James Jones: We’re proud of All Dallas County selection process
Published 10:08 am Thursday, May 2, 2024
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Another All Dallas County basketball team was named last week and published in last weekend’s edition of the Selma Times-Journal.
That means we’re down to the All-County selections in baseball and softball, which will be published later during the spring.
We always enjoy our process of selecting the team every year in all sports: football, basketball, softball, baseball and volleyball. All seven schools, Selma High, Southside High, Keith High, Dallas County High, Morgan Academy, Ellwood Christian Academy and Meadowview Christian School, each get nominations..
I’m not going to sit here and say picking the team has a secret formula. For those inquiring minds who don’t know can ask any of the coaches. I’m sure they’ll be happy to tell you.
We take nominations from the coaches in the respective sport on who they want on the All-Dallas County team. Each school gets a player on the regular team. Then we ask for others to get honorable mention.
If a team emerges with a standout year, a player of the year candidate usually comes from their squad. We ask for the coaches’ blessing if we choose a player of the year from their team and they usually approve.
From there, if a coach feels they have a player worthy of All-State consideration, we send those nominations to the Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA). That process is not easy. A player must have solid statistics competing against other players across the state, and we’re always willing to “fight” for the local kids to get all-state recognition. Sometimes, it works. Other times, it doesn’t.
We often hear complaints about not attending enough games to pick certain teams. Under this selection process, we don’t have to. The coaches have a right to select who they want on the All-County team and we’re fine with that.