Requests to play in a non Age Based Division

Woodstock Little League (WLL) offers distinct divisions for our players based on their League Age:

Minor League     7 -    8 years old

Majors                  9 -  11 years old

Intermediate       11 -  13 years old

Junior League     13 -  14 years old

Senior League     15 -  18 years old

Age and birth date cut-offs for these age divisions are determined by Little League International and not the WLL.  WLL along with all other Little League organizations are required and expected to follow these guidelines. LLI does not allow for the movement of 10 year olds into the Intermediate Division.

WLL recognizes in some instances, the playing skills of an individual player may be of the caliber that the player would be best served by “moving up” or “moving down” to a different league.  WLL has the following policy, process and guidelines to address these requests and to determine a decision that is in the best interest of the player and the League.

Policy:

Woodstock Little League will consider requests from players / parents to “move up” to the next higher division or to “move down” to next lower division.  Requests are on a case-by-case basis.  All decisions of the WLL Board of Directors and Little League are final.  One request per player per year may be considered.  Granting of the requests will be considered using the following process.

Process:         

The request must be made by the player’s parent(s) to the Player Agent at the time of player registration.  The VP of the upper league will review the request with the VP of the lower league and the Manager of the player from the prior year (if available).  The request must be preliminarily approved by the Parent, by the VP of the upper league, by the VP of the lower league, and the prior year Manager (if available).  If the request is not approved by any of those individuals, the request is denied and no further consideration is given.  If the request is approved by each of those individuals, then the player must participate in a mandatory evaluation to take place after the league registration period is completed. The request is then forwarded to the entire WLL Board of Directors for final approval.  The Board of Directors will review the request. A majority vote by the Board of Directors is required to complete the request by the player to move.  In some cases Little League must also approve a waiver request.

Note that WLL will not consider requests to move because of scheduling, siblings playing in a different league, desire to play with friends, potential coaching relationships, or any other reason other than the skill level of the player, and the best interests of the player and the league.

Players under 7

WLL will allow players who have attained the age of 6, by May 1, to be eligible to participate. Only those with previous baseball experience (Tee Ball or Bittie Ball) will be considered. The following criteria must be met;

• A player must have attainted the age of 6 by May 1
• The Parent must fill out the Move Up Request
• The player must have at least one season of experience playing organized youth baseball
• The player must attend a mandatory try-out. The player must be able to catch line drives and fly balls, field ground balls, throw the ball, and have knowledge of hitting.
• The person conducting the tryout must approve the request
• The Rookie League VP must approve the request
• The Board of Directors must approve the request