Little League Softball World Series on ESPN

[_MIA_]

I know in the past some LL baseball teams have been stripped of their titles because they violated their boundary rules. https://www.espn.com/chicago/story/...s-chicago-team-us-championship-suspends-coach

She isn't the only one who doesn't live in that area (Green County)...Maybe the boundary is 100 miles or something

 

[Bernmoll]

She isn't the only one who doesn't live in that area...Maybe the boundary is 100 miles or something

 

[The Man In Blue]

Not to diminish from those who have had good experience ... and my info is over ten years old with the possibility of me misremembering ... We looked at joining LL when I ran that program.

The geographic area is determined when an organization forms. It is not pre-determined or limited (that I recall) by Little League other than it can't encroach on another program. The program could be a town, a school district, a county, a tri-county area ... it just matters on the boundaries the organization draws when it forms.

Despite that, you still see issues. Look at the baseball side a few years back when the Illinois team won it all ... and then forfeited it all.

As far as teams advancing, some of that also relies on the programs around you. There is a little pocket of LL in a rural area about an hour from here. They make a big deal out of the fact that they advance a team to state every year. Thing is, there are not enough teams for there to be many steps to get to state. Basically, whoever wins their league is automatically getting a birth.

Edit: I can't find any TV listings ... could somebody post them? Or are they regional?

 

[_MIA_]

The geographic area is determined when an organization forms. It is not pre-determined or limited (that I recall) by Little League other than it can't encroach on another program. The program could be a town, a school district, a county, a tri-county area ... it just matters on the boundaries the organization draws when it forms.

So if there is only one LL league in the state a team could come from all over the state..my guess, if this is true, is what is happening with OK.

Edit: I can't find any TV listings ... could somebody post them? Or are they regional?

The games are on ESPN+

 

[Traps71]

Listings…

Little League® World Series Game Listing

Below is a listing of all 2023 Little League® World Series games. Games can be displayed by using either the date, tournament, region or network filters below. Little League® International is proud to have more than 300 games broadcast on ESPN Platforms this summer for family and friends to...

www.littleleague.org

 

[The Man In Blue]

Thanks guys. Boo ESPN+.

 

[Traps71]

we have tried this approach and it hasn’t worked well for us. Our league boundary is too small and the talent we have don’t play for the same travel team so it’s always a nightmare getting it to work for families trying to do both especially when it comes to regular season games and scheduling. We also do the 60% attendance rule as well and we seem to start losing girls at 12 when they start doing really well and their parents are willing to drive hour plus to get them to travel team practice outside of town.

Im glad they are televising it on ESPN 2. Any publicity in my opinion is great for the sport. Rec league/little league/ babe Ruth is where virtually all girls start.

Not sure if the size of your program would allow for it, but when I say “loosely affiliated” travel team, I mean that dads /moms who coach teams in the LL, take 10-12 girls from the across the LL who are interested in playing more competitive ball and forming a travel team that they also manage. There is an organization banner, but the org mostly exists on paper and the teams largely operate independently. So, typically, there is a 9U, 10U, 11U, and 12U team. The teams compete mostly locally and the allure of all stars is often enough to keep the teams together through 12U. The most competitive girls (or craziest parents) often will play for bigger travel orgs in the area, but generally have found a way to make it work.

Am sure you’ve thought of all this, but probably the most important thing you can do to improve the quality of play in your LL (apart from getting knowledgeable coaches who are in it for the right reasons), is to provide resources for girls to learn how to pitch. The girl and her mom or dad will eventually have to put in the work to make real progress, but they need a sound place to start. Our LL puts on pitching clinics in the fall and in the offseason. The cost is nominal to the families. This is the biggest difference I see when we play other, less competitive Little Leagues. We also have innings limits (6 per League week), which prevents teams from riding one girl and not developing other pitchers. Poor pitching=poor softball and a lack of development for everybody. Not to mention brutal spectating for parents!

