South Bay PONY Baseball sponsors All-Star teams for participation in various PONY-Sanctioned Tournaments and other Postseason Tournaments based on the following goals and procedures:

Goals

• All-Star teams are sponsored in order to provide more advanced players the ability to further develop their skills through practice with other similarly skilled players and participation in highly competitive tournaments.
• All-Star teams serve a secondary benefit of raising the profile of South Bay PONY in the Southern California youth baseball community, which, among other things, aids the league with its player recruitment efforts.
• South Bay PONY endeavors to field at least one All-Star team for each division where competitive tournament play is offered by our designated PONY region, however teams will only be created to the extent there is a sufficient number of advanced players to be competitive in tournament play, as determined by the applicable Division Commissioner or by a committee of South Bay PONY board.
• While there is no perfect system, South Bay PONY aims to create a fair and transparent selection process for players, managers and coaches.
• The All-Star season is intended to supplement the regular season, and is not intended to diminish the primary importance of the regular season.

Player and Family Commitment

• It is a great honor to represent South Bay PONY and our community as an All-Star, but this honor comes with a substantial time and monetary commitment by all players and families. Prior to or during the player selection process, the applicable Manager or Division Commissioner will ask each prospective player and family to confirm their commitment to the All-Star season based on the following guidelines:
• The All-Star season can extend through mid-July or early-August (depending on the division).  The teams usually will require multiple practices per week as well as attendance at multi-day tournaments. While South Bay PONY appreciates that families have multiple commitments outside of baseball and generally supports players participating in multiple sports and other activities throughout the year, the league expects that each All-Star player and family will generally prioritize All-Stars over other sports and extracurricular activities.
• Any known conflicts with practices or tournaments should be brought to the attention of the Manager and the Division Commissioner during the commitment confirmation process. Approval of any absences will be subject to the sole discretion of the applicable Manager and may be the basis for excluding a player from an All-Star team.  Except for extraordinary circumstances, such as medical or relocation reasons, any unapproved absences from tournaments or a material number of practices will potentially result in forfeiture of eligibility for current and future All-Star participation.
• In addition to the time commitment, additional dues are required to be paid in order to participate in All-Stars, typically between $250-$350 depending on the age division. These dues are primarily used to cover the cost of uniforms and tournament fees.  In the case of financial hardship situations, in consultation with members of the South Bay PONY Board, the President may, but is not required to, grant a player a scholarship covering all or a portion of the dues of such player.  All other costs related to All-Stars, including travel, will be the responsibility of the applicable player families.
• Additionally, parents may be required to serve as volunteers (1) for positions such as team parent or scorekeeper or (2) should South Bay PONY choose to host any tournaments. Tournament hosting by South Bay PONY at our local facilities will require volunteer commitments from all participating All-Stars families and not just by the specific divisional team for which the tournament is benefiting.

For clarity, a commitment confirmation does not guarantee selection to an All-Star team, and is merely a pre-requisite for participation.

Selection Process for Managers and Coaches

• The Manager for each All-Star team will be selected prior to the player selection process by the applicable Division Commissioner in consultation with the President, VP Sr Commissioners, and, for purposes of the Pinto National, Mustang, and Bronco divisions, the regular season managers for each such division. The Manager will be the primary coach and day-to-day decision maker for the applicable All-Star team.
• Coaches for each All-Star team will be selected by the Manager of each team, subject to the approval of the Division Commissioner. Coaches will assist the Manager with coaching and other duties.
• The primary selection criteria for Managers and coaches will be, among other things, baseball knowledge, coaching ability, prior tournament coaching experience, organizational skills, ability to effectively interact with parents, ability to represent South Bay PONY in a professional and respectable manner, and availability. Managers of teams that won their regular season division will not be given any priority in the manager selection process.
• Managers and coaches will generally be selected from the pool of regular season managers and coaches, though there may be exceptions to this rule due to availability or other reasons. Except to the extent otherwise provided for herein, all Managers and coaches will be subject to the same general policies and procedures applicable to regular season managers and coaches.

Selection Process for Players

Players are selected for All-Star teams on an annual basis towards the end of the regular season using the following procedures:

• Shetland National -  The Shetland division will generally field two teams consisting of one main representative team and a second team composed primarily of 5U players.  The purpose of the second team is to afford these younger players tournament experience in anticipation of the 6U year.  Towards the end of the regular season, the Division Commissioner will ask the regular season managers to nominate players for an evaluation.  Following the evaluation, teams will be selected by the applicable All-Star Managers in consultation with the Division Commissioner.
• Pinto American -  The Division Commissioner will ask the regular season managers to nominate players for selection to the All-Star team(s). The Division Commissioner may elect to conduct an evaluation or move directly to team selections.  Team(s) will be selected by the applicable All-Star Manager(s) in consultation with the Division Commissioner.
• Pinto National/Mustang/Bronco -  The Division Commissioner will ask the regular season managers to nominate players for selection to the All-Star team(s). The Division Commissioner may elect to conduct an evaluation or move directly to team selections.  Following the evaluation, if any, the Division Commissioner shall convene a meeting of the regular season managers to vote on player selections.  Managers may nominate one of their coaches to attend the meeting in the event they are unable, but in no instance will any teams be afforded more than one representative or vote.  Voting will be conducted by secret ballot in the following manner:
• Voting will begin with Round 1 where coaches will submit their ballot of 10 players.
• Players that are unanimously selected on all ballots are on the team.  If 10 players are unanimously selected in Round 1, then the voting ends.
• If less than 10 players are unanimously voted, then the selected players are removed from the candidate pool and a new round of voting begins, where once again, the unanimously selected players are added to the team roster.
• This process will continue until 10 players are selected or no more unanimous candidates can be elected, whichever occurs earlier, following which, the Manager is allowed to select additional players in order to fill the team roster.
• In order to be a more informed voter, each regular season manager shall take notice of potential All-Star candidates from opposing teams throughout the season. If more than one All-Star team is fielded, a similar process will be followed for each additional team.
• General Provisions -  The selection process differs amongst the divisions as a result of the variance in division size and skill level.  The number of players on each All-Star team will be determined at the discretion of the Manager, with the expectation that most teams will consist of 12-13 players.  A player's selection for an All-Star team in a previous year is no guarantee of selection in future years.  All player selection decisions are final and non-appealable.

Tournament Selection and Playing Time

• All-Star teams will generally play in at least 1-2 preparatory tournaments. At least one team for each division, to the extent a team is fielded for such division, will also participate in the applicable PONY sanctioned tournaments, to the extent a PONY West Region tournament is available for such division.  Please note that the PONY West Region currently does not sanction a Pinto tournament using the type of pitching machine used by South Bay PONY for the Pinto American division.
• Practice time with advanced level players is the greatest development benefit of participating in All-Stars. While such development is a primary goal of the All-Star season, South Bay PONY aspires to compete at a high level in all tournaments.  As a result, while Managers are encouraged to provide each player with the opportunity to participate in games, a minimum amount of playing time in every game cannot be guaranteed and position rotation is often times infrequent.

All references herein to the President, VP Sr Commissioners, and Division Commissioner shall mean the current occupant of such role, or its equivalent, on the South Bay PONY Board.