Usually around this time of the year local Little League fields are filled with young baseball and softball players competing in All-Star tournaments with dreams of Williamsport off in the distance.
But that hasn’t been the case this year in the Bradford Regional Little League. In lieu of the traditional All-Star Tournament, the BRLL has instead been holding internal tournaments at the various levels, with a championship banner awaiting the winners of major baseball and softball, minor baseball and softball, and machine pitch baseball and softball.
Matt Woodhouse is involved with public relations for Bradford Regional Little League, and sees this break from the norm as a success.
“It gives the kids something to shoot for,” he said. “They get their name on a banner, hang it at their home field, and they also get bragging rights.
According to Woodhouse, there were a number of reasons why the decision was made to not hold an All-Star tournament in 2018, not the least of which was the financial cost.
“Some of it was the overall cost, with how much it was going to be to do All Stars,” Woodhouse said. “It usually takes about $3000 to get a team together, so we wanted to save a little money first. And then almost every year we get thumped pretty hard; we don’t make it very far. We decided to take a year off or so, redevelop the programs, and get some kids motivated to play baseball.”
Some of that competitive imbalance was likely due to dwindling numbers and a seeming lack of interest from certain players and parents in competing in All-Stars.
“Last year we only had about 10 kids show up for All Star tryouts, so there really wasn’t much of an interest,” Woodhouse said. “We also lose a lot of kids to travel ball leagues.”
The BRLL isn’t alone in its decision: Woodhouse noted that leagues in the DuBois area have also moved away from All-Star tournaments despite the strong baseball and softball tradition in that area.
While league officials received some pushback on their decision, Woodhouse noted that the reception was generally positive.
“We had a few parents and coaches who would’ve rather had All Stars, but in the end it was generally favored,” he said.
Most important of all, though, was making sure that the players were still able to have fun out on the diamond regardless of the end result. In that regard, Woodhouse has seen the internal format as a success.
“They seem to enjoy the format,” he said. “We waited about midway through the season, and we told them we were playing for a championship. Once we brought that up it gave them a spark. It gives them something to shoot for. Before (in All-Stars) everybody got nothing.
“When we were kids you’d have a trophy that went in your field’s concession stand. Some years you’d have it and some years you wouldn’t. But now they have something to play for.”
While the BRLL tournaments are wrapping up this weekend, there will still be more Little League action to come as we move into the dog days of summer. The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will be hosting All-Star Tournaments starting in late July at the 9 and 10 year-old level, an opportunity Woodhouse sees as bringing a necessary infusion of resources to improve the current state of the BRLL.
For now, Woodhouse believes having internal tournaments could serve as the standby, though he hasn’t ruled out returning to the All-Star format down the road.
“We’ve talked about possibly continuing with this,” he said. “I think eventually we’ll be getting back to the All Star tournaments. It’s tough with the weather; with the late start to the season it’s hard to get games in. But this seemed like a good thing this year. The kids were excited to play for something.”
