How are teams formed?
In general, all softball teams and baseball teams in T-ball, Junior Minors and Minors divisions are built based on requests to play with former teammates and/or friends, and players are generally grouped together with kids from the same schools. However, while every attempt is made to honor such requests, not all can be met if the requested team is full.

In the more competitive AAA, Majors, Juniors and Seniors baseball divisions, players try out and are drafted, with the goal to balance the teams by ability. For this reason, we cannot honor requests for specific team assignment.

Which divisions have tryouts?
The Baseball Majors, Juniors and Seniors divisions have tryouts, which are typically conducted each year on Super Bowl Sunday (Majors) and late February (Juniors and Seniors) at Pier 40. Players are evaluated by GVLL coaches on hitting and fielding skills, as well as pitching or catching skills if they so choose.

I understand there is a draft for the baseball AAA and Majors divisions. How does that work?
After the Majors tryouts are completed, there is a draft process to distribute the players across the teams. The Majors Draft is led by the EVP Baseball, the President of GVLL and the Majors Coordinators. The Manager and Head Coach of each team select players in a round-robin fashion, with an emphasis on developing balanced teams and an equitable distribution of pitchers and catchers. The Managers use results from the tryouts, Manager evaluations from previous seasons, as well as their own prior knowledge of players, to help make their selections.

All players who are 12 years old and who try out for Majors must be drafted to Majors.

Any players age 11 and under who tried out for Majors and were not drafted to a team are automatically placed on a Minors team. These players’ parents will be contacted after the draft by a Majors or Minors coordinator.

How do I know what team my child is on?
Your child’s Manager will contact you before the start of the season to let you know your child’s team.  For non-competitive divisions, team assignments are set by early to mid-March.  For baseball Majors and Upper Division, you will learn your child’s assignment within about 7 to 10 days after tryouts. Once teams are set, you can also log onto your team webpage to see your child’s team roster.

Can players play "up"?
We generally do not support requests to “play up” into rec divisions for which players do not meet the age requirement. The League believes that kids should play in divisions within their age group. If you believe that your child is an exception, you should contact the League prior to the start of the season. We make no guarantees that all requests will be granted, but at the end of Registration will be able to determine if there are available spots. We will not disallow an appropriately aged player to register because a younger player has taken the last spot.

What is the “call-up” process?
Call-ups occur when there are too few players on any given weekend to field a Majors team due to illness, injury or travel tournaments. Majors managers who are short players and who need call-ups to fill their rosters will contact the Minors coordinator for recommendations of qualified players. If your child is chosen as a call-up, you will be contacted by that team’s manager in the days prior to the game in which he or she would play.

My child was part of the Majors division tryout but did not get drafted into Majors. Can I appeal?
We believe our tryout process is conducted fairly, and while we understand that some players and parents might be disappointed with the outcome, we do not allow appeals. Our view is that players will have a positive experience no matter what division they play in as long as they start the season ready to play hard, have fun and learn the game of baseball.

My child played in Spring Majors Baseball and Majors Summer Ball as a 12-year-old. But when I went to register him for Fall Ball, I see that even though he is still 12, the age cutoff means he will play as a 13-year-old with players up to four years older than he is. Why is that?
GVLL Baseball Fall Ball offers players age 8-12 a chance to prepare for the upcoming Spring season, when there are tryouts and drafts in the Majors division and tryouts in the Upper division. In your case, your 12-year-old will be Little League of America age 13 once spring arrives and will play in the Juniors division rather than the Majors division. Because the playing field is bigger in the Juniors division (bases are 90 feet apart rather than 60 feet and the mound is 60 feet from home plate rather than 45 feet), we feel it makes sense to start kids early so they feel comfortable playing on it once tryouts for Spring take place. Fewer players register for Fall Ball, so we combine our Juniors and Seniors divisions, meaning 13- and 14-year-olds play with 15-and 16-year-olds. (In the Spring season, each division is separate.) It's a great chance for your child to gain some experience competing with older players, just as it was for younger kids to play with yours when he was in the Majors division this past spring.