All-Star and Tournament Teams Policy

 

Seattle PONY Baseball's Board of Directors (“the Board”) adopted the following policies related to the formation and management of league All-Star teams (“Primary Tournament Teams”) and additional teams to participate in summer tournaments (“Secondary Tournament Teams).

 

All decisions related to All-Star and secondary tournament teams are subject to final approval by the Board.

 

All-Star Teams and Coaches

Each year, the Commissioner of each division will recommend to the Board how many All-Star teams will be formed from that division. Unless the Commissioner recommends and the Board approves another plan, there will be one age-specific All-Star team for each age cohort in the division.

 

For each All-Star team from a division, the Commissioner will nominate the manager (“Team Manager”, also referred to as Head Coach) for Board approval, prior to selection of players for the team. In the Bronco and Mustang divisions the Team Manager may be the parent of a player who is among the top contenders for the All-Star team (based on pre-season assessment scores or All-Star team performance in previous years; see below), a league coach who will not have a son or daughter on the team, or another qualified coach as nominated by the commissioner. Though lacking pre-season assessment scores, the Pinto Division Commissioner will similarly nominate as Team Managers parents of players who are recognized as top contenders for the All-Star team.

 

The Board will approve Team Managers for Bronco and Mustang All-Star teams at the Board’s March or April meetings each year. The Board shall approve Team managers for All-Star teams from other divisions at a time appropriate to the teams’ practice and playing schedule. Any change to a Team Manager appointment requires Board approval.

 

The Team Manager and Division Commissioner will work together to choose two additional individuals to serve as assistant coaches for the All-Star team. Assistant coaches will be selected after the team’s players have been selected. The Team Manager and Commissioner will make every effort to select assistants in such a way that the resulting three-person coaching staff consists of coaches (head or assistant) from three different recreational league teams, if possible. In the event that among the parents of players selected to the All-Star team there are fewer than three league coaches, the Team Manager and Commissioner will complete the coaching staff by first considering current Seattle PONY Baseball coaches from outside the division, and then parents who are not currently coaches, but have adequate previous coaching experience. All coaches must have cleared a background check conducted on behalf of Seattle PONY Baseball within the previous calendar year.

 

All-Star Team Player Selection

The Team Manager and the Division Commissioner will select the players for each All-Star team. They are encouraged to include additional individuals in the selection process, so long as none of these additional “selectors” are parents or relatives of a player in contention for the team.

 

At a time appropriate for the anticipated tournament schedule, the Commissioner and Team Manager will conduct a tryout. The tryout may consist of multiple sessions.

 

For the Bronco and Mustang Divisions, the following players will be invited to try out for the All-Star team: (a) all players whose scores in the pre-season skills assessment was among the 20 highest in their age cohort, (b) all players selected to the All-Star team for their age cohort the previous season. In addition, the head coach of each recreational league may nominate up to 2 additional players from his or her team who do not qualify under criteria (a) or (b) above. Coaches are not required to nominate additional players to try out for the All-Star team. Nominations of additional players are based on skill, performance, and conduct demonstrated during the season. Coaches are encouraged to nominate only players with skill comparable to those players invited under criteria (a) and (b) to try out for the All-Star team.

 

For the Pinto Division, the Commissioner and Team Manager may choose to conduct a competitive tryout for 8-year-old tournament teams. Players will be invited to try out based on the recommendation of their league teams’ coaches. There will be no competitive tryout for 7-year-old teams (player selection will be based entirely on coach recommendation).

 

The Team Manager and Division Commissioner, along with any additional selectors, will select a suitable number of players (typically 12-14, depending on circumstances) for the All-Star team. Selection will be based on skill, performance, and conduct demonstrated during the regular season and at the tryout session(s).

 

Secondary Tournament Teams

 

Among coaches and parents of players not selected for All-Star teams formed pursuant to the preceding policy, there may be interest in forming additional teams to participate in tournaments representing Seattle PONY Baseball (“Secondary Tournament Teams”). In this event, interested coaches should work with the Commissioner to prepare a proposal for the Secondary Tournament Team to present to the Board. This proposal should identify the proposed team coaches, the tournament(s) the coaches intend to enter, and the process by which players will be selected for the team. All coaches must have cleared a background check conducted on behalf of Seattle PONY Baseball within the previous calendar year.

 

Secondary Team coaches shall work with the Commissioner and other All-Star team selectors to select players for the Secondary team, based to the extent possible on results of selection decisions for the All-Star team. In the event a candidate player for the Secondary team did not try out for the All-Star team, the Secondary team coaches can use scores from pre-season skills assessment and input from the coaches of the player’s regular season team and other league coaches. The Secondary Team coaches will make every effort to ensure that the most skilled among the candidate players are selected for the Secondary Tournament Team.

 

Support For Tournament Teams

 

Financial support from Seattle PONY Baseball for tournament teams is generally restricted to: entry fees for PONY-sanctioned tournaments, practice field usage fees, and caps and socks for All-Star teams (players keep caps and socks). In addition, tournament teams use equipment and jerseys provided by Seattle PONY Baseball, to be returned to the league at the end of the tournament season. Tournament teams are covered by Seattle PONY Baseball’s insurance policy. Families of tournament team players are responsible for entry fees for tournaments not sanctioned by PONY and all travel expenses. Seattle PONY Baseball may grant scholarships to individual players based on need.

 

Team Names and Uniforms

 

All-Star teams from the Mustang, Bronco, Pony, and Colt Divisions will play under the name “Senators.” No other tournament team or league team will use the name “Senators.” The league shall provide caps to Senators teams. Senators caps shall have a navy blue crown and bill, and the “S” emblem on the cap shall be red with white outline. The words “Seattle PONY Baseball” and “All Stars” shall appear on the back of the cap. No other tournament team or league team will wear caps with both crown and bill navy blue in color (regardless of the color of the “S” emblem), and no team other than the Senators will have the words “All Stars” on its caps.

 

Off-Season Tournament Team Training

 

Tournament teams are selected and formally organized to play from the time the team is selected until the end of the summer tournament season in September. Off-season training for Tournament teams or any other training under the auspices of the league must be approved by the Board.