Etobicoke 55+ Slo-Pitch League Player Draft Rules

Player Draft Rules

Every spring there is a player draft by the team captains to select the teams.

Here the rules and principles that are used in that process.

• There are 8 rating categories (A-H), with the A and H categories having 8 players, and all the rest 16 players. Teams will pick one player each from categories A and H, two from each category B-G for a total of 14. It is intended that the categories have a range of 2 or 3 points if possible.

  The ratings are sorted by the following keys, in order: Total Rating, Hitting Rating, Running Rating, Fielding Rating, Throwing Rating, Alphabetical by Name.
  Next year the same sorting order scheme will be used, with the Alphabetical by Name reversed (which could make a difference when identically rated players fall on a category boundary).

• Each Captain will select the same number of players from each rating category.

• Captains are placed on their team in their rating category before the draft begins. In the case of co-Captains, both co-Captains are placed without penalty in a future round of the draft.

• The Captain(s) is/are included in the maximum allowed from each rating category.

• New Captains get to pick first (using a random draw if more than one); the other Captains choose their draft order randomly.

• Draft rounds go from team 1 to 8, then from team 8 back to team 1, then team 1 to team 8, then team 8 to team 1, etc., until all players have been drafted. If a team is complete (currently 14 players), that team is skipped.

• Captains may select any player from any rating category in any round until they have reached their quota for that rating category.

• There are no protected players.

• Husbands/wives/partners are not guaranteed to play on the same team; efforts will be made to accomodate requests to play together, which may involve player trades after the draft.

• Female players should be distributed as evenly as possible after the draft; to this end, each team will draft a female player in the second round.

• At the end of the draft, there will be an opportunity to trade one player for another in the same rating category if desired provided another Captain also wishes to trade.

• Captains should not pick two sponsor players.

• Adjustments / trades may be made after the draft by the Fairness Committee if necessary. Teams will be also be reviewed after the first round-robin has been completed.

• The draft meeting is open only to team captains and invited Executive members. The invitation comes from the League Commissioner after consulting with the Executive.

Draft Preparation

• player list by rating category
  • positions played are usually listed in order of preference / ability
  • rover (R) could mean either a very good or pretty weak outfielder
  • RF (right field) generally means a very weak outfielder
• player list by position
• Team Selection Form (Excel format) to track players selected by category
• fielding charts to track players selected by position:
  

• a sticky note for each player, organized by rating category
• large team boards to track selected players by rating category