Frequently Asked Questions: WFBLL Baseball All-Stars
In response to feedback from parents, both in-person and via the annual Whitefish Bay Little League Parents Survey, the WFBLL board is publishing the following FAQ regarding All-Stars. Please note that this FAQ applies to WFBLL baseball only. While it is the goal of the board to provide full transparency regarding the most common questions and concerns, we understand there may be topics that we missed or require further clarification. Accordingly, please feel free to reach out to a member of the All-Star Committee at any time with any questions or thoughts you may have (contact info for each Committee member can be found at the end of this FAQ.)
What is All-Stars?
“All-Stars” refers to the annual state, regional, and international tournaments run by Little League International. Whitefish Bay Little League enters teams in each of the following tournaments:
8 to 9 Year Old Division: this tournament is in Southeastern Wisconsin and features teams from our district (District 1); it is often referred to as “U9”. Beginning in 2026, WFBLL will be entering two teams – one U8 and one U9 – into this tournament. This is the only tournament that will include more than one WFBLL team.
8 to 10 Year Old Division: this tournament, often referred to as “U10”, is a state tournament in Wisconsin. In past years, WFBLL sent a U9 team and a U10 team to participate in this tournament. Going forward, the U9 team will play in the 8 to 9 Year Old Division and only the U10 team will play in the 8 to 10 Year Old Division.
9 to 11 Year Old Division: this tournament, often referred to simply as “U11”, is a state tournament in Wisconsin.
Little League Division: this tournament, often referred to as “U12”, is the most famous of the Little League tournaments; it begins with a state tournament in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin state champion advances to the Midwest regional tournament in Whitestown, IN to compete against champions from other states. The winner of the regional tournament advances to play in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA, which features ten teams from the United States and ten teams from nations around the globe.
Intermediate (50/70) Division: this tournament, often referred to as “U13”, is similar to the “U12” tournament, just for a different age group. The regional tournament is in Ankeny, IA and the Intermediate (50/70) World Series is in Livermore, CA. WFBLL sent a team to the Intermediate (50/70) World Series in 2025.
Junior Division: this tournament, often referred to as “U14”, is similar to the “U12” tournament, just for a different age group. The regional tournament is in Midland, MI and the Junior World Series is in Taylor, MI. WFBLL sent a team to the Junior World Series in 2022.
All state tournaments mentioned above consist of two phases; first, the District 1 phase, then the state championship phase. If WFBLL wins the District 1 championship, the team advances to the state championship phase. The U9 tournament is the only tournament that ends after the District 1 phase.
What is the intent of All-Stars for WFBLL and how is that intent different from WFBLL league play?
The intent of All-Stars for WFBLL is to try to win each tournament that the league enters. The focus on competitive success is significantly higher with All-Stars than with WFBLL league play.
Who is eligible to participate as a player in All-Stars?
Per Little League International rules, in order to be eligible for an All-Star team in a particular season, a player must meet residency requirements (which can be found here) and play at least eight (8) WFBLL games during that season. The only exception to this rule is if a player suffers from illness and/or injury that prevents the player from playing in eight games, and the player has a doctor’s note to verify the illness and/or injury.
In WFBLL, we allow players in the following “League Age” groups to play for each All-Star team. Little League International’s definition of a player’s official League Age in 2026 can be found here.
U8: any eligible player who is League Age 8.
U9: any eligible player who is League Age 9.
U10: any eligible player who is League Age 10.
U11: any eligible player who is League Age 11.
U12: any eligible player who is League Age 10, 11, or 12.
U13: any eligible player who is League Age 13.
U14: any eligible player who is League Age 14.
In an effort to maximize the number of players in each age group who gets the opportunity to play on an All-Star team, WFBLL is more restrictive than Little League International regarding who can play at each age level; Little League International allows players as many as two years younger in League Age participate in each tournament (except in U9, where players one year, but not two years, younger can participate). The only tournament where WFBLL allows younger League Age players to participate is at the U12 level; this is to maximize WFBLL’s opportunity to compete for a spot in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA.
