Team formation is always an important and robust discussion topic amongst our Board, coaches, and families. For 2024, we made the decision to form AAA teams via a draft. This was the process that led to that decision, why it was made, and the benefits we believe will make NCLL even stronger.

First, we looked at our own history. Prior to COVID, AAA formed teams via draft just like we do in Majors. However, our re-emergence into social situations brought with it many challenges for us to think over. We also wanted to be close to those we hadn't seen in a while. Team formation reflected those priorities.

Second, we talked with other leagues in the area. We found we were the lone league not forming AAA teams via a draft. Some leagues even use a draft for AA, with admittedly more social engineering built in. Next we looked at the benefits of a draft:

• Competitive balance: A draft evens out talent across teams, leading to more competitive games and a better experience for all players.
• Different experiences: Kids experience the diverse styles, communication approaches, and philosophies of our many coaching staffs to better understand the environment that fits them best.
• Social: As a community driven league, we think the community benefits from getting to know one another -- not remaining in our school, work, or neighborhood silos.
• Transparency: Finally, a draft provides transparency for coaches to feel a sense of fairness and and most importantly, parents are able to see our process and better understand the outcomes.

Following these evaluations, we voted to move forward with a draft for AAA, adopting many of the same rules from Majors:

• Draft order drawn from a hat
• First stage: returning Majors players and new 12‑year‑olds
• Second stage: under‑12 players new to Majors
• Coaching pairings allowed (capped per team)
• Players linked to coaches selected early in each stage
• Post‑draft trades allowed to align socially without changing team balance

We see it as a success and are happy with how the teams turned out, believing we found a sweet spot between competitiveness and social, and we will be a better division and league because of it. Check out the following pictures from the actual draft!