All Stars in Upper Loudoun Little League
Every year, ULLL fields All-Star teams -- from the American League (encompassing the Purcellville South and Round Hill Areas) and the National League (encompassing the Hamilton / Purcellville North Area and Lovettsville) -- to represent our league and showcase the talents of players from ULLL. There are two types of All-Star tournaments: the LL International tournament and Invitational tournaments. Between those two types of tournaments, ULLL works to provide post-season opportunities to as many players as possible to represent our leagues on the All Star teams.
To participate on any of the ULLL’s All-Star teams, players must register during the All-Star Registration period. Players must also demonstrate that they meet the criteria established by the Little League, which includes the LL “Residency Eligibility Requirement” and Regular Season Game Eligibility requirements (See Little League Rulebook for further information on these requirement.
LL International (District) All-Star Teams
ULLL District All Star teams represent specific age groups of players that compete in the official LL International All Stars Tournament coordinated and run by Virginia District 16. District All Stars are selected through a lengthy process that includes nominations by the Managers the player pitch divisions (specifically the Majors, AAA, and AA) in each respective league (AL and NL)–with the final roster selected by committees for each league (AL and NL) composed of the ULLL’s Majors Managers, the ULLL Player Agent, ULLL President and the respective All Star Team Managers in late May.
LL International Tournament Rules are used in lieu of the LL International Regular Season Rules, which alters several parts of the game – most notably the batting order (teams bat only nine players, comparable to regular season play in our Majors division) and the mandatory minimum play requirements (e.g., players have to play six consecutive defensive outs and bat once in each game when teams have 12 rostered players, and players must bat once when teams have 13 or more rostered players).
ULLL fields District All Star teams (one from the AL, one from the NL) that participate in each of the following three tournaments coordinated by Virginia District 16 and held at various league locations across the district:
- Baseball Age 8-10 year old District Tournament – District champion advances to State tournament; State champion advances to Regional Tournament of State Champions
- Baseball Age 9-11 year old District Tournament – District champion advances to State tournament; State champion advances to Regional Tournament of State Champions
- Little League District Tournament (typically hosted by Central Loudoun LL at Freedom Park) – Baseball Age 10-12 year olds are permitted as player, but players must have played in the Majors division during the Spring Regular Season) – District champion advances to State tournament; State champion advances to Southeast Regional; SE Regional Champion advances to the Little League World Series (Williamsport, PA)
Invitational All-Star Teams
ULLL also intends to field Invitational All Star teams at multiple levels (where the number of teams depends on several factors, primarily the number of tournaments that the ULLL receives invitations to at each level and the number of players eligible to participate in each tournament). Based on history, ULLL intends to sponsor and send Invitational Tournament teams to three types of invitational tournaments:
- Baseball Age 8-9 yr old District Invitational Tournament Teams – The ULLL plans to send two teams (one from the AL and one from the NL) to a VA District 16 invitational tournament for Baseball Age 8-9 yr olds. The format of this tournament parallels the VA District 16 tournaments for older players
- Baseball Age 9-11 yr old Minors Tournament Teams – The ULLL plans to assemble two teams (generally, one from the AL and one from the NL) to send to the Emory Frye Minors invitational tournament hosted by the Brunswick Railroaders Little League (in Brunswick, Maryland) during July or early August. Fielding teams is dependent upon ULLL receiving invitations from Brunswick.
- Majors Invitational Tournament Team – The ULLL plans to send one (or more) majors invitational team(s) to two separate invitational tournaments hosted by the Halfway Little League (Hagerstown, MD) and Maugansville Little League (Maugansville, MD), tentatively during the second half of July. Attendance at both tournaments is subject to receiving invitations from the host leagues. These teams are designed to give players – mainly Baseball Age 12 – who did not have an opportunity to be selected to a District All Star team with an opportunity to play on a ULLL Majors Invitational Team. During recent years, ULLL assembled one team (combined with Majors players from the AL and the NL) because at least one of the leagues did not have enough players to field a separate team.
Players selected for the ULLL’s Invitational Teams are nominated by the Managers of the player pitch divisions (specifically the Majors, AAA, and AA) in each respective league (AL and NL) at the same time as the nominations for the ULLL’s LL District All Star Teams (i.e., there is no separate list). Players not selected for the ULLL’s LL District All Star Teams are then considered for the ULLL’s Invitational Teams – with the final roster spots assembled by the ULLL Player Agent, ULLL President and the respective Invitational Team Managers. The 8-9 yr old rosters will be finalized in early June, with the other team rosters finalized by late June.
Since the purpose of these Invitational Tournaments is to provide opportunities for more players to participate in the Little League tournament experience, these tournaments have tournament rules specific to each tournament; and though many tournaments use the LL International Tournament Rules, each tournament may relax some of these requirements to allow more participation from all the players on each team.