MVLL All-Stars
Upon the conclusion of the regular Little League season, an All-Star team is named for the 9’s, 10’s 11’s, Little League (12) and Juniors divisions. These teams represent Mill Valley Little League at district level tournament play that runs from the end of the regular season through roughly mid-July. All-Stars is a recognition of the strongest players in the league as voted on by their peers and managers. Every All-Star candidate must meet the following criteria: eligibility, availability, ability and attitude / effort. The All-Star team is rewarded with special MVLL All-Star hats, t-shirts and notices in the Marin Independent Journal.
All-Stars are expected to fulfill the obligations associated with this honor, which include attending all mandated practices and tournament games. In the recent past, practices have been daily and sometimes twice daily for the weeks leading up to games, possibly with morning hitting sessions in the cages and late afternoon/early evening sessions on the diamond. Each AS manager will determine the practice schedule for their team. Parents of prospective All-Stars Players will need to construct their summer vacation schedules accordingly if they wish their child to be considered for the All-Star tournament.We know that can make summer planning challenging, but we ask you for patience and flexibility in order that your son or daughter can potentially participate fully in the All-Star team experience.
Player Eligibility
Upon the conclusion of the regular Little League spring season, All-Stars teams are named for the following age brackets: 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, Little League (12 year old) and Juniors. Eligible players come from Minors AAA, Minors, Majors and Juniors and are required to have played in at least 60% of the games of the current Spring MVLL season.
Selection Process
Manager Selection
Managers wanting to manage an All-Star team shall communicate their interest to the Board through our All-Star Czar, Rick Stern. The All-Star Committee (made up of MVLL Board members) will review the submissions, interview all those interested and determine the best candidate for the position. The selected Manger will be allowed to select his/her supporting Coaches but these Coaches must be approved by the All-Star Committee.
The Managers for the All-Star teams should come from the Divisions from which the majority of players played. To be eligible to be the Manager of an All-Star team you must have been a Manager or coach during the regular season. To be one of the two assistant coaches on an All-Star team you must have been either a Manager or one of the recognized Coaches during the regular season.
Player Selection
The All-Star teams are intended to represent the best players available to put together a competitive team to play in post-season play. Player selection is based on a vote of the players within that age division as well as the division Managers. This vote is conducted near the end of the MVLL regular season. Manager & coach voting is based on their assessment of player performance over the preceding 3 months.
Each All-Star Manager reviews the voting results and the recommendations of their division managers and coaches. The All-Star Manager for a particular age group also reviews the players during the season, asks coaches for input and reviews the numbers from the voting. The All-Star Manager then submits the proposed list of hat recipients to the All-Star Committee to review and approve. The list of hat recipients is between 18 and 20 players.
Notification Process
The list of those players who made All-Stars are posted on the MVLL website - typically on the earliest date allowed by Little League International for notification. As this date changes from year to year, the specific posting date will be posted on our website. Families for the All-Stars teams are also notified by the respective All-Star Manager.
MVLL hosts an award ceremony honoring those players who are named an all-star. The award ceremony is known as “Super Saturday” and occurs at Boyle Park (on the Majors field) immediately following the City Championship games for the Minors and Majors Division. At the award ceremony, each all-star player is announced and receives their All-Star hat.
What Happens Next?
The team of All-Stars that competes in the All-Star tournament games is referred to as the Travel Team, and it usually consists of 13 players. The Travel Team is drawn from the selected members of the All-Star roster of 18-20 players, typically after that roster group has had the opportunity to practice together for 2-3 days.
The composition of the Travel Team is at the sole discretion of the All-Star Manager, but subject to All-Star committee approval. Selections are made based on the Manager’s assessment of both overall ability and the team need for specific baseball skills. Travel Team members are guaranteed minimum play in tournament games.
Not all selected All-Stars will make the Travel Team. All Stars and families of All-Star players need to be prepared that selection to the Travel Team is a competitive process. Nonetheless, selected All-Stars who do not see game action as Travel Team members remain an important part of the All-Star team, sometimes they may practice with the squad, and should stand ready to step into a Travel Team spot should one become available for any reason.
For any questions, please direct them to the MVLL [email protected]@gmail