ESSA Player Draft Rules - 2025

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 7 rating categories (A to G, from top to bottom): the A and G categories have 7 players each, the B, C, E and F categories have 14 players each; category D has all the remaining players. Currently that means with 94 registered players, there will be 24 players in category D, and each team will pick 3, with 3 teams picking 4; teams with players who will miss part of the season should probably pick up an extra.

  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, Fielding Rating, Throwing Rating, Running Rating, reverse Alphabetical by Name.
  Next year (2026) the same sorting order scheme will be used, with regular Alphabetical by Name (which could make a difference when identically rated players fall on a category boundary).

• Captains will pick one player each from categories A and G, two each from categories B, C, E and F, and three each from category D for a total of 13.

  Captains who volunteer will then pick another player from category D for a total of 14 players. If there aren't enough volunteers to select all the player(s) left, a random draw will determine which Captain(s) must select the remaining player(s), and in what order.

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

• The Captain is included in the maximum allowed from each rating category.

• Captains are placed on their team in their rating category before the draft begins.

• 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 7, then from team 7 back to team 1, then team 1 to team 7, then team 7 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. Couples/partners will be drafted separately. No accomodations will be made for "friends" or requests to play on a specific team.

• Female players should be distributed as evenly as possible after the draft to reduce player griping.

• 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.

• 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 members. The invitation comes from the Association Commissioner after consulting with the Board of Directors.

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