Kennedy is proud to offer players the opportunity to represent our league in All-Star teams. Each year we hold try-outs between May 15th and June 1st. Try-out times will be posted on the Kennedy Little League website and communicated to all registered players.
To play as an All-Star player, there are Little League expectations that need to be provided to the league verifying the player's age and residency. Kennedy is required to adhere to strict policies regarding player residency for All-Stars in accordance with Little League International.
Eligibility
Players are eligible for All-Star teams corresponding to their age. Please see the Little League age chart to determine your player's baseball team age: https://www.littleleague.org/university/articles/the-league-age-determination-date-age-charts-decides-a-players-division/
Residency
The Little League organization requires the following documentation, which is the sole responsibility of the parents to obtain and provide to the Kennedy All-Star Coordinator. You must live within Kennedy’s district boundaries including Madison, Cottage Grove, McFarland, Deerfield, Sun Prairie, Marshall, Stoughton and Dunkirk. Double check you are within our boundaries here: League Finder
1. School documentation of enrollment prior to Oct. 1st of that school year. Report cards will not be acceptable as they are issued after the required date. The school enrollment form is required in order to try out. Please do not change the dates as this must be backdated before Oct 1, 2024, then signed by a school admin. If your child played on a Kennedy All-Star team last year, we don't need a new form unless they have changed schools even within the district (e.g. - Granite Ridge to Glacial Drumlin, Elvehjem to Waubesa, etc). Please confirm with the All-Star Coordinator before the try-out date if you are unsure. KennedySchoolForm2025
2. Residency verification. Three pieces of correspondence that proves your residence. Black out all personal sensitive information (PHI). We need to see who it came from, your name and your address. Bills dated between Feb. 1, 2024 to Feb. 1, 2025.
Group 1 - Printed photo copy of driver's license
Group 2 - Local municipal records such as water bill or homeowner/tenant records
Group 3 - Utility bill (i.e. - gas, electric, phone, internet, cable)
3. Age verification. Copy of the player’s birth certificate. Kennedy will facilitate a "birth annotation" form at try-outs for 8U or after teams are announced for all other teams if not already on file. No original birth certificates will be retained by Kennedy. The birth annotation will be retained by Kennedy throughout your child's continued enrollment in Kennedy Little League.
For additional information on the required documentation, see the Little League® Residency and School Attendance Eligibility Checklist
4. The Kennedy All-Star Coordinator will arrange for all guardians to sign a Medical Waiver and Tournament Player Verification prior to the first tournament.
Playing time
All-Star teams are competitive play. The coach's priority is to win games over equal playing time. There is no minimum expectation of playing time set for the team. Players and parents are advised to have constructive conversations with the coaches to identify areas of improvement to drive increased playing time. Parents can also work with their child starting now to improve their skills, which will in turn increase game play.
Try-out Selection Process
The selection process for try-outs is based on a scored evaluation from 0-5 for each category: pitching, fielding (ground ball & pop fly), hitting, effort and overall rank. League coaches' and board members' scores represent a combined 35% and the all-star head coach's score represents the other 50%. After compiling the scores, the top 10 players ranked will be selected onto the team. The All-Star head coach selects the final 2 players to complete the team roster of 12. An email will be sent approximately three days from try-out date.
If the head coach feels that a player in the top 10 is missing too much time based on their listed availability, is out of our league boundaries, has attendance concerns to league games, playing ability concerns, or has code of conduct concerns, the coach can raise those issues to Kennedy's Players Agent and the League President for approval to skip that player selection among the top 10 voted players. This will result in the 11th ranked player making the team. If there are two players with a listed concern, the 12th ranked player will make the team, and so on down the line. The final roster must consist of 10 players making the team based on the evaluation ranking process.
If a player is not able to attend try-outs, they may remain on the ballot to determine their overall rank in the age group, but they are not eligible for a position among the “top 10” voted players. The head coach may still select that player with the coach's selection, as long as a coach's selection remains. An instance where a coach's selection does not remain is if the coaches’ kids are not in the top 10 voted positions, the coach's selections are automatically applied to coaches’ players. The Players Agent and League President review the selection of a non-attended try-out player, referencing the rank of the player through the ranking process as needed, and will either approve or deny the player selection.
In any event where the Players Agent and League President have a split decision, the VP of Operations will cast the deciding vote. If due to unavailability or conflict of interest with one of the said positions noted, the VP of Baseball will fill-in, followed by the VP of Technology as the deciding vote.
Thank you,
Kennedy Little League Board