All-Star Eligibility

Question
My son plays both Little League and on an AAU team and has conflicting playoff games coming up.  The Board President just suggested if any players miss a Playoff game, they would be made ineligible for All Stars.  None of his Little League teammates who are also on the same AAU team have missed a single Little League regular season game so all pass the 60% threshold.  However, can the Board exclude these eligible players for missing a Playoff game?

Thank you in advance for your response.

Answer
Tom,

Little League rules state that a player must participate in at least 60% of the scheduled games they are eligible for.  If your son has competed in 60% of the games, he is eligible.

However, Little League rules also state that a player may be removed from the team by action of the Board of Directors if they miss practices and games.  So, if your son was to miss practices and games because of AAU, the Board of Directors could remove him from the team and place another player in his place.

A rule of thumb that I have used for my league in the past is that come All Star time for Little League, players must be focused on the playoff team, and if they wish to participate in travel ball or another sport, then they cannot play on the all star team.  The Board of Directors goal is to have the strongest team out there playing, and you can't do that with players who are involved in other programs at the same time.

This is where children learn good life lessons: while we would like to participate in everything, sometimes we have to make tough decisions.

I hope this has helped.

-Martin Hoover