| As the Predident of National LL, I want to commend District 13 for the new All-Star format and for giving each individual league the opportunity to decide for themselves each year what pool to enter their teams into. This year we at National took hard look at each of our All Star teams and felt that it was in the best interest of our players to be entered into the Class A pool. We immediately saw benefits as our two youngest teams both captured runner up trophies in their tournaments. The kids were thrilled, their parents were happy, and the league was very proud of them for the gutsy effort they put forth. It was also exciting to see leagues like Berne Knox, under the new format, enter teams into All-Stars. Their kids showed up for the first time in years at the 7/8 Tournament at our park and had a great time. And based on the results across all of the tournaments we entered our board and parents all felt the new format best met the needs of our kids. Next year we will re-evaluate each of our teams, as will the other small leagues, and decide then which teams we want to enter into Class A and which we want to enter into Class AA. Kudos to the District for empowering each local league to make these decisions for themselves. |
