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Making The Pitch For Baseball Competition for the attention of young people seems to be increasing. But baseball organizations throughout the country are making the pitch to America's youth to get more players in on the game. BY PAIGE TOWNLEY www.sportseventsmagazine.com "For 75 years, we have been a community organization, and Little League is actively looking for new ways to make the Little League Experience better for players, parents and volunteers," said Brian McClintock, director of media relations for the organization. "With the launch of the Intermediate Baseball Division, we're providing a transitional step for 11- to 13year-olds from the field size and rules in Little League to the more conventional field size and rules seen at our higher levels, colleges and professional baseball." Little League Inc. has also created a new program for its Tee Ball Division. "The program gives volunteers ready-toimplement plans for giving our youngest Little Leaguers the opportunity to have more fun while learning about fitness and fundamentals," McClintock said. In addition to the new division and program, Little League Inc. continues to provide benefits to its participants, such as free background checks to every local league; access to a large database of proprietary information on player safety, safety guidelines, equipment guidelines and educational materials for coaches; baseball camps; umpire schools; and coaches training. "Additionally, we are launching a new parent's communications initiative, The Parent Connection, where we will directly communicate with our Little League parents, families and ➤ PO NY A ccording to USA Baseball, the governing body for baseball in the United States, more and more organizations at the grassroots level are providing opportunities for children and youth to play. "Some organizations may see fluctuations in their numbers, but I'm not convinced it's fewer kids playing baseball than it is just them playing under different umbrellas," said Paul Seiler, executive director and CEO for USA Baseball. "There are more opportunities to play now than there were 15 to 20 years ago." Little League Inc., with approximately 2.1 million baseball members, is one organization taking steps to increase its numbers and further develop and enhance its brand of baseball. This year the group launched the Little League Intermediate Baseball Division, which held its inaugural World Series in California this summer. This is the organization's first new division since 1999. Ba se ba ll PONY Baseball 2014 Baseball/Softball Sourcebook 5