Background
The All-Star program is an add-on to the spring SFLL experience that facilitates advanced skill development in the context of higher-level competition. As a by-product, players make new friends and strengthen established relationships. 

SFLL All-Stars first compete against the Marin County leagues that comprise District 3 (SFLL is the southernmost league in D3 and Novato North and South are the northernmost). A team that wins the district competes in broader geographic areas starting with Sectionals against various contiguous districts. The district tournament usually ends in mid-July, but an extraordinary team could find itself traveling to San Bernardino, CA for the West Region tournament in early August or even Williamsport, PA for the Little League World Series in mid-late August. Given recent and historical performance, we only ask All-Star candidates to postpone vacations until mid-July. 

The All-Star program follows Little League tournament rules, which are different from regular-season rules in a number of areas, including mandatory play. Coaches, players, and parents/guardians should consider those differences - detailed below - before committing to the program. 

Teams
SFLL strives to field two teams at each of the competitive little league ages levels: 9s/10s/11s/12s; and 1-2 teams at the Juniors and Seniors division levels.  Details about the team selection process are published in March or April.

Roster Size
Tournament rosters may range from 12-14 players.   

Level of Play
In the SFLL All-Star program, we ask players to stick with their age group. For example, a 10s who plays Majors during the regular season - and might be very comfortable competing with and against 11s and 12s - would still play with mostly AAA players in the 10s All-Star tournament. That’s because we (1) prefer not to exclude deserving older players, who will soon age out of the opportunity, and (2) wish to optimize for each age group. Exceptions to this rule of thumb will be made only rarely and under singular circumstances.  

Eligibility
Players are eligible for SFLL’s All-Star program when they meet these criteria established by Little League International:

1. Live within the boundaries of the City and County of San Francisco or attend a school within those boundaries; and 

2. Participate in 8 regular season games (which, counter-intuitively but practically speaking, includes playoffs). If a player doesn’t meet the 8-game threshold because of a documented injury or illness, the Board of Directors can petition the district administrator. If some other unique circumstance comes into play, we can work with the district administrator on a case-by-case basis. It’s hard to imagine a player being declared ineligible when he or she has made a good-faith effort to meet all requirements.

Documentation
The All-Star Committee, manager, and a team representative - typically a parent with superior organizational skills - coordinate production of binders with birth certificates and other documents required by Little League International. Teams travel with their binders, which are reviewed by officials at each site. Among other things, families are required to produce an original birth certificate (which is returned once the district administrator has reviewed it) and proof of eligibility as noted above. Candidates will be asked to gather this information quickly and should locate original birth certificates at their earliest convenience. This is a one-time process, meaning returning All-Stars are off the hook. 

Commitment
The time commitment required for All-Star play is significant. There’s no exact formula, but the following is prototypical:

First three weeks of June:

• 3 two-hour practices on weekday afternoons/early evenings on San Francisco and Treasure Island fields.

• 2 scrimmages per weekend on Treasure Island or Peninsula/East Bay fields. 

Last two weeks of June through the second weekend in July:

• Up to 6 round-robin tournament games on Treasure Island or Marin fields as far south as Tiburon and as far north as Novato. 

• Single-elimination tournament featuring the top performers from the round robin.

Late July-August

• The team that wins the District 3 tournament advances to Sectionals and so on through July and most of August. SFLL teams have won D3 but not recently. Families of players whose teams advanced into Sectionals and beyond will most likely be inspired to drop everything and follow the dream but we can cross that bridge if and when we come to it. 

Additional Notes

• The above is pro forma. Of course, teams may elect to scrimmage during the week or practice on weekends. 

• Scrimmages usually occur in three-hour windows, not including travel. 

• The number of round robin tournament games hinges on the number of teams that enter the District 3 tournament, which varies by age group and year. 9s, 13s-14s, and 16s, for example, tend to have fewer entrants and therefore fewer games. 

• On tournament game days, players are asked to show up for batting practice 2-3 hours before game time at a neutral field. Weekday games usually start at 5:30 and weekend times vary. 

• Coaches and families may plan meals and other activities around official events. While totally optional, these extracurriculars are popular among players.

• There might be a break of one or more days during 4th of July weekend…but there might not. 

• Players must be available to attend most practices, scrimmages, and games throughout the All-Star season.

Mandatory Play
Little League International governs mandatory-play rules for All-Star tournaments, and those rules diverge from those that govern our regular season and playoffs. Before 2023, All-Star teams batted nine and guaranteed each player at least one at-bat. Starting in 2023, however, Little League mandated a continuous batting order in tournament play, meaning that each player would bat each time through the order. The results of this rule change have been that (1) some players get more at-bats than they would have under the old model and (2) coaches limit their rosters to 12 players with an eye toward turning over the lineup. 

There are no requirements for defensive play, meaning managers can elect not to send a player into the field for an entire game or even an entire tournament. Most coaches will not do that, if only because pitching and catching changes suggest different combinations of fielders but also because they prefer to get the kids out there. But players and parents/guardians should be aware that their athletes, who might have been fixtures at the top of the order and in their favorite positions during the regular season, could bat 12th and/or play less-beloved positions during the summer season. 

We ask families to reinforce that it’s an honor to be invited onto an All-Star team, All-Star teams are optimized for competition, and players should prioritize helping the team however they’re asked, not to mention take advantage of whatever opportunities present themselves. For their part, coaches should communicate their plans openly and honestly with players and families at various points so there are no surprises.

Parents/Guardians
Like during the regular season but moreso, we require parents/guardians to pitch in. Roles include:

• Binder coordinator

• Event planner

• Pre- and post-game food and beverage coordinator

• Tournament director (for home games)

• Scoreboard operator (for home games)

• Game Changer operator

There are strict rules about parent involvement in All-Star tournament games. For example, parents are not allowed to interact with players, including giving advice and distributing snacks (food is not permitted in the dugout but drinks are). Under no circumstances may a non-coach parent set foot on an All-Star field before or during a tournament game. 

Over and above the formal District 3 tournaments, SFLL hosts a local Up & Comers tournament that gives 8s players an Intro to All-Stars experience. The three-game series pits SFLL NL against SFLL AL, takes place mostly on Treasure Island right after the playoffs, runs for about two weeks including practices and games, and wraps up by mid-June. Any 8s and some 7s will be considered based on nominations by their regular-season coaches and careful consideration by Up & Comers managers and coaches, who are elected by their peers. Interested parties should plan to attend all three games and at least 80% of the practices. 

Players wear All-Star jerseys (that have to be returned) and hats (that they can keep). The tournament features experienced umpires, tournament rules (which take some getting used to, especially for coaches), and a bit of pageantry including ceremonial coin flip, player introductions, and national anthem. In summary, we strive for a combination of exciting and edifying that seems to work.