Question: Who is eligible to participate in the Middle School Program?
Answer: players must be
- League Age 13 or 14
- AND in 6th, 7th or 8th grade
Eligible players may tryout and may be selected for a middle school team.
Question: Which local little leagues are participating in the Middle School Program?
Answer: Assuming there is sufficient participation, each LLLL team will play a schedule consisting of teams representing middle schools located within the boundaries of Central Loudoun Little League (CLLL), Loudoun South Little League (LSLL), and Dulles Little League DLL), in addition to the other teams located within the LLLL boundaries.
Question: Which middle schools are participating in the Middle School Program?
Answer: LLLL teams will represent River Bend MS and Seneca Ridge MS. The league hopes to get enough interest to field a team for Sterling Middle School. Private school, home school and Sterling Middle School students (if there is not numbers to support their own team) not enrolled at River Bend or Seneca Ridge will be asked to try out for one of these two schools. The league will determine which school and will communicate this to those impacted.
Question: When will the tryouts for the Middle School Program be held?
Answer: Tryouts will be held in February. Check back for updates.
Question: What will the roster size for each team be?
Answer: Each team is expected to carry a roster of 12 – 14 players.
Question: When will games be held?
Answer: Games will be held on Thursdays and practices on Mondays for the Middle School program. There may be exceptions to this schedule, but as presently discussed by all the league’s participating, this will be the standard.
Question: What are the time commitments for the Middle School Program?
Answer: It is expected that each middle school team will practice once a week and play one game a week. The tentative plan (pending a final field allocation from the County) is for each team to practice on Monday and play a game on Thursday. The intent of this plan is to try and limit the potential conflicts between the middle school teams and travel teams.
Question: My player is currently on a travel team. Will my player be able to continue playing travel baseball if he/she plays on a middle school team?
Answer: Yes. Representatives from each of the leagues involved in the middle school program are speaking directly with the coaches of the local travel teams to try and ensure cooperation. As noted above, we are limiting the schedule to one game and one practice per week, and we have tried to identify days that do not conflict with most local travel teams’ current schedules. The middle school teams might also provide players with the opportunity to gain additional experience playing a position that might not be their primary position on their travel team.
Question: Will there be an additional cost to participate in the Middle School Program?
Answer: An additional fee may be required from each player who makes his/her respective middle school team in order to cover the cost of higher quality game and practice uniforms.
Question: Will a player that does not make their respective middle school team be required to play in the Juniors/Seniors Division this Spring?
Answer: No, signing up and/or attending a middle school team tryout will not obligate the player to participate in the Juniors/Seniors Division if they do not make their respective middle school team. While LLLL would certainly encourage such participation, it is not something that will be mandatory. Should such a situation arise, any fees collected would be refunded accordingly upon request. Any players that are not selected for a middle school roster that decide to participate in the Juniors/Seniors division will be entered into the Juniors/Seniors division house league draft, and any incremental fees charged would be refunded accordingly.
Question: Who is coaching the middle school teams?
Answer: Coach selection will take place prior to tryouts. If you are interested in coaching a middle school team then please contact the Coach Coordinator.
Question: Will participating on a middle school team make my player eligible for District All Stars?
Answer: Players in the Seniors, Juniors and Middle School leagues will be eligible to be selected to play on Little League District All Star teams appropriate to the Little League age as long as all other Little League eligibility requirements are met (e.g. meeting minimum games played requirements).
Question: How will umpiring be handled?
Answer: Umpires will be provided by the league hosting the the game (i.e. the home team). LLLL uses volunteer umpires, most of whom are veterans with many years experience, and we expect that we will use this volunteer base for our home games. Other leagues may use paid umpires provided by local or regional umpire associations.
Question: Are there any special playing rules I should be aware of?
Answer: While any Local Rules are still being discussed, parents and prospective players can reference the Little League Baseball Rules and Regulations for the Seniors Division as a guideline. There will likely be restrictions governing the types of bats permitted to be used at this level.
Question: Who do I contact if I have additional questions?
Answer: Please notify the Player Agent, if you are interested in trying out for a middle school baseball team. You must be registered to play Juniors level baseball for LLLL to be able to try out for a team.