Majors (League Ages 10-12) and Minors (Ages *8-10)

Overview: As with all Little League programs, the purpose of the Majors/Minor program is to develop player skills, maturity, knowledge of the game and continue to learn how to be part of a team.  This division for players League Age 8*-12 and is a more competitive program (vs. T-Ball and Instructional Coach Pitch) that divides the players across two divisions (and potentially sub-divisions within those two divisions) based on player age, ability and enrollment.  The focus for both divisions is learning proper baseball fundamentals through drills, practices, repetition, hard work and commitment. 

The Major and Minor League Divisions play on the Little League regulation “46/60” field (46 foot pitching distance to home plate and 60 foot base paths). Player maturity, abilities, skill levels and interests are different across this broad age group and player evaluations and parental selection of divisions based on your player’s ability level and experience will play an important role in placing your player in the right division where they can be safe, learn and compete.   If registrations permit, AGALL may choose to create sub-divisions within the Minors and/or Majors (i.e. Minors A / Minors B) to facilitate smaller team sizes and equitable participation, such as grouping league age 8-9 year old players in a sub-division, and more advanced league age 9 and 10 year old players in a sub-division.

• The Minors Program is for players League Age *8 (see “Playing Up” below) to 10 years old and features a more relaxed level of play with coaches supporting player development in a less competitive atmosphere.  Minimum playing time objectives in the Minors is three defensive innings with two at-bats per game.  The Minors division utilizes a continuous batting order.  *League Age 8 players – if approved to play up - are restricted to playing in the Minors program only.  League age 11-year-old players may also request to play in the minors division if they are new to the sport and both the parent and league feel they are not able to safely participate in the Majors Division.  Particularly in the first half of the season, this division may continue to utilize coach-pitch play to facilitate player development and game play. The AGALL Board must approve all requests for 11-year-old players to play in the Minors Division due to the potential age disparity of the players.
• The Majors Program is intended to develop advanced baseball skills, and while enjoyment of the game is always heavily promoted, the competitive aspect of the sport increases significantly in this Division.  The primary age group for this division is league age 10-12 years old.  Minimum playing time objectives in the Majors are two defensive innings with one at-bat.  The Majors division utilizes a traditional 9-player batting order with player substitutions.  Little League International mandates that all League Age 12 players must play in the Majors program unless both the parent and league agree to opt-out and play in Minors program. The AGALL Board must approve requests for league age 12-year-old players to play down in the minors due to the potential age disparity of the players in that division.

PLAYER EVALUATIONS: All players who wish to try out for the Majors Division are required to attend player evaluations to be eligible to be drafted unless an alternate plan is approved by the Board due to extenuating circumstances.  Players are evaluated for the purpose of allocating players to teams by means of a draft conducted by the Division Managers.  The Majors have their player evaluations/tryouts first.  The Major’s draft is held and players are selected to fill open positions on team rosters by the assigned Majors Division managers.  Majors teams will be comprised of 12 or 13 players depending on registration.

All players in the Minors division that do not attend any Majors tryouts are requested to attend a skills evaluation. The Minors hold a draft after the Majors each year for the players opting to play in the Minors division or players not selected by a Majors team.  Minors teams will be comprised of approximately ten to thirteen players. After player evaluations, drafts and selection, team rosters will be sent to Managers by the league with instructions to being contacting their team and forming the first practice. 

PLAYING UP: In the event a parent requests a league age 8 player to play in the Minors Division, or a league age 9 year-old player to play in the Majors Division, AGALL will hold evaluations to determine if the player possesses the baseball skills and maturity required to ‘play up’ in the next division.

• PLEASE NOTE – Players league age 9, and potentially some 10 year olds depending on registration volumes, who are attempting to play up in the majors division are not guaranteed a roster position just because your player was registered and evaluated with the majors division.  Players attempting to play up must ultimately be drafted to a majors division team.  League age 12 and 11 year old players will be drafted first, followed by league age 10 year olds.  If roster positions remain, then younger age players who are attempting to play up will be considered for draft.  Undrafted players in the majors division who are league age 9-10 will be assigned and drafted to the minors division.

Minimum Division requirements include:

• At least one (1) year of experience in the Instructional Coach Pitch Division (for 8 year old players requesting to play in the Minors), or one year of Coach Pitch plus one year of “Player Pitch” / Minors for 9 or 10 year olds requesting to play in the Majors.  This experience must be with Avon Grove Little League or an equivalent program from another little league as determined by the Player’s Agent.
• Player must demonstrate the ability to throw with relative accurately, catch a thrown baseball and field a baseball consistent with the division to which they are applying.
• Player must demonstrate the ability to consistently hit overhand pitched baseballs from 46 feet.
• Player must demonstrate the ability to throw from the pitcher’s mound (46’) with accuracy consistent with the age group of the division to which they are applying.
• Player must demonstrate an understanding the game and the maturity to take instruction from coaches at the level appropriate for division in which they are applying and participate as a teammate in that age group.

