Recreational / Developmental Baseball
Little League, PONY Baseball, Babe Ruth League
& City Recreational Programs
OPTIONS: At the recreational/developmental level of baseball for boys and girls, ages
4-12, there are several different programs that may be available in your area. Little League, PONY Baseball (Protect Our Nation's Youth), Babe Ruth League are most common. Your city recreational department may also run an affordable, community-based league.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? Each league will be divided into divisions based on a combination of age and skill level, although there are some differences in the age brackets and rules depending on the program.
EXAMPLE: Little League is a developmental baseball program that is open to boys and girls, ages 4-12. Each local league is run by a Board of Directors made up of volunteers and must be chartered with Little League International. To participate in a local league, players must live or go to school within a league's boundary which is defined on a map. The Board has discretion to structure divisions based on player safety, skill and registration numbers. Generally the divisions are age-based, but the league may use skills assessments/tryouts/draft to ensure proper player development, safety, appropriate competition levels. A typical league may have some combination of the following divisions, or be further divided into more divisions as necessary:
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T-Ball Division (ages 4-7) - a non-competitive program that focuses on fun, fitness and fundamentals. Players hit the ball off a tee and coaches can be utilized in the field on defense to help keep younger players focused and engaged.
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Minors Division (ages 5-11) - a developmental program focused on preparing players for playing at a competitive level.
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Majors Division (ages 10-12) - a competitive program. One All Star tournament team may be chosen from majors players to compete in tournaments that lead to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA.
GIRLS HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT TO PLAY LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL THANKS TO MARIA PEPE
1939 - Little League Baseball officially founded with three teams. At this time there were no rules about the gender of the players.
1947 - First Little League Baseball National Tournament. 17 teams participate. This event becomes known as the Little League Baseball World Series.
I950 - Kathryn Johnston is the first girl to play on an organized Little League team. She hid her hair under her cap and tried out for a team in New York. After making the team she let the manager know she was a girl and played for the team the whole season.
1951 - The following year, a special clause was added to the Little League regulations: "Girls are not eligible under any conditions." This results in the formal exclusion of all girls from Little League. In reality, for the next two decades, individual managers can choose whether to turn girls away or break the rule and let them play.
1964 - Little League Baseball granted a Federal Charter by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
1972 - 12-year-old Maria Pepe joins her friends to play for a Little League team called the Young Democrats, in Hoboken, N.J. She plays three games as starting pitcher when, faced with backlash from opposing coaches, parents and even politicians, her coach tells her that if she is not removed from the team, the league will lose its charter. Maria does not want to make the hundred boys in the league mad at her, so she agrees to stop playing. Maria's exclusion from Little League baseball attracted nationwide attention and the National Organization for Women (NOW) represented Maria in a lawsuit against Little League baseball. The case lasted over two years.
1973 - Judge Sylvia Pressler, a hearing officer for the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, ruled that Little League's exclusion of girls violated the state's law against discrimination.
March, 1974 - the ruling is upheld by the New Jersey Superior Court. Sadly, by the time the New Jersey Little Leagues were ordered to admit girls into their organization, Maria is too old to play.
June, 1974 - A dozen new lawsuits against the Little League organization are brought on behalf of girls in multiple states. Rather than fight, Little League
"defer[s] to the changing social climate." Little League creates Little League Softball for girls and the league's rules and regulations are made non-gender specific, so girls can play Little League Baseball if they choose.
December, 1974 - Congress passes a gender-neutral amendment to the Little League charter which is signed into law by President Gerald Ford. The charter states that the purpose of Little League Baseball is "to promote, develop, supervise, and voluntarily assist in all lawful ways the interest of young people who participate in
Little League baseball"
Photograph: Bettman/Bettman Studios
"The institution of Little League is as American as the hot dog and apple pie. There is no reason why that part of Americana should be withheld from girls."
- Judge Sylvia Pressler
PLAYING CATCH UP
In 2024 Little League launched the Maria Pepe Little League Legacy Series in Williamsport, PA - selecting 96 girls to learn and compete on the fields where the Little League World Series is played.
Inspired by Maria Pepe, this event is part of Little League’s continued strategic efforts to encourage and empower the girls and women within its program, with an ultimate goal of providing equal participation opportunities for girls by 2032.
Photo: Little League