Hills Holiday Season Little League is not based on club membership, like our weekend competitions. Players who register for Holiday Little League will be placed into a pool. Depending on how many players register, Hills will appoint the appropriate number of team managers for rosters of a maximum of 12 players per team.

Based on last season's experience, we expect to have six teams of 12 players this season in the Major League, and about four teams of 12 in the Minor League

• The Major League is for players aged 11 or 12, and
• The Minor League is for players aged 10 or younger.

Only Major League players are eligible for selection in a Tournament Team.

Choosing a roster of 12 is to ensure that there are at least nine available on any given game day. Again, drawing on previous experience, this number seemed to work well. Not all players were available for every single game day, and a large roster meant that nobody was under pressure to attend if it was inconvenient.

The draft process itself works much like the same thing in the US for college & high-school players.

Managers are put into a room with a list of players, and some independent experts such as the Hills Competition Secretary (John Yard), the rep team coaches (led by Nigel Hern and Jeff Catt), and anyone else with first-hand knowledge of the kids.

Random lots are drawn to decide the order of picking each player.

The Manager with first pick then chooses his first player. S/he can seek advice from the independent experts if s/he chooses. The information available to each manager comprises:-

• The player's name.
• His or her home club
• Current weekend team and grade (if applicable)
• DOB
• Preferred playing position
• A second playing position
• Whether s/he bats and throws left or right handed.

The Manager with second pick then chooses his/her first player. The Manager with third pick chooses his/her first player, and so on until it becomes the turn of the 1st Manager again, at which time s/he chooses his/her second player. This process continues until all players have been selected in a team.

The end result ought to be that the available talent has been equally allocated to all teams. Note:- it is probable that players will find themselves in teams which bear no resemblance to their weekend club teams. The nature of the draft process seeks to equalise talent, not concentrate it in one team.

Teams will play in Hills uniforms under independent (ie:- not club-based) management staff.

The draft itself will not be published. Players will never know whether they were selected as an early or late pick in the draft.