All Star Tournament Teams participate in a more competitive environment than regular HSA recreational league play. These teams begin play after the conclusion of the HSA 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 HSA 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. No all-star activities can interfere with any regular season activities including the tournament.

The All-Star Tournament Season typically runs late May through June.

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

Financial Obligation

The All-Star season is partly self-funded by the team. HSA covers the cost for a new All Star jersey and covers the cost for 1 All Star tournament. The cost for the tournament is determined by the hosting association and at the time of this writing are normally $300-$600 per team. 

With a 12 player roster playing 3 tournaments, with 1 paid by HSA, a family can expect to pay around $100-$250 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 less expensive tournaments (or fewer tournaments are available).

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

Practices

All-Star practices will begin 4/13 and will continue on Sunday until the regular season has concluded. At that point, coaches can elect to move their Sunday practice to a day during the week and then run through the all-star season. HSA will assign practice fields as teams are formed.

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 to 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”.