Parents of Major and Intermediate League Players,
 
The purpose of this letter is to inform you of the process for selecting Tournament Teams and to ask about your child’s interest and his/her availability during the weeks these teams may play. 
 
As many of you know, following our Little League regular season and playoffs in Rye, which conclude on Championship Saturday, June 19th, we will field three Tournament Teams:
 

• the 12's Tournament Team – for 12 year olds in the Major League
• the 11's Tournament Team -  for 11-year-olds in the Major League 
• the 10 Tournament Team - for 10-year-olds in  the Intermediate League

 
In addition, 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 Rye 12's Tournament Team participates in the annual Little League World Series Tournament, which culminates in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in late August. The 12's Tournament Team is an “All Star travel team” and the level of competition is quite high. 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 thru July in the double elimination tournament). The amount of time required depends upon how far in the tournament the team progresses; if the team keeps winning, it could theoretically play until August 21 in the final game.
 
The Rye 11 Tournament Team and the 10 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 by ages, the 11/12 year olds and the 10 year old teams and consist of players not selected to the Tournament Teams.  Summer Teams, play a schedule of approximately 16 home and away games on weekday nights and weekends versus other Westchester County 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. 
 
Please understand availability of the player for Tournament games and practices is highly significant when determining the team.  Conflicts may disqualify a player from a Tournament Team i.e.  Summer camp, backpacking in Europe, French lessons at Coeur de France, Lacrosse or Soccer camps, etc... He/she will not be eligible for the Tournament Teams.
 
 The 12 players on each Tournament Team will be selected by the Rye Little League Board of Directors based on:
 
1) Availability - If a child is NOT available to play he/she will NOT be selected to the Tournament Team - please DO NOT sign up if you know your child will be away.
2) Player voting
3) Manager voting
4) Coach voting
5) Umpire and board member voting
6) If needed the Board may host a tryout for the Tournament Team**
 
 As for the Intermediate League – due to 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 Tournament Team voting less well-informed than the Majors voting and, as a result, the Board uses more discretion in choosing the 10 Tournament Team and relies less on 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.
 
All Tournament Teams will be announced after June 15th.  We anticipate sufficient parent volunteers will be available to coach, so all players interested in playing on a Summer Team will be accommodated (i.e., no cuts) - please think about volunteering.  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.
 
If your son or daughter has interest and would like to play summer baseball please register at www.RyeLittleLeague.com by June 11, 2010.   During the registration you will be asked if you wish for your child to be considered for the tournament teams.  A fee of $85 per player will be required for each player. Confidential scholarships are available by emailing - 
 
As always feel free to contact me at
 
Regards
 
Myles P Lavelle