AllStar Selection Process

The best all star team we ever had was also the all star team that did the best in the tournament and the one that had the least screamin' and hollerin' from parents and coaches.

We had 4 teams. Each player got a list of the 11 and 12 year olds and got to vote for 6 players, none of whom could be on their team. when the votes were counted, they took the top 9 vote getters. Then two coaches from each team got a list of the remaining players and got to vote for 6. Again, no one they picked could be from their team.

They took the 9 from the players, 4 from the coaches and had 1 alternate. I don't know if it was luck or a fluke, but the players actually picked all but one of the best 9 players. The one they didn't pick was one of the best players, but he was a jerk and had a dad that was a jerk too. But, the coaches put him in so it didn't make any difference.

Only the LL Board and the coaches knew which players weren't picked by the players. I'm sure the word leaked out as always, but they did do their best to keep it confidential. Anyhoo, virtually no one got their nose out of joint, or at least no one expressed it openly.

They did the same thing the next year. Even though we only had 3 teams, it was still a decent team and again, there was little complaint.

We did a neat thing with our Jrs one year too. Since we only had 2 teams, we played inter-district. Since everyone knew picking an all star team would be next to impossible, they decided to just have a tournament at the end of the year and let the team that won represent the district.

But after a suggestion from a person who shall remain nameless, after each game, the coaches had to vote for the 3 MVP player on the opposing team for that game. Although we had 14 teams and it meant a lot of running around, by the end of the 1st half, it looked like the coaches were actually doing a good job.

They took the plunge and continued doing that through the end of the season. They kept the original plan intact for the all star tournament, but put together a traveling team from the results of the voting. There was no comparison between the teams! The team picked from the voting was extremely competitive in the 5 tournaments they went to, and even won one.

So, there are alternatives to the old fashioned way! I wanted to try getting the fans involved too, but never could figure out a way to do it without having someone get murdered!