D52 Tournament Director Guide

Thank you so much for volunteering to be a Tournament Director. Without community members like you we could not have a robust tournament program. This document outlines what you need to do to be a successful tournament director.

JOB DESCRIPTION

You are required to be at the game site during all games. If you need to miss some games you will need to appoint a co-Tournament Director. Similarly if you have games at more than one site at the same time, you will need a co-Tournament Director for the other sites. You will have some specific duties at the games, and you will need to build a volunteer crew to handle many of the other jobs.

During the games, you will be focused on:

1. Arrive at the game site 90 minutes before the first game starts.

2. Making sure the fields get prepared prior to each game.

3. Guiding the team managers through the pre-game activities which include the coin toss, lineup cards, warm-ups and the pre-game ceremony and plate meeting.

4. You will attend the pre-game plate meeting, where you will:

   • Give the completed line-up cards to the umpires.

   • Go over the ground rules, restroom escort procedures and bullpen escort procedures if needed.

5. Be alert during the game, and handle unruly fans if needed.

6. Participate in the Protest process when required.

7. Make sure the Pitching Records are filled out correctly and signed.

While the Tournament Director plays a role in the protest process, we do not expect you to be a Little League rules expert. You are primarily concerned with the organization and running of the tournament, not the rule decisions on the field. There are just three  rules we would like you to monitor during the games: 

1. Minimum Play Requirements (Superbowl only)

2. Pitch Counts and use of illegal pitchers

3. Restrictions on playing catcher after pitching

You should have a rule book on site at all times in case questions come up, and you are also encouraged to call the District Administrator or Assistant District Administrators to help answer questions.

BUILD A VOLUNTEER CREW

You will want to build a volunteer crew comprised of the following:

FIELD PREP CREW

You will want a crew of people to perform maintenance on the field prior to the tournament and to prepare the field before each game. What needs to be done depends on your fields. 

BOOTH CREW

You will need up to 4 people in the score booth. If your field does not have a score booth, you should set up a score table at the backstop near home plate. At the booth/table should be:

SCOREKEEPER

You will need to provide a qualified official scorekeeper for each game. You do not need to compute an advanced stats, or determine hits vs errors, but you do need to provide a complete record of the game which can be consulted both during and after the game. You may keep score using GameChanger or iScore instead of a paper book, but if you do so you should have on hand paper copies of prior games for consultation.

PITCH COUNTER

It’s generally too much work to keep score and keep an accurate pitch count, so we recommend a dedicated pitch counter for each game. This person should also fill out the Pitching Record for each pitcher in the game.

SCOREBOARD OPERATOR

If your field has a scoreboard, we recommend having a dedicated scoreboard operator.

PUBLIC ADDRESS ANNOUNCER

You should have a public address announcer at least for the pre-game announcements.

UMPIRE CREW

You do not need to provide umpires.  District 52 will schedule all umpires. (Exception: 9s Superbowl.)

SUPPORT STAFF

You will be busy during the games. You may with to have additional support crew to assist you as needed. They may help with ensure there is water for the umpires and score booth, crowd control as needed, retrieving foul balls, and escorting players to the restrooms (if needed).

SETTING UP THE FIELD

You will want to spend some time prior to the tournament making the field and site look as good as it can be. We recommend getting your all-star teams involved in a clean-up day, after all it’s their home field they are sharing with the district.

D52 will provide you with “welcome” banners to hang at your field. Please return these banners after the tournament so we can re-used them next year. We also encourage bunting and flags and other decorations. If your league has won all-star tournaments, fly those flags!

In addition to a general clean-up, consider the following:

1. An emergency contact placard should be posted inside and outside the score booth and visible at the snack bar/shack (if one is being used) with the name and address of the field location, DIAL 911, and the phone numbers of the local police department and fire department.

2. A first-aid kit and ice packs shall be available at the field.

3. Provide adequate vehicle parking for all umpires scheduled to work the daily schedule of games.

4. Spectators should not have access to the dugouts and must not communicate with any player, manager or coach. Depending on your field layout, it may make your life easier to rope off the dugout area to keep people away.

5. If a field does not have a score booth structure, you should set up an area with a table and chairs for the booth crew in a location that has a clear and unobstructed view of the playing field. To minimize distractions, only the people working the game and authorized officials should be allowed inside the score booth or score table area. Please also have at least one current Little League Official Baseball Rulebook in the score booth/table.

6. For announcements, introductions, and the playing of the National Anthem you should have a public address system. If there is not a permanent one at your field, consider bringing a portable one.

7. Put up a bracket poster to display the schedule, start times, and the site of game.

8. You must have permanent or portable restrooms.

9. Please have water at hand for the umpires and tournament staff. Players and Coaches have been instructed to bring their own water.

10. We hope you will run a snack shack if you have access to one. If you don’t you might consider selling drinks and snacks from a cooler. 

11. D52 will provide you with baseballs.

12. Hang bunting, put up banners and flags. If you have won any all-star flags, it’s a good time to fly them.

13. Fly an American flag for the National Anthem.

GAME DAY

The D52 Tournament Guide outlines what happens before and after the games. You will play a key role in that process, so please look over that document carefully,

You will collect and keep the team’s affidavit binders during the games, and update the pitching records inside. When the line-up cards come in verify that the manager has correctly indicated who is ineligible to pitch. If they are in error, make sure they know who is ineligible.

When you collect the line-up card from the managers, you can have the scorekeeper enter the names into the book, but do not separate the pages until after the plate meeting in case the manager wants to make changes at the last moment.

You do not need to review the other content in the binder unless a question comes up. The D52 board has already approved the content in the binder. The exception to this is when a new coach or player is being added to the team.

Temporary or Alternate players are not allowed. Any player in the game must be added to the team’s affidavit and have a tournament eligibility form. If the team is under the 14 player max (Seniors: 16 players) then the new player can simply be added. If no D52 board member is present, it will be up to you to verify the players eligibility. If the team is already carrying 14 players, the player will be added as a replacement and the player they are replacing will be crossed off the affidavit. Crossed off players cannot return to the team.

Temporary replacements for managers and coaches are allowed. The Tournament Director may approve the temporary replacement of a manager or coach with a justifiable reason.  Such replacement must be documented on the team's Affidavit.

At the pre-game plate meeting your responsibilities are:

• Give the Plate Umpire the Lineup Cards.

• Go over the Ground Rules.

• Go over the restroom escort procedures.

• Go over the bullpen procedures (if needed).