The District Administrators met in October and determined the host districts for the 2012 State Tournaments.  Also at that meeting, the pairings for the tournaments by random draw was determined.  The SECTIONAL FORMAT was also eliminated at that meeting.  So, for 2012, there will be ONE site for each level of tournament play.  However, the District Administrator of the host district still determines the FORMAT to be used for the tournament (Pool Play or Double Elimination). 

The sites for the 2012 Tournaments and general locations are:

The Tournament of Champions Tournament has been a long held tradition in District Three. Nancie Lane had been the District Administrator for District Three for 18 years before losing a 7 year battle with cancer. At District Meetings, she would say the TOC was "my tournament." So, since 2006, the tournament has been named the "Nancie Lane Tournament of Champions."

The tournament will be hosted this year by Shadow Mountain LL at Nancie Lane Park. In 1999, Paradise Valley East Little League (now Shadow Mountain LL) dedicated the field for her many years of service to PV East, PVUSD and District 3.

The location is 3602 E Cholla St, Phoenix, AZ 85032.

The Tournament is an invitational tournament hosted by District Three. The criteria for teams to participate are:

• Must be the league CHAMPION for the regular season.
• It is the team with the best win/loss record for the regular season OR;
• The winner of a first half - second half playoff.
• It MAY NOT be the winner of an "end of year" special tournament.
• It MUST be the regular season team roster. The team MAY NOT borrow players from other team rosters if the winning team does not have enough (at least 9 players).
• If the first place team is unable to participate, the league may send the second place team.
• If the second place team is unable to field a team, the league must withdraw from the tournament.

NOTE: PETS ARE NOT ALLOWED AT THE FACILITY. The site is on a school facility that prohibits pets at the facility. Anyone with a pet will be asked to leave the facility.

Shadow Mountain LL is hosting the tournament. NO COOLERS or OUTSIDE FOOD is permitted at this facility. Shadow Mountain is paying for the use of the facility so your players can participate in the tournament. Your support is needed to help offset the costs of the tournament.  Please be a courteous guest.

Calls and emails are flooding in with the question - "When are tournaments?" Here are some answers. ALL DATES ARE TENTATIVE!

Teams have the right to be added to or drop from a tournament up until the start of the tournaments. So, if you are looking for a schedule, they will not be posted nor released until AFTER the 2012 D3 Tournament Meeting in June. Even then, the schedules will probably change.

2012 Nancie Lane Tournament of Champions

June 9th to June 18th

All All-Star Tournaments - All Star teams will play until they are eliminated. So the end of the tournament is not predetermined. I can give GENERAL dates on the time frame for the various levels. Players should be available to play until the end of that level or tournament play.

9-10 BB - Teams may not practice, try-out OR be announced until June 15th OR two weeks prior to the start of the tournament, whichever is earlier. District 3's 9-10 BB Tournament will begin on June 19th. Therefore, teams may begin practice, the league may have try-outs or announce the players on the team on JUNE 5th. The end of the 9-10 BB tournament has not been determined yet, but will on or about be the first week of July.

The highest level of tournament play for 9-10 BB is the State Level. State tournaments will begin around July 16th and will run until the end of July.

Players need to be available from June 4^th to July 31^st.

10-11 BB - Teams may not practice, try-out OR be announced until June 15th OR two weeks prior to the start of the tournament, whichever is earlier. District 3's 10-11 BB Tournament will begin on June 29th. Therefore, JUNE 15th when teams may practice, leagues may hold try-outs or announce players on June 15th.

The highest level of tournament play for 10-11 BB is the State Level. State tournaments will begin around July 16th and will run until the end of July.

Players need to be available from June 15^th to July 31^st.

Little League (Majors) - THIS IS NOT 11-12's! We don't watch the "11-12 World Series" the end of August. The Little League (Majors) may not practice, try-out or announce players until June 15th. The tournament may begin on or about June 28th. June 15th is a hard date - not any earlier.

The next level of play is the State Level. They will play on or about July 16th until the end of July.

The next level after State is the Western Region tournament and is from August 3rd to August 12th.

The last and Final Level is the LL World Series in Williamsport.

Players need to be available from June 15^th to at least July 31^st and possibly to August 26^th.

Juniors/Seniors – Same announcement criteria as Little League (Majors).  However, it still not known how many teams will be participating in the tournaments.  Teams need to be available from June 15^th until July 15^th for District level.  State is from July 16^th until the end of July. 

Not finding a where you live on the maps with the District 3 site? This link is another tool to see if you can find a league that you live in.

On November 23rd, Little League International announced some very significant changes in the 2012 Little League Regulations and Rules. 