A final note on “League Age”. Travel baseball tournaments, including those that teams such as the Whitefish Bay Jr. Dukes participate in, have different birthday cutoffs than Little League International; travel tournament age cutoffs usually roughly coincide with players’ school grade level. As a result, every year there will be players whose League Age for Little League is different than their “travel team age”. In general, if a player is on a travel team but the player’s birthday is on-or-before August 31, that player’s League Age will be one year older than their travel team age. The All-Star eligibility of these players is no different than any others; it is entirely dependent upon League Age. Neither travel team age nor school grade level are factored into All-Star eligibility or selection decisions.
How are All-Star teams determined?
The process for determining All-Star teams is as follows:
a. The All-Star Committee will determine the head coach (or co-head coaches) for each All-Star team.
b. The selected head coach(es) for each All-Star team will be required to name the remainder of their coaching staff and submit the entire staff to the All-Star Committee for approval. Each staff must include at least three total coaches. Only three coaches are allowed on the field during games but the coaches who are on the field can change from game-to-game.
c. The coaching staff for each team then jointly selects the players. All coaches must sign-off on the roster and jointly submit the roster to the All-Star Committee for final approval.
d. The All-Star Committee trusts that the coaching staffs will make good faith efforts to identify the roster they believe is most likely to achieve the intent of winning the tournament they are playing in. However, the All-Star Committee reserves the right to ask the coaching staffs to explain the rationale behind their decisions or to make changes, should a majority of the All-Star Committee believe that the proposed roster is clearly not in the best competitive interests of the team.
Who is on the All-Star Committee?
The All-Star Committee includes the WFBLL President, Vice President, and All-Star Commissioner (if the All-Star Commissioner is someone other than the President of Vice President). The All-Star Commissioner will always be a board member with significant past experience with All-Stars, either as the parent of a past All-Star player or as a coach of a past All-Star team. Additional WFBLL board members are also assigned to the committee each year in order to provide additional perspective; in particular, the committee looks to ensure that as a group, they have a solid understanding of the individuals coaching and playing at every League Age level (U8 through U14). This year, the All-Star committee includes Mike Schwartz (President and All-Star Commissioner), Lindsay Weber (Vice President), Mara Schwartz (no relation to Mike), and Andrew Liska. Across the four members, there is at least one parent of a child across every League Age level.
Which criteria is considered when the coaches are selected?
Each year, the All-Star Committee will make their best effort to select a head coach for each team who has not only strong baseball acumen and coaching ability, but also prior experience coaching the players in that League Age group. Transparently, the head coach will often (but not always) be a member of the coaching staff for the Whitefish Bay Jr. Dukes “A” team of the age group in question due to that coaching staff’s experience with those players.
The head coach is given the freedom to select at a minimum two additional coaches that the head coach believes are best suited to coach the team and help achieve the intent of winning the tournament.
In order to be eligible to be a head or assistant coach for a specific All-Star team, an individual is required to serve in a coaching capacity for a WFBLL team in a specific league, as determined by Little League International; in particular:
U8: Pee Wees or Minors
U9: Pee Wees or Minors
U10: Minors or Majors
U11: Minors or Majors
U12: Majors or Intermediates
U13: Majors, Intermediates, or Juniors
U14: Intermediates or Juniors
Which criteria is considered when the coaching staff selects the players?
The coaching staff is given the freedom to select the team they believe is most likely to win the tournament they are participating in. Transparently, many or all of the players on the All-Star teams will also play for a Jr. Dukes team, as the Jr. Dukes program has a strong track record of selecting deserving players to be on their competitive travel tournament teams. However, while there will often be a high degree of overlap between participation on the All-Star team and the Jr. Dukes “A” team, the coaching staff has no obligation to select any players on the basis of whether they play for a Jr. Dukes team.
