AA little league assessments

[Anonymous]

We had assessments for our 8 year old yesterday.. have to say, it was rather chaotic. He waited in line for 45 minutes, and only got three balls thrown to him before moving on to the batting cage.

From what we saw, he did okay batting but not so much with the limited fielding assessment. Are these "assessments" purely to even out the teams, or are some kids cut? Just want to manage expectations in the event the latter happens. TIA!

[Anonymous]

Even out the kids. As a coach I can tell pretty quickly where kids are. In my league we have high school kids help out and play some games, make it a fun day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even out the kids. As a coach I can tell pretty quickly where kids are. In my league we have high school kids help out and play some games, make it a fun day.

Thanks, glad to hear it. I can see how a coach can assess pretty quickly within the first practice or two. I don't see how they can base it on three balls thrown to a kid. I'm glad to hear that your aim is fun!

[Anonymous]

at that age for basically any sport, 80% of the kids are pretty much the same. the assessments are just to evenly distribute the stars and the very beginners.

[Anonymous]

Another question slightly related: Our son did Single A last year (league age 7). Most of his teammates were also league age 7 (1st grade). The coach decided to keep their son back one more year in Single A as an 8 year old, and convinced most of the team to do so as well. Isn't that some type of anomaly? The league guidelines state that Single A is primarily for 6-7 year olds, and that any 8 year olds or advanced 5 year olds need to contact the player agent. Many of them are ready for AA; I think they're just trying to build a "super-team" of 8 year olds by red-shirting them.

[Anonymous]

Long-time Little League parent (and board member, and coach's spouse) here. I'm sorry that your first experience with assessments felt so chaotic. It's a lot of kids in a small space for a short amount of time -- our league has gone through a couple different iterations of the process and despite the best efforts of all the volunteers, it's still just something to be endured rather than enjoyed.

DO NOT worry that your child won't get picked for a team -- there will definitely be a place for him/her. The process is so that kids can be ordered for the coaches' draft, which allows for teams to be balanced with a range of abilities. This make the regular season much more fun than if there's one superstar team crushing all the others. It also allows coaches to learn about players other than the ones they've had on previous teams.

DO NOT worry that your player fumbled a catch/missed a throw/fouled off a ball. There is no expectation that kids are playing anywhere close to their best in the middle of winter -- that's what the whole "development" aspect of a good LL team is for. And the assessments aren't pass/fail. Coaches are looking for body position, range of motion, mechanics, etc. Not just "this kid caught the ball and this kid didn't."

Things will be much easier (and much more fun!) once everyone can get out on the field this spring!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another question slightly related: Our son did Single A last year (league age 7). Most of his teammates were also league age 7 (1st grade). The coach decided to keep their son back one more year in Single A as an 8 year old, and convinced most of the team to do so as well. Isn't that some type of anomaly? The league guidelines state that Single A is primarily for 6-7 year olds, and that any 8 year olds or advanced 5 year olds need to contact the player agent. Many of them are ready for AA; I think they're just trying to build a "super-team" of 8 year olds by red-shirting them.

Ugh, some parents are just the worst. Our league had to establish very strict rules about kids playing in their age group. It had been grade based but so many parents were red shirting that we had to go back to strict age. We also ended the practice of playing up with exceptions only granted by a unanimous board vote upon recommendation of the player development coordinator, and then ONLY for majors teams. Maybe if we were a powerhouse program sending kids to LLWS every year it would be different, but that's not any program around here.

[Anonymous]

LL parent again, responding to the red-shirting question. Properly managed, the assessment process should also prevent deliberate attempts to game the system. Assessed players are given an overall score, and the Powers That Be decide where the cutoffs for each level are. So if players between 750 and 800 are deemed AAA material, then a player who scored an 789 will be placed in the AAA draft pool, even if they were originally registered for t-ball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LL parent again, responding to the red-shirting question. Properly managed, the assessment process should also prevent deliberate attempts to game the system. Assessed players are given an overall score, and the Powers That Be decide where the cutoffs for each level are. So if players between 750 and 800 are deemed AAA material, then a player who scored an 789 will be placed in the AAA draft pool, even if they were originally registered for t-ball.

Thanks. However, how would that work for the "redshirting" Single A team that didn't go through the assessment process? What if most of them belong in AA or beyond?

[Anonymous]

In our league, assessments are based on age rather than level. So all players league age 8+ must be assessed, regardless of the level at which they want to play. (Players younger than 8 who want to play up would also opt in to the assessment process.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In our league, assessments are based on age rather than level. So all players league age 8+ must be assessed, regardless of the level at which they want to play. (Players younger than 8 who want to play up would also opt in to the assessment process.)

I thought ours was like this as well; at least the league web page indicates so. However, I know that this one team plans on having a predominately 8 year old Single A team without going through the assessment. Not sure how or why; I can see a handful of kids, but the whole team??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another question slightly related: Our son did Single A last year (league age 7). Most of his teammates were also league age 7 (1st grade). The coach decided to keep their son back one more year in Single A as an 8 year old, and convinced most of the team to do so as well. Isn't that some type of anomaly? The league guidelines state that Single A is primarily for 6-7 year olds, and that any 8 year olds or advanced 5 year olds need to contact the player agent. Many of them are ready for AA; I think they're just trying to build a "super-team" of 8 year olds by red-shirting them.

I have kids that play with WSLL. I assume each league has their own age guidelines. I have a first grader who is playing single A. As I understand it, in second grade half play A and half play AA. It can go either way.

My oldest just had his first eval (AAA) which I understand is really to even out the teams. I have no idea how he did (and I don’t really care assuming they take him for AAA!). We couldn’t watch. I understand evals start at AA.

[Anonymous]

^^ ps to the person who asked about the super team - I could see wanting to stay at A for hitting practice. AA is tough for hitting when the kids are learning to pitch. In my non expert opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In our league, assessments are based on age rather than level. So all players league age 8+ must be assessed, regardless of the level at which they want to play. (Players younger than 8 who want to play up would also opt in to the assessment process.)

I thought ours was like this as well; at least the league web page indicates so. However, I know that this one team plans on having a predominately 8 year old Single A team without going through the assessment. Not sure how or why; I can see a handful of kids, but the whole team??

Hmm, I wonder if you are talking about the team my DS will be on. He turns 8 this spring, and is maybe in 4% for height. We decided to keep him on the same Single A team this year so as to not be overshadowed by bigger players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In our league, assessments are based on age rather than level. So all players league age 8+ must be assessed, regardless of the level at which they want to play. (Players younger than 8 who want to play up would also opt in to the assessment process.)

I thought ours was like this as well; at least the league web page indicates so. However, I know that this one team plans on having a predominately 8 year old Single A team without going through the assessment. Not sure how or why; I can see a handful of kids, but the whole team??

Hmm, I wonder if you are talking about the team my DS will be on. He turns 8 this spring, and is maybe in 4% for height. We decided to keep him on the same Single A team this year so as to not be overshadowed by bigger players.

NP - that makes sense. I suspect most of the kids on the "super team" don't fit that profile, though.