Anonymous wrote:Coaches nominate kids on their own team for all stars. The youngest age group for all stars is U8. If a kid who is young enough to be playing U6 or U7 is picked, it’s because they were playing up on a U8 team and were good enough to stand out among those kids. Theoretically, if they were good enough to stand out in the regular season, they can hang relatively well in the All-Star games. I think the leagues attempt to put together A, B, C etc teams so they can be properly place in brackets at the tournament, but I’m sure it’s not perfect. Coaches of U6 and U7 teams are not nominating kids for all stars.
There is supposed to be representation from each team at all stars. So if a kid is decent on a really bad team, they’re going to stand out and get picked for all stars. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re really good. Conversely, if a kid happens to be on a team with a lot of good players, it will be tougher to get picked as an all star because there are several standouts.
And yeah, being a coach’s kid definitely increases your chances of being picked. When I think of the kids whose parents coached, all of them have gone to all stars LOL. But of course, plenty of kids whose parents do not coach get picked for all stars.
OP here. There was zero transparency around this on our team. My kid has played with these kids since last year and I just found out from talking to a parent that their son has been on the all-stars team last spring and this fall. I didn't even know there WAS an all stars team!