News Detail

11

Feb, 2023

Evaluation Day 2023 - Saturday, February 11th


Evaluation Day for Kid-Pitch Baseball Divisions (AA, AAA, and Majors) – Saturday, Feb. 11th, 2023

The 2023 Kid-Pitch Baseball Evaluation Day will be held Saturday, February 11th on the turf Whitman MS Soccer Field (located behind Whitman Middle School).  We ask that ALL Baseball players of Little League age 8-11 attend (your 2023 LL Baseball age is your player's age as of 8/31/2023).

Evaluation Day attendance is NOT asked of our LL age 4 to 7-year-olds, A Softball, Juniors Baseball, Juniors Softball, or Seniors Baseball divisions (FYI: Little League divisions, from youngest to oldest, are Tee-Ball, A, AA, AAA, Majors, Juniors, and Seniors).  Further, this year our AA, AAA, and Majors Softball teams are working on their own evaluation plan that is not discussed below, and we will soon send further information to those families.  Lastly, due to Parks shortening our field reservation by a couple of hours this year, we are excusing our LL age 12 players from Evaluation Day (but thankfully, the Majors Baseball coaches know all the players well!)

For those Baseball players who are LL Baseball age 8, the league will provide guidance after Evaluation Day on whether your player is ready for AA (introductory kid-pitch, which is a mix of Kid-Pitch and Coach-Pitch) or should play one more year of A (Coach-Pitch).  Please note that Evaluation Day does include LL Baseball age 8 players who are currently registered for A Baseball (Coach-Pitch).  If you know for certain that your LL Baseball age 8 player (DOB 9/1/2014 – 8/31/2015) is not ready for AA, you can skip Evaluation Day and remain in A for this season.  But please know that each year we do have players register for A, attend Evaluation Day, and get moved to AA.  Similarly, we have players register for AA and get moved to A to play one more year.  Player’s baseball skills and physical growth develop at varying rates from ages 8-10, and we all appreciate that September birthdays are 11 months older than August birthdays, which can make quite a difference.  Also, some players do a lot of extra work on their own in the Summer.  Anyway, typically about 40-45% of our LL age 8 players play AA and 55-60% play A.  If you do not hear from NWSLL within 48 hours or so after Evaluation Day, you should assume that the division you originally registered your player for is confirmed as correct.

We hold our Evaluation Day rain or shine…this is Seattle after all!  That said, February weather is often cool, breezy, and/or damp, so please have your players layer up!  And for players who have batting gloves, remember to bring them to make the hitting portion more enjoyable.

Evaluation Day is an important start to our Kid-Pitch calendar.  Players will be asked to take turns fielding, throwing, and batting.  NWSLL officials and coaches attend the evaluations in order to meet the players and their families, and get to better know each player's skill set.  We understand that many players will be rusty, and new players are inexperienced.  Please let your player know that many players will be a bit nervous, but that's OK.  We'll be there to support and encourage them!

The purpose of player evaluations is to place each player in the appropriate division, as well as create/draft teams that are equally matched in terms of experience and skill. Players who don’t attend are still placed on a team.

This year we have large numbers of LL age 8 and 9 players, many of whom will be attending their first Evaluation Day.  To help break the day up into smaller and more efficient sessions, we have created the following six groups.  Please plan to attend your assigned session.  But if you have a hard conflict (e.g., youth basketball game), your player may attend another session.  We ask that families only do this if truly necessary, since it is easier for us to compare like-age players when we see them together at the same time.

AGE 8 BASEBALL (Group 1) - Players born 6/1/2015 - 8/31/2015
AGE 8 BASEBALL (Group 2) - Players born 12/1/2014 - 5/31/15
AGE 8 BASEBALL (Group 3) - Players born 9/1/2014 - 11/30/2014
AGE 9 BASEBALL (Group 4) - Players born 4/1/2014 - 8/31/2014
AGE 9 BASEBALL (Group 5) - Players born 9/1/2013 - 3/31/2014
AGES 10/11 BASEBALL (Group 6) - Players born 9/1/2011 - 8/31/2013


SATURDAY, FEB 11   –   WHITMAN MIDDLE SCHOOL SOCCER FIELD

 

      (Turf field complex behind the school, 9201 15th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98117)

 

8:00AM

AGE 8 BASEBALL (Group 1) Registration and Warm Up

8:30AM - 9:15AM

AGE 8 BASEBALL (Group 1) Evaluation

9:00AM

AGE 8 BASEBALL (Group 2) Registration and Warm Up

9:30AM - 10:15AM

AGE 8 BASEBALL (Group 2) Evaluation

10:00AM

AGE 8 BASEBALL (Group 3) Registration and Warm Up

10:30AM - 11:15AM

AGE 8 BASEBALL (Group 3) Evaluation

11:00AM

AGE 9 BASEBALL (Group 4) Registration and Warm Up

11:30AM - 12:30PM

AGE 9 BASEBALL (Group 4) Evaluation

12:00PM

AGE 9 BASEBALL (Group 5) Registration and Warm Up

12:30PM - 1:30PM

AGE 9 BASEBALL (Group 5) Evaluation

1:00PM

AGE 10/11 BASEBALL (Group 6) Registration and Warm Up

1:30PM - 2:30PM

AGE 10/11 BASEBALL (Group 6) Evaluation

 

What should players bring?

Players will be running, fielding, throwing, and batting.  If at all possible, they should wear baseball attire, including baseball pants or sweats and athletic shoes or cleats.  Players should also bring a glove and water bottle, and boys should wear a protective cup.

Many players use their own helmets and hit with their own bats.  But the league will have some batting helmets and bats on hand.  There will also be limited extra gloves available to borrow.

What happens if it snows or there is torrential rain and/or high winds?

In typical Seattle Winter weather, we have had no issues getting our Evaluation Day done since we are on a well-draining turf field.  That said, we did have one year when it snowed heavily that week.  So we do have an emergency backup plan…we would try again on Sunday, February 26th at the same location.  Should the weather be inclement on February 11th, pay attention to your email inbox on Friday the 10th for further guidance.

What happens next?

After Evaluation Day is complete, NWSLL officials and coaches will work to determine divisional placements.  Families will be contacted to discuss any divisional transfers that are necessary.  NWSLL coaches will then get together the week or two afterward and place/draft players onto teams.  Everyone gets placed onto a team, even players who cannot attend Evaluation Day.  A primary goal of the overall process is to create balanced teams within each division.

The Majors division should expect to begin practices around Wednesday, March 1st, AAA on Saturday, March 4th, and AA on Saturday, March 11th.  Games usually begin the last weekend in March for Majors and AAA and early April for AA.

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