How do you determine registration fees?
Our organization routinely reviews per player costs to determine league fees for a given year. The league sees costs for: LL team charter fees, player insurance, field rentals, field maintenance and equipment, team equipment (first aid kits, catcher’s gear, baseballs), umpires, and jerseys. Those costs are used to determine a ‘per player’ cost, which may vary from division to division.
Please understand that unlike some other local organizations, we do not own any fields, nor are we operated under the umbrella of a municipality. Some organizations are fortunate enough to not pay field rental fees or maintenance fees as they’re subsidized by the township or borough in which they operate. We are 100% responsible for all of our own operating costs.
Why does registration for the spring season open and close so early?
Working backwards… Our spring season begins in late March. By March 1st, we need to submit final rosters to Little League and finalize our jersey orders for the season. This means that by mid-February we need to complete our draft/team placement process. Evaluations for 400 players takes approximately 3-4 weeks, which means we need to start evaluations mid-January. This forces us to close registration at the end of December, which only gives us two weeks to fill out divisions, assign coaches (traditionally), and other administrative gymnastics. We open registration in mid-November and typically have a 6 week registration period.
Registration remains open through February for our tee ball and York County teams, as those divisions don’t have evaluations or have a later start date, respectively.
How are teams selected?
All Little League affiliated teams are selected in the same manner, in accordance with Little League guidelines. Players must attend an evaluation, and then are drafted in a snake draft format based on evaluation results. At evaluations, coaches are required to make their own evaluations and notes, but formal league evaluation scores are based on an average rating from 3 independent league-assigned evaluators.
For tee ball, there is no evaluation process. Players are assigned to teams based on birthdates in accordance with a Little League defined process.
County teams have an A/B format. After evaluations, the top 10-12 players will be placed on an A-level team and the remaining players will be evenly divided among 2-3 B-level teams.
Why do teams sometimes appear imbalanced?
Every year we struggle with the evaluation process. Some players evaluate very well but struggle in game situations. Some players evaluate extremely poorly, for a number of potential reasons, but flourish in games. Many players do not show up for evaluations at all, either because of schedule conflicts or apathy. Some players are placed on teams and then get injured or decide not to play after the season begins.
All of these factors can lead to imbalance by the end of the season. Our intent is to have the teams as fairly placed as possible, based on the evaluations we have and the team placement constraints placed on us by Little League.
When do practices begin?
Practices begin as soon as the weather is suitable and our fields are playable. This typically happens around late-March. A significant amount of work goes into getting our fields ready, and when that happens depends on weather and number of volunteers for our spring field prep days.
What days will my practices be?
Practice days vary by team, and sometimes week to week. We schedule across approximately 35 teams and 11 fields. We do our best to accommodate coaches’ schedules, field blackout dates, and games. We cannot guarantee players certain practice or game dates, it is wholly dependent on the team in which they are placed.
Before games begin, coaches are assigned two nights a week and a 2 hour slot during the weekend for practices. After games start, additional practice time is encouraged, but availability varies based on game schedules for that particular week.
When do games begin?
Games typically begin around mid-April and run through the end of May. Most teams play two games per week, nights and locations will vary. Tee ball will play one game per week and continue regular practices throughout the season.