Little League International Board of Directors and Senior Staff.
By Communications Division
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.
May 8, 2012
As a result of voting conducted online by volunteer District Administrators around the world, the Little League International Board of Directors on Saturday approved a measure to create a new division of Little League Baseball. The vote took place at the annual Spring Meeting, held at the Little League Western Region Headquarters in San Bernardino, Calif.
Featuring a pitching distance of 50 feet and base paths of 70 feet, the new baseball division for players who are league-age 11-13 will be offered for the 2013 regular season. It will include postseason tournament opportunities, including a World Series.
The new baseball division will serve as a bridge between the current “Little League” size field (46-foot pitching distance, 60-foot base paths) and a standard baseball diamond with 60.5-foot pitching and 90-foot base paths.
It is the first new division of play in Little League since 1999, when Junior League Softball was added to the list of 12 current programs that are part of the Little League International Tournament. Little League Baseball and Softball games are played by more than 2.5 million boys and girls ages 4 to 18 in 80 countries.
The Little League West Region staff hosted the International Board of Directors for its annual spring meeting. Pictured above (left to right) are: Dave Bonham, Assistant West Region Director; Stephen D. Keener, President and Chief Executive Officer; Dr. Davie Jane Gilmour, Chairman-Elect; Dennis Lewin, Chairman of the Board; Dr. Creighton J. Hale, former President and Chief Executive Officer; and Jim Gerstenslager, West Region Director.
Little League International is now preparing rules and regulations for regular season and tournament play. More information on this new division, including the site for its first World Series in August 2013, will be released in coming months.
“We want to thank all of the volunteers in our leagues and districts who participated in the 50-70 Pilot Program over the past two seasons,” Patrick Wilson, Senior Vice President of Operations and Program Development, said. “The input and opinions we received from them was invaluable in crafting the new division of play. We are pleased to be able to offer this new option to our local leagues around the world.”
The creation of the new division, and the ages that would be involved in it, was among several items on the agenda for a series of Round Table meetings held in recent months at various locations around the world. The agenda was provided to local leagues before the Round Tables, so volunteers could have input with their District Administrator on crafting the wording of the changes. Those District Administrators then voted online in April whether or not to send each individual measure to the International Board of Directors, or the Little League International Tournament Committee.