Coaching staffs are instructed to build a roster that they believe is most likely to win their tournament. The coaches will consider all aspects of a player’s ability when making their selections, including the player’s capability as a hitter, pitcher, fielder, catcher, and baserunner, as well as their coachability and ability to be a good teammate (which includes leadership qualities and how the player treats others). Coaches will look at the entirety of a player’s set of abilities; being highly capable in a particular area does not guarantee a player is selected, just as lacking capability in a particular area does not guarantee a player is not selected. In addition, the coaching staff will base their decision on a player’s “body of work”. Players are not awarded a spot on the All-Star team based solely on their performance in the current Little League season; rather, players are selected to the team based on how the coaching staff believes that player’s set of abilities will contribute to the team’s goal of winning the tournament. Accordingly, a player’s performance in travel baseball and prior WFBLL seasons will also be taken into consideration.
Another important consideration for all coaches is not just each individual player, but how the entire roster of players complement one another to form the most complete team possible. For example, if a team has many highly skilled hitters but the coaching staff is concerned about the team’s pitching or defense, that coaching staff may choose a player (or players) who are excellent pitchers or fielders, even if those players are less capable all-around players than one or more players who are not selected to the team.
Are any players or coaches guaranteed a spot on the team from one year to the next?
No. While it is common for individual players and coaches to be selected to the All-Star team multiple times, no player or coach is ever guaranteed a spot on the team from one year to the next.
Why are teams selected in mid-May, when less than half of the WFBLL season has been completed?
All-Star tournaments begin in June and July and require a significant amount of administrative work to ensure that player eligibility is verified by Little League International and uniforms are ordered and delivered before games begin. The rosters are selected at the latest possible time while still ensuring that all administrative deadlines can be met.
How does WFBLL work to maximize fairness with regards to All-Stars?
Through the efforts of the All-Star Committee and each team’s full coaching staff being jointly responsible for the player selection process of each team, WFBLL has worked to put checks and balances in place to ensure that the coaches and players selected to All-Star teams are chosen entirely on the basis of their ability to help achieve the intent of winning tournaments. While it will never be possible to avoid all instances of “bad optics”, the belief of the WFBLL board is that by including a robust group of voices in the creation of each team, we are fostering an environment of accountability that fully incentivizes the selection of deserving participants.
Didn’t there used to be a different process, with voting for both players and coaches?
Yes. Feedback gathered before the 2025 season from the annual WFBLL Parents Survey and through conversations between parents and WFBLL board members revealed the following themes about how the community viewed All-Stars:
1. Lack of clarity regarding the intent of All-Stars
2. Lack of transparency regarding how coaches and players were selected
3. Concerns that too few WFBLL board members were involved in the process to ensure fairness
4. Lack of trust in the integrity of the voting results due to:
a. Concerns that voting results were being manipulated by voters who were making selections based on criteria other than who is most likely to help the team win their tournament, such as voters selecting their friends’ children
b. Concerns that the voting results were being ignored altogether
The WFBLL board addressed the first two themes listed above through the publishing of this FAQ.
The All-Star Committee, as well as the requirement that each team’s entire coaching staff jointly submits the roster for final approval, were put in place in an effort to significantly increase participation in the process and address concerns about fairness.
To address lack of trust in the integrity of voting results, board decided to eliminate voting altogether. Given the intent of All-Stars is to win the tournaments WFBLL participates in, the board agreed that the simplest way to ensure that the most competitive teams are formed is to follow the coach and player selection processes outlined in this FAQ.
Could the WFBLL approach to All-Stars change in the future?
While no changes are currently anticipated, the board reserves the right to handle unique and/or unforeseen situations on a case-by-case basis, as well as make adjustments to the All-Stars process that the board believes are in the best interests of WFBLL. WFBLL may also need to make adjustments to the All-Stars process at the direction of Little League International, whose rules supersede those of WFBLL. If any Little League International rules conflict with anything in this FAQ, the rules of Little League International take precedence.
I have more questions – who can I ask?
Please send questions to any or all members of the All-Star Committee – we will do our best to provide answers to any questions you may have.
· Mike Schwartz: [email protected]
· Lindsay Weber: [email protected]
· Mara Schwartz: [email protected]
· Andrew Liska: [email protected]
You can also anonymously send any questions or comments you may have to the WFBLL board by filling out a Google Form here.