Team Placement Process Explained

Team Placement Process Overview

The BAYS Team placement process starts with input from town Registrars. See here for imformation about what these inputs mean: Registrar Team Inputs Explained

  • Gender 
  • Grade
  • Division 
  • Skill
  • % older age composition within the grade group
  • Town rank ordinal
  • Notes/Comments
  • Prior team record is listed if Registrar “rolls over” an existing team instead of creating a new team entry
    • BAYS recommends “rolling over” ONLY if the specific team rolled over from the previous season is substantially the same AND that prior season’s team record is to be considered indicative of the expected strength of the team in the coming season.

BAYS compiles the team registration submissions by gender/grade/division. BAYS may move teams between adjacent divisions to optimize an even number of teams, if a division has an odd number of entered teams. 

Section Formation: 

  • BAYS seeks to form sections of relatively similar teams. 
    • 6-Team sections are preferred to provide a 10-week home-and-away schedule and optimize field-sharing. 8-team (double 4s) and 10-team (double 5s) are used when needed.
    • If a division has an odd number of teams, a single 5-team section is formed in that division. BAYS aims to place any single 5-team section in the middle of Division 3 or 4 to provide the most flexibility. BAYS also seeks to avoid placing a single 5-team section where it would affect two teams from the same town if possible.
    • BAYS welcomes any late team “adds” that will eliminate a 5-team section.
  • Geography considerations:
    • BAYS section formation takes into consideration Geography/Travel time, more so in Divisions 3 and 4, somewhat in Division 2, and only if convenient in Division 1.
    • For example, Sections D/E/F within a division may all be formed of similarly skilled teams, but the section assignments take into account geography: Section D may align teams from northern towns; Section E may be teams from southern and western towns; while Section F is a group of teams from inside Route 128.
  • Prior Season Record and Town Size considerations:
    • The previous season’s record, particularly for the Spring season if a team is essentially the same as the one that played the previous Fall, may be evaluated 
    • Number of teams entered in a particular grade may also be taken into account as the top town team of six teams in a grade will generally be stronger than the top team of a town with only two teams entered.