Little League Baseball is an organization of baseball and softball programs for boys and girls 4 to 16 years of age. Little League Baseball is also the name of the organization’s Major Division baseball program for youngsters 9 to 12 years old. Both boys and girls may play in the baseball programs, but most of the participants are boys. The Little League Softball program is for girls only, and the Boys Softball program is for boys only.
Other baseball programs in Little League include Tee Ball for youngsters 4 to 7 years of age, Minor League for players 5 to 11, Intermediate League for players 11 to 13, Junior League for players 12 to 14, and Senior League for players 13 to 16. The Junior and Senior leagues use a standard 90-foot (27-meter) baseball diamond. Age divisions for softball are the same as for baseball.
Tee Ball and Minor League teams have no roster size limits. The teams in the other leagues may include 12 to 15 players. Tee Ball teams play about 10 games each year. Teams in the other leagues play at least 12 games a season to determine the league champion. Each local league selects an all-star team from the league’s players. After the season, the all-star team competes in a tournament against all-star teams from other local leagues.
Players in the Little League Baseball Major Division use a diamond two-thirds the size of a regulation baseball diamond, and games last six innings instead of nine. Players on tournament teams must be from 10 to 12 years old. The tournaments determine 20 regional champions—10 from the United States; 1 each from the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, the Europe-Africa region, Japan, Latin America, and Mexico; and 2 from a group that consists of Cuba, Panama, and Puerto Rico. The 20 regional winners participate in the Little League World Series at South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The 10 United States and 10 International teams play in separate divisions. The United States and International division winners play for the championship. The Little League World Series was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Little League program was founded in 1939 by Carl Stotz, a lumberyard clerk in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Headquarters are in Williamsport.
