Tournament Team Overview & Guidelines

Overview:

Eligibility:

•  In order to be selected to an “A” or “B” level team, the player must have participated in the MLLB in-house spring program AND played in a minimum of 60% of regular season in-house games scheduled during the spring season. If a player meets this criterion at the time the travel team is selected and subsequently fails to meet the eligibility criteria by the end of the in-house regular season (playoff games excluded), that player may be removed from the team
  
  
• In addition, a player not currently meeting the minimum eligibility rule that could achieve the minimum eligibility rule prior to the end of the in-house season should be considered for selection. The decision to remove and/or add another player will be addressed at that time by the MLLB Board of Directors. Extraordinary circumstances (i.e., injuries, family emergencies, etc.) will be reviewed by the MLLB Board of Directors, which can make an exception to the eligibility criteria stated above.
  
  
• A player selected to a travel team must be committed to play in tournament games during the travel baseball season, which typically runs from mid-June through the end of July. Age coordinators may choose to attend tournaments prior to June, however, the age coordinator will need to communicate with the commissioners to find weekends that would eliminate any conflicts with in-house games.
  
  
• The MLLB Board of Directors does recognize that this same period may also be the only time available for family vacations. Players may miss up to one tournament for family vacations. (Emergencies, injuries, illness, etc., will be excused)
  
  
• Players who are playing on another travel team outside of MLLB, are eligible to play for the MLLB tournament team at their given age, however they must commit to make all of the travel tournaments scheduled for the MLLB team. (as per above, a player can miss 1 tournament and still be eligible to continue with the team)
  
  
• Age cutoff - April 30th is the age cut-off for each age.

Example: Timmy turns 8 on April 29th, Timmy then would be considered an 8U player. John however turns 8 on May 1st, John would be considered a 7U player.

Players are not eligible to play try out for an age group that they do not qualify for based on the April 30th cut-off date.

Example: Jeremy is a talented 8U eligible player, the parents want him to try out for the 9U team, this would not be permitted.

Travel Team Tenure:

The travel team(s) for ages 7U to 12U will be selected each Spring and remain the travel team for each respective age group until the team is re-evaluated and selected the following year. Tryouts are organized but the age level Coordinator. The tryouts for the 7U -12U teams can be anytime after March 1st and need to occur prior to May 30th.

The teams picked in the spring will remain together until the following spring tryout for the next year.

Teams are permitted to play in tournaments immediately following the rosters being set. With that being said, as mentioned above, tournaments should not conflict with the in-house schedule. Age group coordinators should meet with the commissioner of their age level to discuss spring plans and possibly come up with 1 or 2 open weekends in the spring.

Travel Team Training/Off Season:

In the months of August - February, age coordinators are permitted to organize training and participation in tournaments.

Tournaments - The roster for the tournament must be the roster that was set in the spring. MLLB acknowledges that players play on other teams and participate in several sports. If a team needs more players in order to play it should first try to find available players from a lower team within its age group.

Example: Red team (A team) tries to find players from the Black team (B Team). In certain situations players on the Red team may not have the skill level to compete in an A tournament. At that point the age group coordinator can grant permission for the manager to explore the possibility of calling up players from the next age level down.

Winter Training - Age group coordinators are permitted to organize winter training. The winter training needs to be made available to every player that made a tournament in that calendar year.

Player Evaluations:

Any player that has expressed interest in playing travel baseball will be evaluated to determine the player’s ability.

Travel tryouts will be scheduled, and advanced notification will be given to all rec. participants and players.

Participation in at least one of the tryouts is mandatory for consideration on a travel team.

Evaluations will be conducted by the Age Group Coordinator as well as MLLB Board Members.

Coordinator, Player, Manager Selection Timing & Roster Size:

Players and managers will be picked within 10 days of the second tryout. Rosters for all ages will have a minimum of 10 players.

• Age Coordinator’s will be selected by the MLLB board in January.

Parent Responsibilities:

Cost- Parents are responsible for the cost of the travel uniforms as well as tournament fees. Tournament fees are divided among the team. Typical travel teams require between $200 - $350 to be a part of.

Tournament Items *Estimated Costs
Travel Uniforms (Home/Away), Hats, Pants, Accessories - $150.00
Tournament Fees - $75.00

**Other apparel can also be ordered for family members

**Other costs include additional tournaments and workouts

For home tournaments hosted by MLLB parents will be required to volunteer working in the concession stand, announcing games, field maintenance, scorekeeping, etc.

* The costs above reflect the cost for the summer tournament season. Additional costs may occur should the team decide to participate in winter leagues, winter training, or spring tournaments. These are to be considered optional participation.

Code of Conduct:

Each travel team player and parent will be asked to sign a Code of Conduct to ensure that we are representing Moon Little League Baseball in a positive manner. If any player or parent violates the Code of Conduct, the committee used to select the travel team will determine what level of discipline, if any, is applied.