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May 10, 2021
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The LL Juniors division is 13-14 year old girls.

At the LL state tournament in MI I can tell you the tourney champs were a pretty good team........14B good. From Hudsonville/Georgetown.
This team might win 1-2 games at a USSSA state tournament at 14B. Many of the kids on the team play travel as well. I agree with many posters as these are primarily 14B teams.

My DD played for the host team and the level of play was all over the place. We had no 14 year olds and (4 )13 year old kids. Our LL brought up 12 year olds so we could be competitive.

1st game lost 14-4 to eventual runner up
Won 21-3 the next night against a team that won a run ruled game the previous night. Just wow!
Won 25-0 the last night.

Many LL's only have 1 or 2 Junior level teams as more kids pile into travel ball.

Still good reps and kids had fun trading pins, making new friends and hearing their names called as they were introduced.

Our travel team encourages playing in LL/Rec to get more reps. However my DD is a 14B player. She will play again next year.
 
May 10, 2021
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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?
Right.....In our district there were 2 teams in the district tournament for Juniors. They played a 3 game series. 2 games to get to State.
Back in 1980 you would have had to win 10 games.
 
Jun 8, 2016
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Oklahoma better hope they haven't broken any rules because you can be sure somebody is checking right about now.. :LOL:
 
May 27, 2013
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So I believe the 60% games played rule is actually a LL International rule. Also, a player theoretically does not have to reside within the local LL boundaries if they attend a school that is within those boundaries (so a private school that is within boundaries).

There are also LL’s that will legally merge teams if their individual LL cannot produce enough players for rec teams in their LL. We saw this frequently in our District.

Also, if a team is getting away with out-of-boundary players, then the tournament directors are not doing their due diligence. When I was on the BOD for our LL, I was assigned the 10U District tourney at our home fields. I was required to review the roster which is also supposed to have a map attached of that LL’s boundaries and each player’s address marked off and listed on the roster. The approved roster is also reviewed beforehand at the District level and signed off by the District commissioner a week or two before the tourneys start. Birth Certs and addresses are reviewed at that meeting. The process of the TD signing off is supposed to occur before each game at each level of play during All-Stars. If done right it would be pretty difficult to get ineligible players through - but it happens.

Also, LL International has no rule against travel ball players being rostered.
 
Jun 8, 2016
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It could give the uniformed the impression that the LLSBWS is the highest level of girls softball.


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Yes I understood that from your first message but why does it matter what the uninformed think? You think it will somehow hurt the future (or even present) of the game?
 
Last edited:
Aug 27, 2019
640
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Lakewood CA.
Yes I understood that from your first message but why does it matter what the uninformed think? You think it will somehow hurt the future (or even present) of the game?

Maybe, maybe not. It’s just not the best example of the sport.


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Apr 26, 2019
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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

This doesn't surprise me in the least. As long as there are youth sports there will be egomaniac, failed athlete coaches that have to make it all about them and winning.

My younger daughter played co-ed rec basketball in first grade, FIRST GRADE. The coach of the team we were playing in the playoffs' semi-finals game was a nightmare. He thought his team would walk us. They didn't. He began screaming at the time keeper/score keeper, trying go intimidate the referees and at one point during a team time our started yelling "I GOTS TO WIN!" at his team.
 

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