The Basics

All-Stars, or officially, The Little League International Tournament is a unique time of the season, a fresh beginning in some respect, with new teams forming and the opportunity to create even more memories. While the Tournament mirrors many of the elements found in the regular season, there are some key differences parents and players need to be aware of.

The Little League International Tournament is the most widely known youth sports tournament in the world. There are five levels of play within Little League Softball®, with opportunities for players ages 8 to 16. The tournaments start at the District level, and teams must win their way to advance through the International Tournament. The 8- to 10-Year-Old and 9- to 11-Year-Old Tournaments culminate at the State Level, while the Little League (Majors), Junior League, and Senior League divisions all conclude at a World Series Tournament.

Tournament (or All-Star) teams are built from each Little League’s players for different age divisions.  Each League is allowed to enter 1 team for each division with players selected to participate after expressing their interest.

Player and Family Commitment

If your child is selected for All-Stars, you should expect their team to hold practices 3- 5 days a week starting in early June until their tournament play concludes. The league expectation is that players are willing to attend practices and are available for all games in the tournament. Unlike the regular season, teams cannot temporarily add pool players.Player absences hinder a team’s chances of success and the expectation is that players participating in All-Stars will attend practices and games.

While no Little League games, including those in the Tournaments are a “win at all cost” events, the Tournaments are very competitive. Teams continue to play until they accumulate two losses within tournament and the overall winner moves on to the next round. Because players want to keep playing and want to advance as far as they can, teams play to win within the rules which requires additional development and team cohesion which only comes from full teams practicing together on a regular basis.

Kirkland National Little League Softball’s 2025 All-Star Plan

KNLL Softball's goal is to form Tournament teams at every level, without combining with other leagues.  However, based on players’ interest and abilities this may not always be possible.  In such a case, KNLL may combine with other Little Leagues, such as Kirkland American Little League, if a KNLL only team is not possible.

2025 Tournament Schedule - Not Yet Released

Player Eligibility

Players with amateur status, who have participated in the required number of regular season games as an eligible player (with the exception of the school softball season) by the start of Tournament Play are eligible for team selection as described below:

Note that the KNLL Board of Directors may permit a player to be eligible, who does not meet the minimum game requirement, if they provide a physician’s note documenting an injury or illness prior to or during the current season prohibiting their participation and such note releases the player for the balance of the Regular Season and/or Tournament Play.

Team Formation and Player Selection

Tournament teams for the division that KNLL plans to participate in are limited to 14 players, 1 manager, and 2 coaches.  Our goal is to select the best team that represents and upholds the ideals of Little League and KNLL on and off the playing field and is competitive on the playing field.

Managers and Coaches will be selected by the KNLL President, Softball VP, Softball Player Agent, and others as invited by the KNLL President with feedback collected during the season.  The VP will present the list of manager candidates and any feedback for those candidates collected from the Player Agent, Parent Liaison, and any other appropriate sources. 

Players’ parents are requested to indicate their desire to be considered for a Tournament team by completing and submitting Interest and Eligibility Forms. Players will be ask to confirm interest in early May.  This interest will confirm not only a players interest to join the team but also that they are able to commit to the schedule for practices and tournament games as outlined above.  Note, this is does not confirm a players selection for team. Players for each team will be selected by the KNLL President, Softball VP, Softball Player Agent, and the Tournament team Manager and Coaches for each division. 

Player selection will be done based on the players’ assessed abilities throughout the regular season in the following disciplines: leadership, sportsmanship, pitching, catching, fielding, throwing, hitting, base running, and game intuition.

The objective of the 8- to 10-Year-Old Division and 9- to 11-Year-Old Division Tournament is to provide players the opportunity to participate in a softball tournament at the District and State levels at the conclusion of the regular season. Leagues are strongly encouraged by Little League International to place the maximum number of players 14 on the Tournament team.  KNLL intends to build a team of this size based on player interest.  The Majors and Juniors teams will have 12 players.  In no cases will any Tournament team with a KNLL player on the roster have less than 11 players.  Note that for a Tournament team to have less than 12 players the Washington Little League District 9 Administrator must certify that a justifiable reason for not having 12 players exists – this exemption is almost never granted.

While it is an honor to be selected to any All-Star team, in some scenarios, players may not desire to be placed on a specific team or may have a conflict with the Tournament schedule. For example, a 10-year-old player who played her regular season games at Majors pitching a 12” ball from 40’ might not want to play at the 8/9/10 Division with an 11” ball and a  35’ pitching distance. We want players to have a good experience during regular and post season play.  In such cases, we will honor player and parent requests to only be considered for certain teams.

Other team formation considerations and details are below:

• Players will be notified on or around the first week of June, 2024
• Player, coach, and manager selection discussions are confidential
• As noted in the Player Eligibility section above, players are eligible for multiple divisions but may not be selected to or play for more than (1) Tournament team
• The Manager and league officials will review player availability on a case by case basis and may remove a player from a team or rescind an offer to join a team based if a player cannot commit to an entire Tournament or practice schedule

Tournament Rules

Nearly all of the playing rules are the same between regular season Little League games and The Little League International Tournament with differences mostly focused on pitching and substitutions.

Mandatory Play rules in the Tournaments require the use of a continuous battering order that includes all players on the team present at the start of the game but does not require a minimum amount of time played defensively.

Major playing rule differences between divisions are described below and should be used as a guide for determining which division players may prefer to play in.

Final Thoughts

Tournament play started in Little League in 1947 and has grown year by year to become the outstanding Tournaments they are today.  In many cases the Tournaments are the only exposure that the majority of the public sees and they have become one of the main the criterion by which Little League is judged.  Kirkland National Little League intends for its post-season Tournament teams to use softball to teach life lessons that build stronger individuals and communities in accordance with the mission of Little League International.  Please let us know if you have any questions.