The NOLL/SOLL Board has received a proposal to realign the player divisions for the upcoming Spring 2017 season and will be voting on it at the November Board Meeting. The proposal comprises a significant change, and the Board is asking our community to review the draft proposal and provide feedback as we fine tune and eventually vote on the proposal. Please review the proposal and respond to this survey. If you feel strongly in either direction about the proposal, we are holding a public meeting on Wednesday, September 28th 7pm at Sports Basement community room to allow community input and answer questions in person.
For details: Division Realignment Proposal Link (with graph)
INTRODUCTION
The NOLL/SOLL mission is to provide a positive experience for local kids through the sport of baseball. The current division alignment allows for kids to play five years on the same size diamond (46/60) with the same ruleset and age boundaries which limited, for example, the majority 12s to the Majors division. At lower divisions, advanced players naturally play up through our draft process but at Majors games can be dominated by a small number of overpowering 12yo pitchers which devalues defense and other baseball fundamentals on the smaller diamond. In 2013, Little League introduced the Intermediate division for 11-13s which plays at a distance of 50/70 and introduces the full baseball ruleset (leads/steals/pickoffs/balks). Initially, NOLL/SOLL limited Intermediates to 13s, then in 2016 allowed 11-12s to request to be considered in the Intermediate draft.
PROPOSAL
Allow every age group to be drafted into multiple divisions (e.g. 10s can be drafted into Majors, AAA or AA) based on skill and experience to provide a better experience for all players. Moving kids along a gradual increase in both size of diamond and ruleset should be beneficial to their development as baseball players the experience they have with NOLL/SOLL. Specifically the proposal is that NOLL/SOLL immediately:
– Adopt a 42/60 sized diamond for AA
– Remove the upper bound on 10s, 12s and 13s. Specifically, 10s can be drafted into Majors, 12s into Intermediates, and 13s into Juniors without a player request to play up
ANTICIPATED EFFECTS
If these changes are adopted, it is expected that approximately 30% of 10s would be drafted into Majors, 10% of 11s and 60% of 12s into Intermediates and 50% of 13s into Juniors. Pushing advanced players up should allow for a more balanced and competitive regular season at both the Majors and Intermediate divisions. Starting with a smaller diamond at AA and then gradually increasing both field size and ruleset from AA through Juniors should give more kids a better regular season baseball experience while at the same time challenging advanced players earlier.
These changes would affect postseason play. NOLL/SOLL would not field a 12yo All Star team as the advanced 12s would be in Intermediate and ineligible for the Majors tournament. 12s in Intermediate would be eligible for Intermediate All Stars and NOLL/SOLL will provide an opportunity for a team of 12s to play in a local tournament. NOLL/SOLL would continue to participate in TOC at all divisions, but our level of play will be affected as our teams will likely be younger relative to other local leagues.
