction As many of you know, following our Little League regular season and playoffs in Rye, which concludes on Championship Saturday, June 20th, we will field three Tournament Teams—one for 12- and 11-year-olds in the Major League (the “12/11 Tournament Team”), a second one for 11-year-olds in the Major League (the “11 Tournament Team‘), and a third one for 10-year-olds in the Intermediate League (the “10 Tournament Team”). Rye Little League will also have Summer Teams for players in the Major and Intermediate Leagues, which play a travel schedule against other Westchester town’s teams. Players selected for the Tournament Team will also play together on a Summer Team. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the process for selecting these teams and to ask you about your child’s interest and, if he (she) is interested, his (her) availability during the weeks these teams may play.
Background The Rye 12/11 Tournament Team participates in the annual Little League World Series Tournament, which culminates in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in late August. This 12/11 Tournament Team is an “All Star” travel team and the level of competition is quite high and playing time, although mandatory, can be limited to the Tournament rules minimum. As a result, the level of commitment required of players is also very high, including many practices (last year’s team practiced six to seven times a week on weekday evenings and weekends and played games which lasted into mid-July in the double elimination tournament). The amount of time required depends upon how far in the tournament the team progresses; and, if the team keeps winning, it could theoretically play until August 29th on the nationally broadcast final game. The Rye 11 Tournament Team and the 10 year old Tournament Team participate in parallel tournaments, which have similar timing, practice structure, competitiveness and time commitment requirements, and culminate in a State Championship.
The Summer Teams are organized as 12/11’s and a 10 year old team. These teams play a schedule of approximately 16 home and away games on weekday nights and weekends versus other Westchester town’s teams. The level of competition is higher than in the Rye Little League regular season but, unlike the Tournament Teams, the approach is more ”low key” with fewer practices and no tournament elimination pressure in the games. Unlike the Tournament Teams, where attendance is mandatory, players do not have to be available for all the practices and games to participate on the Summer Teams. A fee of $85 per player will be required for each player. Confidential scholarships are available by emailing - president@ryelittleleague.com
Selection Process The 12 players on each Tournament Team will be selected by the Rye Little League Board of Directors based on: 1) player voting, 2) manager voting, 3) coach voting and 4) the availability of the player for games and practices - significant conflicts may disqualify a player from a Tournament Team i.e. summer camp, backpacking in Europe, climbing Mt Rainier, etc.. he/she will not be eligible for the Tournament Teams. The large number of teams and the limited number of games against a given opponent in the Intermediate League (compared to the Major League) makes the 10 year old Tournament Team voting less well-informed than the Majors voting and, as a result, the Board uses more discretion in choosing the 10 year old Tournament Team after reviewing the straight voting results. Players who are unavailable for a Tournament Team who can play later on a Summer Team will be considered for the Summer Team. Tournament Teams will be announced after June 14th. If sufficient parent volunteers are available to coach, we anticipate that all players interested in playing on a Summer Team will be accommodated (i.e., no cuts) as has been the case for the last few years. We anticipate that assignments to Summer Teams will be done by drafts (to ensure fairness and talent parity) by the managers based on regular season play and, therefore, requests to be placed on a certain team with friends cannot be accommodated.
Player Availability We realize that many of the players will be away on vacation, at camp or have other commitments that may conflict with summer baseball and other players may not wish to play this summer. Significant time conflicts, as determined by the Board, may disqualify a player from a Tournament Team. Some players may only want to be considered for selection to one team or the other, please indicate that when you register at www.ryelittleleague.com - Please give an accurate assessment of availability so that we can provide balanced teams. Registration closes on June 12th.
Sincerely
Myles P. Lavelle
|
