Dear District and League Officials,

At the conclusion of the Little League® International Congress in January, we shared with you the full voting results of the Congress Voting Agenda. The final two items, Item 12 (tournament mandatory play) and Item 13 (tournament tie-breaker scenario), both received a majority vote. Item 13 will be referred to the Regional Roundtable agenda in 2020.

Regarding mandatory play for tournament play, the Little League International Tournament Committee was directed to further review and provide due diligence in order to appropriately enhance the mandatory play rule for the benefit of all tournament participants in 2018.

Following this directive, the Tournament Committee worked with the Little League International Board of Directors Operations Committee and the Advisory Board to develop a new mandatory play rule for tournament play effective with the 2018 Little League International Tournament. Please note that the mandatory play regulation is for tournament season play only.

Beginning this year, a manager's failure/refusal to insert players into the line-up as outlined in the new rule shall result in immediate ejection of the manager and removal for the remainder of the International Tournament, without replacement. The umpire-in-chief or other individual designated by the game Tournament Director in consultation with the official scorekeeper, shall advise both team managers, at the appropriate time as outlined in the new rule, of their obligation to insert all players who have not completed their mandatory play requirement.