MAJORS AND AAA – COMPETITION LEVELS

Majors is a higher level of play than AAA. Typical Majors teams have players from more than one city, have been together for multiple seasons, have more physically developed players, more depth on the mound and in the lineup, or some combination of those.

We strongly encourage anyone who is on the fence to start the season in the Majors division. The goal of AAA tournaments is not to give a team the best shot of winning but to separate teams who will not be in any way, shape or form competitive with each another. For example, if you are hesitant to play Majors because you believe you will be .500 and instead choose AAA to win tournaments, you are missing the point and hindering development opportunities. Players grow when they figure out how to compete at the edge of their abilities, not when they take advantage of players who are not at their level yet. AAA exists to give more players more time to even the field while developing.

GSL Tournaments may suggest teams move up and or down based on results. Typically, if a team is over .750 or under .250 winning percentage with an average run differential of +or- 5.5/game, we will recommend they move either up or down.

Each age group (9-14u) will have the option to select AAA or Majors within your age division. Our foremost goal is to provide the proper level of competition to every team in order to promote growth, development and a positive experience.

The rules are the same within each division regardless of AAA or Majors (with the exception of 10u Majors being leadoff and 10u AAA being no leadoff). 10u Majors plays on 46′ mounds and 70′ bases while AAA plays on 46′ mound and 60′ bases.

When registering, please keep this in mind: If there were unlimited teams each weekend and we could split divisions however we would like, we would do the following:

• 8u would combine and play with 9u AAA
• 9u Majors would combine and play with 10u AAA
• 10u Majors compete better with 11u AAA than 10u AAA – this also ensures they can play leadoff and dropped third strikes. 11u throws from 50′ rather than 46′.
• If there are not enough 11u Majors teams, we would recommend playing up with the 12u AAA rather than down with the 11u AAA.

We will never make any adjustments without first checking with teams, but as a rule of thumb this is a good way to measure which division to choose.

PAYMENTS

Early registration opens October 1 and closes January 1. Teams who register and complete payment prior to January 1 will receive a $50 discount per event. There will be a price increase for the 2023 season due to the continued rise in costs of services, primarily but not limited to fields and umpires. All offline payments for high school events must be received prior to May 1. Not collecting checks in season allows our staff to focus on the event. Checks can be made out to GSL Tournaments and mailed to PO Box 64628, University Place, WA 98464. Please list the tournament(s) in the memo. Any online payments received within 2 weeks of an event will have a $50 late fee charge.