Provisions to playing up include:

• Play-up approvals generally will be infrequent and limited to a small number of players each year.
• Eligibility to play up to the next division will also depend on the overall registration volume at the Minors/Majors Level to ensure adequate field space and playing time for all eligible league players.
• The final decision to allow a player to "play up" is at the sole discretion of the AGALL Board of Directors.

UNIFORMS: AGALL will provide jersey shirts, belts and hats.  Parents can expect to purchase a baseball glove, a USA certified baseball bat, baseball pants and plastic/rubber baseball cleats. 

BATS: Bats must be approved for Little League play.  Access the approved bat list on the Little League International web page. Bats must include an original & legible USA Bat stamp for play in the Minors and Majors division.  Aftermarket stickers will not be accepted.

What is Expected from Players?

• Players will learn more advanced concepts related to pitching, hitting, throwing and fielding.
• Players learn more advanced aspects of hitting, including pitch selection, bunting, sacrifices and using the whole body properly throughout the swing.
• Players will learn defensive strategies to adjust to various in-game scenarios. 
• Players will learn to mentally prepare themselves for what to do if the ball when it is hit to them depending on the scenario.  
• Players will learn signals and follow coaching instructions during game play.  
• Players will learn how to advance the base runner by putting the ball in play on the left or right side of the field. 
• Players will learn by practicing various hitting drills, throwing and ball handling drills, fielding ground balls and making plays to various bases, and pop-ups with cut-offs.  
• Players will develop a greater awareness of fielding positions and defensive strategies. They will learn how to block and knock down harder hit balls safely.
• Players will learn how to overcome the fear of the ball during pitching, hitting and fielding. 
• Players will learn positive mindsets and learn to overcome the anxiety of making errors.
• Players will learn to catch fly balls of greater depth and in gaps, as well as making accurate throws to cutoffs.

What is Expected from Volunteers and Parent Coaches?

• Parents need to complete a background check by mid-March.  Please check the Volunteer Page and utilize the Volunteer Form.  There is no cost for the background check. Parents on the field of play working with children, must have a background check.
• Parents Volunteers should participate in the League Safety Meeting and Coach preparation sessions.  Please check the League Calendar.
• Parent Managers and Coaches should learn how to run a good practice with various drill stations. 
• Parent Managers and Coaches will be given a roster of players with contact information.  
• All player information is confidential and not to be given out to anyone or used for any other purpose than to afford team practices and games.

GAME RULES: The Official Little League Rule Book will be used for the Avon Grove LL programs, unless superseded by one of the following special Avon Grove League Rules:

• Pitching Counts per game are tracked by Managers and Coaches and will be recorded online or forwarded to the Division Directors as instructed.
• AGALL follows the strict guidelines of the number of pitches thrown and the number of innings played by catchers in accordance with Little League rules.

PLAYOFFS: 

 At the completion of the Major and Minor Program seasons, a post-season playoff will be held for each program.  Majors teams will not play Minors teams.  The winning team in each Division will receive a trophy.

District Tournaments
In addition to AGALL Major and Minor Playoffs, Divisional playoff teams will be selected to represent Avon Grove in Little League district tournaments played against teams from other leagues within our district.

Players will be invited to participate in the tournament program after a nomination and selection process managed by the league.  If a player does not want to participate in tournament play, please inform your Manager by mid-season.  If after that, a player can pull their name from the roster and the next player in rank order will be invited to the team.

GAME RESULTS: Game scores and division standings are tracked. Managers and Directors report game results to the Division Director or as otherwise instructed.   

NUMBER OF GAMES: There will be approximately 10-12 regular season games, depending on the number of teams.  Games are played two to three times per week and parents/players can expect at least one practice per week in the Majors and Minors program. Practices will start in mid-March as soon as weather permits and regular season games will end in June when playoffs are held. Weekday games start at 6:00PM and various times on Saturday's.  Arrival time is usually about one hour before game time for warm-ups & field preparation.

COACHING: If you are interested in Managing or Coaching a team, please indicate as such when you register your player. AGALL strongly recommends attending coaching and umpiring clinics and informational sessions to learn Division-specific rules and how to hold effective practices.  Coaching at this age level requires patience, clear communications, establishing rules and good discipline.  Additional information is available on the Positive Coaching Alliance website: (https://positivecoach.org/)