SKILLS EVALUATIONS '25

Dates

February 22, 2025, or March 1, 2025

Times

MINORS from 9–11 am

MAJORS from 12–2 pm

Hollywood Rose City Little League aims to develop players' skills and character through practice, games, and baseball education. Once a player reaches the Minor level of play (typically 4th grade), practices become more focused, and games become more competitive. 

Q: Where are the evaluations?

Evaluations will be held at McDaniels High School on the baseball field. If it rains, we'll have them indoors at the same location. Evaluations will not be canceled due to weather and will last two hours. 

Q: What does my player need to wear?

Players should wear baseball pants, cleats (for the field), athletic shoes (for the batting cages), a jersey or tee shirt, a baseball hat, and a light warmup jacket. Players must bring a change of shoes for the batting cages, as McDaniels does not allow cleats indoors.

Q: What should my player bring?

Players should bring a mitt, bat (if you have one), batting helmet, a bottle of water, and a good attitude. 

Q: Did you really write "good attitude"?

Yes. A good attitude is the key to your player's success in HRCLL (and in life). Baseball is a mental game; the best players do not become the best without the right attitude. Coaches sometimes opt out of drafting a strong player early solely due to attitude. 

Q: Will there be a "New to You" table?

Yep! Please bring gear your player no longer needs and be ready to pick up something "new to you" at the table during check-in.

Q: What is the purpose of the skills evaluations?

The skills evaluations help coaches assess each player's starting point in the Spring 2025 season. This also allows coaches to properly balance the teams so that practices and games are fun, fair, and challenging for all. 

Q: What happens during the evaluations?

Players will be divided into groups to run through several skills stations: hitting, fielding, throwing, pitching, and catching (if applicable). 

Q: How long do evaluations run?

Players and parents should plan to be at the field for two hours. For Minors, that's 9–11 a.m.; for Majors, that's 12 p.m.- 2 p.m. 

Q: Does my player need to attend both Saturdays?

No. Your player should only attend one of the sessions. 

Q: My player is on a basketball/lacrosse/soccer/knitting team and can't make either evaluation date. What do we do?

We understand that Saturdays in February can be inconvenient for players and/or parents. We appreciate that you may miss a basketball game or may need to shuffle your schedule. Please do your best to attend one of the sessions. If you have extenuating circumstances, please get in touch with our registrar to discuss your situation. 

Q: How does the draft work?

The Monday after the final day of evaluations, Minors and Majors coaches get together to draft teams based on evaluation results. Most of our higher-level coaches know one another and work to keep friends together. That said, we cannot guarantee your player will be selected for the team they mentioned during registration. Making friends from other schools will only benefit your players as they move on to higher levels of play. 

Each team has one head coach and two assistant coaches. This means that the children of those coaches are automatically assigned to their parents. Here's how this works in the draft:

Team Good News Gorillas has three coaches. All of the GNG coach players are top-level performers who scored well in the evaluations. This means that the GNG coaches will likely have their first draft pick in the fourth round. 

Meanwhile, New Kids to Baseball has three coaches. All NK2B players are newer to baseball and scored lower in the evaluations. This means that NK2B will likely have draft picks sooner than GNG. 

Q: Wait, so if you're a coach with a highly-skilled player, shouldn't you tell them to "throw" the evaluations?

There's competition, and then there's "please find another hobby." This could be a strategy so we have all coaches review the evaluation results before the draft. We'll notice if Johnny MVP is ranked 74/75 and move him to the appropriate spot.

Q: If my player has a bad day that results in a low score, how does this affect their team placement?

These are evaluations, not tryouts. Your player will be placed on a competitive team regardless of skill level. 

Q: My player is brand new to baseball. Should they still attend evaluations?

Yes. All prospective players must attend evaluations to be placed on a team. To better prepare your player before evaluations, please familiarize your player with their equipment and general rules of play. 

Q: Are evaluation scores shared publicly?

Absolutely not. Your player's evaluation score will not be shared beyond the draft. Again, this is about balancing teams, not ranking players. 

As a side note, some players with lower scores improve throughout the season and become some of our best players. 

Q: Is my player guaranteed a spot on a team?

Yes. 

Q: Is my player guaranteed equal playing time?

All players will be in the batting lineup every game, without exception. Field play time will be distributed on a team-by-team basis, but all players will play at least 50% of any game on the field. 

Q: I have siblings. Will they be drafted to the same team?

Yes.