INTRODUCTION
The goal of this page is to inform BLL's community about our District teams (also referred to as Little League Tournament All-Star teams). Each season in July, BLL sends teams to participate in the District 4 Little League tournaments at 8U, 9U, 10U (referred to as Minors), 11U, and 12U (referred to as Majors). If interest allows, we will also send teams at the Intermediate and/or Juniors level (which are for 13U and 14U players). A player's "Little League Age" and, therefore, his/her eligibility for a certain age division, is determined based on the child's age on August 31 of that particular baseball season which cannot exceed the division in which s/he is playing. For example, a player in the 8U division in the 2026 District Tournament cannot turn 9 prior to September 1, 2026. If it's helpful, consider September 1 the "best" Little League birthday and August 31 the "worst." As many know, this September 1 cutoff is different than travel baseball, which uses a May 1 date.
TEAM FORMATION
Preparation for the District tournaments starts in the summer of the preceding season when Bulldogs tryouts are held. At this time, the Bulldogs coaching staffs select players whom they believe will be good candidates to participate in the aforementioned July tournaments. These players are committed to the Bulldogs program (see the separate Birmingham Bulldogs tab) and playing in the BLL regular season. While making the Bulldogs team often provides a player an advantage to making the District team, making the Bulldogs does NOT guarantee a player will be selected for Districts. Instead, each coaching staff must conduct a non-perfunctory tryout in June of each season to select a roster for the District tournament. These teams must have a roster of 12-14 players. Moreover, each player must have played at least 60% of their BLL regular season games (not including playoffs) and each coach on the District staff must have been a Manager or Coach of a regular season team.
As many in the BLL community know, it is the Board of Directors' strong preference to field two District teams whenever possible to provide more children the thrill of District play and to maintain more players in BLL. Moreover, recent history illustrates that players on one team (Red) are often promoted to what's considered the more competitive team (Blue) during their Little League careers.
DISTRICT TOURNAMENT AND BEYOND
As anyone who has ever been a part of a District tournament knows, the experience provides an almost indescribable atmosphere, the product of competition, community and the collective spirit of coaches/players/families having a singular goal (District champs!). The District Tournament for each age group occurs at one of the District 4 sites (most often Commerce, Birmingham, Grand Blanc or Rochester) typically in early to mid July. Each tournament lasts roughly one week and can involve near daily games. Starting at 10U, District Tournament winners advance to State Tournaments typically in late July or early August, where the atmosphere is even more exciting than at Districts. At 12U and beyond, players can dream about moving onto Regional Tournaments and the Little League World Series, these latter events being nationally televised! Given the work, planning and execution needed to have a successful run, each player trying out for District teams is expected to ensure they are available for Districts, States and anything beyond.
BLL takes great pride in its District Team program and has had great success. We strongly encourage players who love the game, are committed to the team and dream high to be an integral part of the precious District team experience. Go Birmingham!