The following draft / team formation process applies to A, AA, AAA, and Majors. It may additionally be applied to Intermediate and/or Senior Divisions, depending on the number of registrants.
Tee Ball and Coach Pitch team formation is completed through "player distribution" to the coaches based on parental requests, school affiliations, schedule considerations, or random selection.
All KCLL registered players WILL be drafted and assigned to a team. No player will be left "undrafted" once the team formation process concludes.
DEFINITIONS:
DRAFT ORDER is determined through random selection. Draft will be conducted using the "snake" selection method where the team drafting last in Round 1 will draft first in Round 2, with the draft order reversing back to the top.
PROTECTED PLAYERS are all named coaches' children (up to three named coaches TOTAL per team). Protected players are NOT obliged to stay with the same team. Coaches MUST identify/verify all protected players prior to the Player Assessment.
DRAFT ROUND is defined by all teams eligible for selection completing one player pick.
DRAFT ROUND COUNT is the number of teams participating in the draft for a particular division.
BUNDLED PLAYERS refers to a set of players that must be selected together. Examples include siblings or close relatives as well as hardship concerns (e.g., verified carpool demands). The verification process will be more rigorous than in past years.
ASSESSMENT ORDER is the ranked order of all players as a result of the Player Assessment Day. Any Protected Player NOT participating in the Player Assessment shall be given a ranking of "5" and ranked at the top of the assessment listing. Any non-Protected Player NOT participating in the Player Assessment will be given a ranking of "NO GRADE" and added to the bottom of the assessment listing. Prior to the beginning of the draft, coaches will review all the players that were not assessed and may agree on an assessment listing score for players with "known skills."
PROCESS:
The draft process is conducted first by the Majors Division, then by the AAA Division, then by the AA Division, then by the A Division. When a draft is deemed necessary, the Intermediate Division and Senior Division drafts will be conducted on a different day from the Majors/AAA/AA/A draft days.
Registrants MAY be "drafted up" from A to AA, from AA to AAA, or from AAA to Majors, if a coach selects a player that is currently registered in a lower division. When a player is "drafted up," parental approval for the division change must be obtained by the coach within 24 hours of the draft.
Some registrants MIGHT NOT be drafted within the division where they are registered. If this occurs, an email will be sent to the parents upon completion of the draft to indicates the player will be automatically registered in the next lower division and drafted on the next day. All players registered for the A Division on the day of the A Draft will be drafted.
All players registered for the Intermediate Division or Senior Division will be drafted on the respective draft day.
All registered players WILL be drafted and assigned to a team. No player will be left "undrafted" once the team formation process concludes.
Before the draft, all Protected Players will be identified and confirmed by the coaches. Any Bundled Players that are connected to a Protected Player will be considered a Protected Player, pending coach approvals. Each Protected Player will be assigned to specific "draft round" corresponding to the Assessment Order.
Before the draft, any player that must be selected during the draft must be identified and disclosed to the coaches (e.g., 12-year-olds must be drafted into Majors unless there are extenuating circumstances).
When a team's turn to draft occurs, if that team has a Protected Player designated for that round, then that player will be automatically drafted by the team. If a team declines the player in that round, then that player will lose his or her Protected Player status.
At the end of a draft round, the draft order will be exactly reversed for the next round. In this way, the last team to draft in each round will immediately draft again as the first team to draft in the next round.
Any team may pass in any round and not select a player.
Rounds will continue until all players are selected and/or all teams have reached the designated number of players for that year. NOTE: Team sizes are typically 10-12 players.
Upon completion of the draft, a roster review will be conducted to ensure general team parity. While it is recognized that team parity is NOT always achieved or even achievable, team parity is a priority within KCLL. If adjustments are identified as necessary, the coaches will work together to achieve amenable roster changes prior to the end of the draft.
Once the draft is completed, registrants will be assigned to the teams within the website. Coaches will contact their rosters with 48 hours of the completion of the of the draft. Any player "drafted up" must be confirmed within 24 hours. Any player not drafted for the division within which they registered will be notified by email and automatically re-registered for the next division down (this applies for Majors-to-AAA, for AAA-to-AA, and for AA-to-A).
While draft results will be considered final upon completion of the draft, it is recognized that some "post draft" adjustments may be necessary due to a variety of circumstances. Any adjustment that may create contention will require a Board vote for approval.