Travel Team Selection

Travel Team Selection Process

Roseville typically has enough kids try out to field 2-3 teams of 11-12 players at each age level:

• Black team - usually plays at the higher (AAA or AA) travel level in MYAS
• Silver team - usually plays at the lower (AA or A) level in MYAS
• Red team - usually plays at the lowest level (A) in MYAS

Team selection is based on the following criteria:

• Coach evaluation
• Tryout evaluation
• Combined player evaluation score
• Coach and player selection

Details for each criteria are outlined below.

Coach Evaluation

All players who played travel baseball during the previous season are evaluated at the end of the season by each of their team's coaches. Assuming all coaches submit their evaluations, each player should receive 3-4 coach evaluations. Coaches assign scores to each player on a 1-5 scale for each category for hitting, fielding, running, throwing, attitude, and overall baseball ability. The average score of all of these evaluations is each player's postseason coach evaluation score.

Players who did not play travel baseball with RAYB the previous season are assigned a coach evaluation score equal to the average evaluation score of their age group's Silver players from the previous season.

The purpose of the coach evaluation score is to recognize that tryouts alone are an imperfect player selection tool. This allows us to quantify player histories in an effort to ensure that we are placing players in the proper level of play.

Coaches are not permitted to evaluate their own children.

Coach evaluations will not be considered at the 9U age level since they typically have no history in travel baseball.

Tryout Evaluation

Every player's baseball skills will be evaluated by a team of impartial evaluators assigned by the RAYB Travel Committee. The evaluators will be people who are known to possess the knowledge necessary to evaluate a player's skill at a particular level. Evaluators will not be related to any of the tryout participants involved in their assigned age level.

Players are evaluated on a 1-5 scale at hitting, throwing and fielding stations by at least 2 evaluators at each station. The average score of all of these tryout evaluations is each player's tryout evaluation score.

With the exception of exemptions approved by the travel committee, all players must attend the tryout to be considered for a travel team.

RAYB does not permit parents to attend their own children's tryouts and does its best to recruit enough volunteers so that parents facilitating travel tryouts can leave when their own children are trying out. In cases where we have a shortage of volunteers, coaches and/or parents may need to act as tryout assistants -- hitting ground balls and fly balls or assisting with hitting stations -- but they will never be involved in scoring players and will be instructed not to coach the players or discuss scoring with the evaluators during the tryout.

Combined Player Evaluation Score

Each player is assigned a combined player evaluation score, with 55% of the score coming from their coach evaluation and 45% of the score coming from their tryout evaluation. This combined player evaluation score is the primary basis used to select the players for each traveling team.

Player evaluation scores are strictly confidential and will only be accessible to the Travel Director, Assistant Travel Director, and President.

Coach and Player Selection

Coach and player selection for each team should follow this process, using combined player evaluation scores for player rankings:

Black teams:

• The 8 highest ranked players at each level are automatically assigned to the Black team at their age level
• Head coaches are selected for each team from a pool of applicants by the Travel Director, with support as needed from the Coach Director and Travel Committee
• The head coach selects the final 3-4 players for their roster from the next 8 highest ranked players and submit their rosters to the Travel Director for review and approval, with support as needed from the Travel Committee
• The head coach selects their assistant coaches from the list of coach applicants and submits their selections to the Travel Director for review and approval, with support as needed from the Coach Director and Travel Committee

Silver teams:

• Once the Black team has been finalized, the 8 highest ranked players remaining will be assigned to the Silver team at their age level
• Head coaches are selected for each team from a pool of applicants by the Travel Director, with support as needed from the Travel Committee
• The head coach selects the final 3-4 players for their roster from the next 8 highest ranked players and submit their rosters to the Travel Committee for review and approval, with support as needed from the Travel Committee
• The head coach selects their assistant coaches from the list of coach applicants and submits their selections to the Travel Director for review and approval, with support as needed from the Coach Director and Travel Committee

If there are enough players at an age level to form a third travel team, the process will repeat itself.

Decisions on team assignments may include multiple factors, including:

• Skills and athleticism
• Hustle and enthusiasm
• Coachability and attitude
• Prior commitment and attendance record
• Unique positional needs for each team

No player will be placed on a team over a more deserving candidate because they have previously played on a travel team. We strongly encourage kids who have never tried travel baseball to try out!