• Proof of Residency documents must be dated between February 1, 2011 and February 1, 2012.
• Changes to Regulation I(c)(9) do not apply to Arizona.
• The Senior Baseball Division League Ages may now include 13 year olds and the Big League Divison now includes 15 year olds.
• Allows the District Administrator to approve a CHALLENGER player who lives outside a local league's boundaries to play in that league.
• Senior Divison players must meet Mandatory Play of 6 outs and one time at bat.
• Changes to the use of COMPOSITE bats in Majors and BBCOR bats in Juniors, Seniors and Big League Baseball.
• Defines that jewlery OF ANY COMPOSITION may not be worn by players.  Before, it was defined at metalic. 
• Defines "illegal bat" versus "damaged" bat for new rule on penalties for an "illegal" bat.
• Rules now will allow batters to advance to first on a dropped third strike, provided less than two outs and first base is unoccupied in the MAJOR DIVISIONS.
• If a batter uses an illegal bat, they will be called out.  The manager will also be ejected from the game. (Which also means the Manager MUST sit out the next scheduled game as well!)
• Tournament Rules now give the Tournament Committee the ability to removed a manager/coach/players for unsportsmanlike conduct or willfully/intentionally violate Tournament Rules, Regulations or Policies.  Even if a protest is not lodged.
• The release of names in the 9-10 Year Old SOFTBALL tournament teams now matches baseball.  They may be relesed on June 15th OR TWO WEEKS PRIOR to the start of the tournament.
• Tournament Rule 3 will allow batters to advance on a dropped third strike in the 10-11 Year Old Baseball level, BUT NOT in the 9-10 Year Old level.

This is an article written by Curt Schilling that appeared in the 4/18/11 issue of USA Today.  Curt Schilling played Little League in Paradise Valley East Little League (now Shadow Mountain LL) and at Shadow Mountain High School.  I urge EVERY parent, manager and coach to read this article.   

By Curt Schilling

In hundreds of cities, thousands of parks and millions of minds, the biggest day of the year will be soon upon us. Little Leagues are readying for opening day, and aspiring Major Leaguers are again seeking that elusive championship season.

I want to offer a message to an incredibly generous group of folks: The coaches and volunteers. First off, coaches give hundreds of thousands of hours of their time to help raise our children, and for that, all parents owe a hearty thank you. Second, coaches should remember that everything they do — every pitch, inning, game and week of the season — is about the kids.

My son's story

I share this message now because my son is preparing for his new season, too. Grant is a marvelous child, but he suffers from Asperger's syndrome, which is on the autistic spectrum. This disorder has led him to test the patience of every coach on every baseball team he's ever been on.

There are kids like Grant in Little Leagues across the country. Since baseball is rooted in numbers — ERAs, RBI, batting averages — here is the most relevant statistic for coaches and parents to ponder: The chances you have a child who will become a Major League Baseball player are one in 11,700. According to Autism Speaks, the chances you have a child who is on the autism spectrum are one in 110.

You read that right. For every child you may run into that is talented enough and lucky enough to get through the first 18 or so years of life healthy and get drafted by a Major League team, you will run into scores more who have some form of autism. To parents of children with Asperger's, this is no small thing. Our kids are every bit as special as yours, just different. Different in ways society isn't comfortable with, and that is both maddening and disappointing as hell.

Baseball is the ultimate sport to teach lessons. The problem lies with the coaches and parents who view winning and championships as the only measures of success. That perspective is one of the worst ways to coach a child or raise an athlete.

My wife, Shonda, and I have made our four kids understand the difference between failing and losing. Losing is a part of every day life. You will get beat and you will be bested, but those are life's true gifts when you take them as lessons and learn from them. I truly believe the only way you can honestly fail in life is to quit. If you never quit, you can never fail. It really is that simple.

All about winning?

In Little League, high school and junior college, the game was the single most important thing in my life. I hated losing. Hell, the only time I ever cried over the outcome of a game was Little League — it was that big of a deal. That was how I was wired, not how I was coached or parented.

I was raised by a great man, but my father never was a head coach in Little League for me because he wanted me to have mentors outside the home, to learn from other men. These men were good coaches sure, but more important, they were and still are fantastic role models.

Ultimately, if coaches focus on making kids better people, I don't care what the record says at the end of the season, they've coached a winner, and in the process they've almost certainly changed some lives.

Curt Schilling is a retired All-Star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. His wife, Shonda, is author of the new book about their son, The Best Kind of Different.

Want to know the history of tournaments in Arizona? 

Did you know District Three is one of the orignial Districts formed in 1957?

In 1965, South Mountain (then South Mountain East Side) was the first District Three team to go to the Little League World Series, and so far, the only District Three team to play in the LLWS.  They had to win District, State Sectionals, Sectional Playoff, Division, and Western Region to get to the LLWS.

In 1990, Cactus West (now Cactus) won the Arizona State Championship and played in the Little League Western Region?

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