HOW TO FORM TEAMS
CONDUCTING A DRAFT
Every commissioner, 4th grade and above, should conduct a draft to set up their teams (a commissioner, with approval from the head basketball commissioner, may form teams without a draft).
A draft will be conducted each year, for every registered player in all leagues grades 4-12. Each year, every player is required to attend one of the scheduled assessments for the league.
To conduct a fair draft league commissioners must rate all players individually and make those ratings available prior to a team draft to all coaches. Ratings should be provided at least for dribble, pass, shot, speed, defense, rebounding, and aggressiveness.
TIMING
At some point prior to November 15, the commissioner must gather all team coaches together. In the event a team coach cannot be present, he/she must send a draft representative, or designate the league commissioner with the responsibility of choosing the team.
DRAFT ORDER
Prior to the draft meeting, the commissioner should place the names of each coach on a small piece of paper and then select the names randomly one at a time, designating the order of selection in the draft, with the first name picked getting the first selection, and so on. The commissioner may alter the draft order based on coach’s players. For example, if a coach’s son/daughter is the highest ranked player and the coach is initially set to select with pick 20 in a 20 team draft, then the commissioner change the coach’s draft position commensurate with the rating of the coach’s son/daughter.
The draft must be a snake draft. Normally, in a ten team league, for example, the draft order would be 1-10, and then the second round would be 10-1 with the tenth place team getting the 11th selection, and so on.
TEAM SELECTION
The commissioner must do everything in his/her power to get the teams to be equal in talent at the end of the draft. This might include suggesting to a new coach that certain players were rated differently in the past and may not perform exactly as the coach believes. However, it is still the coach's responsibility to select the team.
In the event the commissioner is selecting for a coach absent from the draft meeting, the commisisoner should select the team exactly as he would if he were the coach.
Players are drafted based on their skills in the categories listed above. Every team should have several players who can dribble effectively so speed and dribbling skills are essential. Shooting skills are also needed for scoring. Each team should have several players who can rebound so height, rebounding and aggressiveness are also important. And, each team should consider defense and aggressiveness, particularly if trapping and double teaming are allowed.
The child of every coach in the league is automatically placed in the draft position for the coach’s team based on the decision of the commissioner and the commissioner's official tryout ratings. A commissioner may allow a coach to select an assistant coach prior to the draft. The child of every assistant coach in the league is automatically placed in the draft position for the coach’s team based on the decision of the commissioner and the commissioner's official tryout ratings.
NOTE: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES MAY ANY TEAM CONTAIN TWO FIRST ROUND DRAFT CHOICES. NO TEAM MAY HAVE TWO COACHES WHOSE CHILDREN ARE BOTH FIRST ROUND DRAFT CHOICES, AND BY VIRTUE OF THEIR COACHING, PUT THE TWO FIRST ROUNDERS TOGETHER.
ADMINISTRATION
The commissioner should have a volunteer present at the draft meeting who is responsible for keeping track of which coach selects which player, and then updating the draft list to make sure a child is not selected twice, or not selected at all.
It is imperative that draft rounds of players be kept secret outside of the draft meeting as we do not wish to embarrass any players.
FORMING TEAMS
First grade league
In the first grade leagues, no assessments are conducted. Teams are formed by the commissioner. The commissioner may place players based on schools, parent/carpool requests and limited coach requests. Coaches are not permitted to select their entire team. Teams should include, in general, no more than four (4) players from anyone school.
Second and Third grade leagues
In 2nd and 3rd grade, the commissioner must run an assessment. Every player must attend one of the scheduled assessments. League commissioners must rate all players individually and make those ratings available prior to a team draft to all coaches. Ratings should be provided at least for dribble, pass, shot, speed, defense, rebounding, and aggressiveness.
Teams are formed by the commissioner. The commissioner may place players based on schools, parent/carpool requests, limited coach requests and most importantly player assessments. Coaches are not permitted to select their entire team. Teams should include, in general, no more than four (4) players from anyone school.
The league commissioner must make every effort to form teams with parity based on the commissioner’s ratings from assessments.
