How allstar players are picked

Question
in our league for little league the coaches pick 4 players from their teams to make up the allstar team this year the allstar coach took the 4 players from the other two teams and all of his team and said he was having tryouts  rejecting the players submitted by the other coaches. i asked our league president for the rules each league is supposed to have rules on how the team is picked and he says there is none is this right

Answer
Dorathy:  In the Little League rule book, page T-3, the recommended method for picking a tournament team is:

The following groups should each select the tournament team:

1. Players

2. League Officers

3. Team managers

4. Team coaches

5. Volunteer umpires

Every player on the eligible teams is entitled to vote.  Each group submits the list of players at a meeting  of the Board Of Directors of the League.  The names are to be read and counted from each of the groups, and the players in the order of total votes received will become eligible for the tournament team.  Where more than one player has an equal number of votes to qualify for the last position or positions, final selection should be made by a majority vote of the Board Of Directors at the time of the meeting.

Note:  Method of selection is to be determined by the Local Little League Board of Directors. ( This last sentence is in bold type, which signifies a POINT OF EMPHASIS.)

So, while the National Organization has a recommended system, it is only recommended and local boards determine how they will make the selections.

Based on that point of emphasis, if your league has no written process, something is amiss.

It sounds as if there is some sort of plan, or your league coaches would not be picking 4 players from their teams to make up the All Star Team.  Why have them make selections, if the All Star Coach only takes who he wants anyway.

I don't know how many teams are in your league; but the All Star roster is supposed to be 14 players, and I would assume a couple of alternates in case of an emergency.  

The rule book says that this system has been recommended to eliminate many of the complaints, abuses, pressures and charges of favoritism which are directed at the League President, which is what is happening in your current situation, and it sounds like for good reasons.

If for no other reason, just because there is no set process for the selection.

Looks as though it all lies at your local board level, with the League President.  If there is a policy, and the coaches are not following it, he would need to straighten it out.

If there is no policy, everyone should have had that information right from the start of the regular season, not after players were selected by their coaches, then told it didn't matter.

Unfortunately these are the types of situations which give Little League a bad reputation.

As large in scope as it is, there should be a mandated selection process from the National level, which would take all the politics out of the selections.

You might want to talk with your League President again and point out the rule book point of emphasis.  Maybe it has just been overlooked.

Hope this helps some.  Good luck.

Yours in baseball,

Rick