Team Assignment Flow Chart This is the step by step process that each league follows when assigning players to teams.  Fill out the worksheet in pencil; there will be lots of changes before the night is over.  This flow chart is used in combination with the Team Assignment Worksheet.
PRELIMINARY work, As registrations come in:
Evaluations replace registrations Transfer evaluation info to the back of the evaluation form Separate core players from free agents Sort free agents Calculate CSAS Team Target	1. Replace the registration forms of all players returning to the league with their skill evaluation form to use during team assignment.  2. Transfer the following to the back of each player evaluation form as you separate players into piles. (Since players new to the league don’t have evaluation forms, just use their registration forms for the team assignment process): · Transfer the sum of each player’s composite skill evaluation to the back of their evaluation form.  · For players with a pitching evaluation, transfer their Pitching Value from their pitching evaluation to the appropriate blank on the back of their skill evaluation form. · If the player is a catcher, circle Catcher on the back of the evaluation form.   · If the player is a sponsor, circle Sponsor on the back of the evaluation form.   · Add a Player ID (a randomly generated string) which will anonymously identify the player. 3.  Separate core players (returning from last season) from free agents: If the player is returning to the league, place her with her previous team.  The core team is comprised of:  · The coach’s daughter · The assistant coach’s daughter · Players returning to the league from the previous season. 4. What remains after step three are the free agents – players not assigned to any team.  Divide free agents into discrete stacks from which to assemble teams. (If a player matches more than one of these criteria, place them in the stack that makes the most sense for your league):  · FREE AGENTS – girls moving up from the lower league · FREE AGENT NEW – players without evaluations · FREE AGENT PITCHERS · FREE AGENT CATCHERS · FREE AGENT SPONSORS You should now have a stack for each team that contains its core members and five stacks of free agent (unassigned) players.  You will use each of these five stacks in different measures to build and balance your teams. 5.  Sum the skill scores for every player in the league and divide by the number of teams that will be formed.  The resulting number is the Target CSAS (composite skill assessment score (CSAS) to aim for when setting up your teams.
ROUND ONE: BALANCING CORE TEAMS From this point forward the team assignment process should be performed anonymously, using the data transferred to the back of the player evaluation worksheets.
Estimate # of pitchers per team Mark teams with no catchers Assign free agent sponsors to teams Calculate Core Team’s CSAS Compare Core CSAS across the league If teams are badly imbalanced… Redistribute groups as needed and recalculate CSAS	6.  Based on registrations, determine how many pitchers are likely to be playing in the league and estimate how many pitchers will be on each team.  This number can change if additional registrations come in, but this gives you a ‘ballpark’ to shoot for. 7.  Make note of any catchers on the core team and write it on the team assignment worksheet.  You will need this information in round two. 8.  Combine free agent sponsor players with teams that have no sponsor.  (If a team has two or more sponsor players, move the players appropriately.) 9.  Calculate the team’s CSAS (Composite Skill Assessment Score). Sum each team’s composite skill score and write it in the box provided on the team assignment worksheet.  You now have a preliminary value with which to compare the core teams to each other.  You can also compare this value to the Target CSAS calculated in step five to see where the core teams are relative to meeting that eventual goal. 10.  Compare the composite skill scores of each core team in the league. If any core team shows an unusually high CSAS at this stage, the commissioner can consider breaking up returning players into two (or more) groups to redistribute to (or swap with) another team with a proportionately lower CSAS.  Remember the guideline for breaking up second-year players: “Care will be taken to ensure that players are re-assigned in groups no smaller than two or three to provide some continuity for those players.” NOTE: It may not be necessary to re-assign any core players if the CSAS of your teams are near enough that assigning free agents to teams will adequately balance them.  This is a judgment call made by the commissioner. 11.  Redistribute groups of returning players as necessary.  Recalculate each core team’s CSAS.  When you have finished moving groups of players, they should now be more equal.
ROUND TWO: fILLING OUT TEAM ROLES AND COMPLETING TEAMS
Identify Core Team Pitchers Calculate team’s composite pitching score (CPS) Distribute remaining Pitchers, recalculate CPS and CSAS Distribute remaining Catchers,  recalculate CSAS Distribute remaining free agents based on team CSAS Distribute remaining new free agents so team sizes are close to the same Ensure all team roles are filled with the required number of players; fine tune the CSAS	12.  Identify pitchers on the core teams by writing their pitching score on that player’s row in the Pitching Value column of the team assignment worksheet.  If a team has more pitchers than allotted per team, determine the best pitcher to move (e.g. not the coaches daughter!) and make her a free agent pitcher. 13.  Calculate each core team’s CPS (composite pitching score) and write it in the provided box. This preliminary value for the team’s pitching score should give you an idea of where pitching skills are and where they’re needed across the teams.  It very well may change during the team assignment process by the addition or subtraction of a pitcher to the team.  Sum the pitching scores of all pitchers on each core team and make note of this on the worksheet.  (If there are no pitchers on the core team, leave this blank.)    14.  Distribute the remaining pitchers to teams, calculating as you do the CPS (composite pitching score) for the teams.  Every team should have at least two pitchers, and once we agree on a pitching assessment scale, we can shoot for an average of that number for each team. 15.  Distribute the remaining catchers to teams, calculating as you do the composite skill score for the whole team.  Try to keep the composite skill scores for the teams as close as you can. 16.  Distribute the remaining free agents to the teams, calculating as you do the composite skill score for the whole team.  Try to keep the composite skill scores for the teams as close as you can. Free agents coming up from the lower leagues and new players.  Some free agents will have a skill assessment score, some are new to ICGS and have no skill assessment score.  Those without skill assessment scores should be divided as evenly as possible between the teams.  It is recognized that as late registrations come in and additional teams may need to form, these late teams may not be able to take full advantage of the formula for balance. 17.  Distribute the remaining new free agents to the teams.  Since new players have no CSS, you don’t need to recalculate the team’s CSS.  This provides a good opportunity to ensure that each team has roughly the same number of players. 18.  Double back on all the teams and ensure that all roles on the team are filled while trying to maintain a reasonable CSAS value. 1 Coach’s daughter 1 Ass’t coach’s daughter 1 Sponsor 2-3 Pitchers1-2 Catchers