 

[Traps71]

Not to diminish from those who have had good experience ... and my info is over ten years old with the possibility of me misremembering ... We looked at joining LL when I ran that program.

The geographic area is determined when an organization forms. It is not pre-determined or limited (that I recall) by Little League other than it can't encroach on another program. The program could be a town, a school district, a county, a tri-county area ... it just matters on the boundaries the organization draws when it forms.

Despite that, you still see issues. Look at the baseball side a few years back when the Illinois team won it all ... and then forfeited it all.

As far as teams advancing, some of that also relies on the programs around you. There is a little pocket of LL in a rural area about an hour from here. They make a big deal out of the fact that they advance a team to state every year. Thing is, there are not enough teams for there to be many steps to get to state. Basically, whoever wins their league is automatically getting a birth.

Edit: I can't find any TV listings ... could somebody post them? Or are they regional?

I hear you and the other LL in our District that fields softball has not been competitive now for many years, based mostly on the size of the program. That said, there are 16 LL Districts in VA and, I think, 13 of them field softball. At States every year, there are 3-5 districts (including ours) that are capable of winning it all. Usually, too, one of the more rural districts will have a team with a pitcher who was bred on the milk of red wolves, eats biscuits and gravy at every meal, and throws in the upper 50s from 40 feet. She can carry a team if you meet her on the wrong day.

It was interesting at VA States this year, there probably were a half dozen competitive teams and even some of the weaker teams had a pitcher. Overall pitching depth was much better than had been seen in years past.

 

[Bernmoll]

Not sure if the size of your program would allow for it, but when I say “loosely affiliated” travel team, I mean that dads /moms who coach teams in the LL, take 10-12 girls from the across the LL who are interested in playing more competitive ball and forming a travel team that they also manage. There is an organization banner, but the org mostly exists on paper and the teams largely operate independently. So, typically, there is a 9U, 10U, 11U, and 12U team. The teams compete mostly locally and the allure of all stars is often enough to keep the teams together through 12U. The most competitive girls (or craziest parents) often will play for bigger travel orgs in the area, but generally have found a way to make it work.

Am sure you’ve thought of all this, but probably the most important thing you can do to improve the quality of play in your LL (apart from getting knowledgeable coaches who are in it for the right reasons), is to provide resources for girls to learn how to pitch. The girl and her mom or dad will eventually have to put in the work to make real progress, but they need a sound place to start. Our LL puts on pitching clinics in the fall and in the offseason. The cost is nominal to the families. This is the biggest difference I see when we play other, less competitive Little Leagues. We also have innings limits (6 per League week), which prevents teams from riding one girl and not developing other pitchers. Poor pitching=poor softball and a lack of development for everybody. Not to mention brutal spectating for parents!

Absolutely agree with your comments on the pitching piece - We launched 2 free pitching clinics this past spring for our minors team and I’m proposing that we do a few more for the fall and spring and have it budgeted/planned every season. We usually only have 2 minors/kid pitch teams (equiv to 8/10u), 2 majors teams (overlap of some talented 10u-12u) and no juniors team. My DD started in TBall with the LL and finally at about age 8-9, wanted to pitch but was frustrated to know that the only decent pitchers were the ones who spent their own money to findprivate pitching coaches. The league didn’t provide much assistance. Most of the focus with our local LL has been on baseball.

our first experience in travel was my DD’s all star LL Minors kid pitch team. The HC created this new travel team and Unfortunately it fell apart for multiple reasons after 1 season. some of the girls ventured off to 3-4 different travels teams some as far as an hour and a half away. Because we don’t have a big pool of girls, it’s been difficult to keep and field a very competitive team.

 

[kennykozman!!]

I’m doubtful the top LL team would beat an A Level USSSA/PGF team.. simply because Little league is supposed to be comprised of talent from a specific limited geographic area/boundary while top travel teams are usually comprised of talent from all over.

Each LL team is supposed to be from one little league. However because the amount of teams grows smaller each year LL are combining for all star tournaments.