Baseball and softball embody the discipline of teamwork. They challenge players toward perfection of physical skills and bring into play the excitement of tactics and strategy. The very nature of baseball and softball also teach that while every player eventually strikes out or is on the losing team, there is always another chance for success in the next at-bat or game
Ashland Little League is an affiliate of Little League Baseball, Incorporated, located in Williamsport, PA, begun in 1939 by Carl Stotz. The organization went from playing games in a small lot, to 12 leagues in Pennsylvania in 1946, growing quickly to 307 leagues in the U.S. by 1949, to leagues on 6 continents and a plethora of islands.
The structure of Little League, Incorporated, has three tiers to it: 1) Administrative center in Williamsport, PA that is a non-profit organization to support the local regions and organize the Little League World Series. 2) District organizations which coordinate the efforts of 10 to 20 leagues. The leagues within a District elect a District Administrator who acts a liaison among Districts and the leagues that make up the Administrator’s jurisdiction. 3) The local Little League which provides the services of organizing and implementing a season’s play for local boys and girls. Ashland’s Little League represents this category.
The Ashland Little League has a Board of Directors that are elected in an open meeting to members each September. Officers of the Board organize and coordinate the registration of players and volunteers, the tryouts, schedule of the regular and post season games, the staffing and inventory of the snack bar, and all the other activities that need to happen in order to have a successful Little League season.
Each Little League organizes its divisions in different ways. How each does it depends on local factors, such as size of the membership, and preferences of the Board and membership. Ashland Little League has constructed its divisions (T-Ball, Pony Baseball, Minor Baseball, and Major Baseball) by skill level. There are few hard-lined age requirements for most divisions. T-Ball is for the players first getting to know the game where they hit the ball of a stationary Tee. Pony Baseball is coach- or machine-pitched. Minor Baseball is for children who are ready for player pitched baseball games. The age of the players who join the Minor Division range from 7 to 9 and they generally move up to the next Division at the age of 10 or 11. The Major, and our League’s oldest, Division is the most competitive of the four groups and generally players are active in this Division for 2 or 3 years.
No matter which Division a player is in, the player’s parents or legal guardian must volunteer a certain amount of time to the League as well as pay a small registration fee. Primarily this volunteer activity is confined to assisting the team that the player is on and in providing labor in the snack bar. Coordination of these activities is provided from the Board’s Volunteer Coordinator to the Team’s Mom (person who coordinates information for a specific team).
When players for the Minor and Major Divisions register to play a tryout time is provided. A tryout is when players work through defensive and hitting drills before the managers in their respective Divisions. After the tryouts, the Managers meet under the guidelines and observations of the Board and draft their players. Once the draft is completed, the Managers call their respective players and begin to organize practice sessions to prepare for games.
