All Star Tournament Teams participate in a more competitive environment than regular FMYSA recreational league play. These teams begin play after the conclusion of the FMYSA season and generally participate in tournaments in neighboring communities and potentially state and national events. The purpose of this Fact Sheet is to provide more information about the "All Star Tournament Team" process to the parents of all FMYSA participants so you can decide if your child should be considered for the All Star Experience.

The All-Star Season

First and foremost, all-star teams are chosen prior to completion of the regular season and Town Championship Tournament. No all-star activities can interfere with any regular season activities including the tournament.

The tournaments that are normally held in this area are normally:  

Tournaments will normally begin the last week in May and go through most of June .

The head coach will determine in which tournaments the team will participate.

Financial Obligation

The All-Star season is self-funded by the team. Players are responsible for purchasing their own uniforms as well as paying for any tournaments in which the team plays. The cost for the tournament is determined by the hosting association and at the time of this writing are normally $400. Most associations will provide a discount or teams within their own association.

With a 12 player roster playing 5 tournaments and uniforms, a family can expect to pay around $240 to participate. This could be higher if you choose to purchase additional uniform equipment (like a helmet, etc.) and could be lower if the team chooses to participate in fewer tournaments (or fewer tournaments are available).

Coaches may choose to participate in other tournements outside the area which could also affect the cost.

Practices

All-Star practices normally begin the week after the Town Championship game and will continue through the all-star season.

Tips for Getting Through Tournament Season

All-Star games are played in the middle of the summer and can be extremely hot. It is a good idea to bring a canopy with coolers and healthy snacks for between game times so the kids can get out of the heat, rest, and tank up on some carbs. Fresh fruit is a great between-game snack, but not high sugar content snacks which can cause a crash after a rapid energy boost. More information about diet before and during sports competitions can be found at https://www.cwu.edu/sports-nutrition/eating-competition. In addition to eating, it takes about 30 minutes for water you drink to be available to your body. It is a good idea on very hot days to start sipping water 30 - 60 minutes before your game starts so that you are tanked up for the start of the game then continuing to sip throughout competition. If you wait until you get thirsty you are already behind and if you drink too much to start you will have to leave the game to visit the facilities.

All-Star games are a higher level of play than standard recreational baseball. Players, parents and coaches may be more intense that you are used to. It is best not to engage these individuals unless they are causing a danger because most will not back down and things are likely go escalate. The umpire has the option to eject a fan for unruly behavior. In some tournaments, the umpire can eject the head coach for not controlling their players' fans as well as the fan and, if it is deemed necessary, the player. It is best to let the umpires deal with it. If you are a coach, you can call a timeout and call a meeting of the umpires to ask them to deal with the situation. If the fan continues to refuse to comply the tournament director can call the police and have the fan removed from the premises. If you engage that individual you can also be subject to this penalty. Most of the time, it is best to just let the umpires handle it: "Keep Calm and Baseball On".