Castro Draft Guidelines: How the A/B Draft will work

In 2009 the Castro Basketball League moved from a mixed-experience league to two conferences; a competitive and recreational conference, or A/B divisions.

Many asked how players will be assessed for the two leagues; what comprises an “A” player as opposed to a “B” player?

After much discussion, the best option was to leave it up to the participants as much as possible. So the league registration form allows players to choose their league preference – “Definitely A,” “Prefer A,” “Either,” “Prefer B,” and “Definitely B.”

Depending on their selection, they would then be included in that respective pool of players.

The “A” pool of players will include all “A” preferences and “Either” to be selected by the “A” captains.

However, please understand that declaring for the “A” conference simply places the player into the “A” draft, but does not guarantee the player will be drafted into “A.”  If a player chooses an “A” preference, they are placed into the “A” draft, and if the player is not selected in the draft, that player is then moved into the “B” pool to be drafted.

Considering four teams and 32 players (4×8)… here are a  couple scenarios that will help to detail out how the draft works:

• More than 28 “A” Preference Players: After the four captains, 28 spots remain in the “A” conference, of which the “A” draft pool includes players with a preference or willingness to play A (chose Def A, Prefer A, Either). If there are 35 players in the “A” draft pool, there will be 7 players (35 – 28) that will slide into the “B” pool where they will be selected.

• Less than 28 “A” Preference Players:  In the unlikely situation that the “A” captains exhaust all the players with a preference or willingness to play “A” and there are still “A” spots remaining, the league will place the “Prefer B” players into the “A” pool to be drafted.  However, we will never move any “Definitely B” preference players into the “A” pool.

• Board Rulings: The only time the board/league will step in is when there is an obvious “A” player that should be playing in the “A” conference. In order to maintain integrity and ensure the enjoyment of the league for all players, we will make sure these “A” players are drafted into the “A” conference. We don’t expect to interject often.

• Case by Case:  The board will hear out case-by-case scenarios in which players can play in a division that are not necessarily suited to their experiences – some past situations were “not wanting to play competitively” or “my schedule won’t work out on Wednesdays.“

The idea and hope of the A/B divisions is to increase participation and parity in the league. By having more-equal levels of play, the hope is that players develop more at their speed and pace they are comfortable at, playing time and confidence increases.