The Little League: An Overview

The Little league has been in existence almost parallel to that of the Major league, though it was started on 1939 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania by Carl E. Stotz and Bert and George Bebble.

It might be obvious from the name itself that it may have something to do with the Major league baseball, well let us just put it this way, it is a branch of baseball which fosters proper training to an age level of aspiring players who go into baseball as a past time or as a career. In any case, the little league serves its purpose to those who go into the league.

The little league is a youth based program for children and teenagers from the age of five to sixteen. It is made to provide a healthful training activity under a trusted leadership and an environment of community participation in a wholesome perspective. In the psychological view, the program makes the participants focus in a common goal to ready them for the reality of the outside world. It promotes the value of sportsmanship and teamwork with emphasis on fair play. These types of training not only promotes physical fitness but also provokes maturity on the players themselves, considering the pressures of the game, the goals of winning, of obeying the rules, on making quick decisions for one’s self and for the whole team and doing things for the reason of feeling good about the accomplishment or feeling bad and dealing with the throwback and effects of losing a game. All theses experiences will contribute to the improvement of the individual.

In every age group in the little league, they follow a different set of rules to suit the age level that it applies to, but the general rules of the game are carried over to the different levels. As the age level increases, so does the addition of regular rules of baseball. In the age bracket of 12 or 13, most of the rules from the Major League are applied during the game play. The skill level of the players therefore will greatly affect the rules of the game play of the levels. There are a lot of things to be considered from the league, for the strength and agility of an eight year old batter, infielder or outfielder will completely be different from those kids in the same positions belonging to the age group of twelve and thirteen.

Little league trainings will pay off every summer because this is the season when the Little League World Series occur.