LL BB changing "age determination date" to August 31

[FastBat]

Little League baseball announced they will be changing their "age determination date" to Aug. 31. They sited, "The move to Aug. 31 will bring its registration in line with most school districts, allowing more kids to play with their classmates." Which is a sensible because this type of league is community based. They also said the were interested in making 12u BB an all 12's division, not allowing any 13's to participate; 67 of the 209 players at this year's World Series were 13 years old.

I can't imagine how this "age determination chart" would impact SB, if it were adopted, changing the cut off from January 1 to August 31.


Here's an aritcle:
http://espn.go.com/sports/llws15/story/_/id/13623244/little-league-phase-13-year-olds-beginning-2018

 

[Jae13]

I hope this rule is adopted by our softball sanctions. Have always asked why school ages and ball ages should differ? Interested in people's remarks.

 

[Maxdad]

I don't think there is a standard cut-off date for school districts. Some use August 31, some use September 30, which one should be the standard??

 

[brownsfan]

There isn't a standard. When we lived in Troy, I believe the cut-off was Aug 31 which made my youngest DD a 2017. When we reloaced to NE Ohio, the school district we moved to, changed the cut-off date from Aug 15 to July 31, thus allowing my dd to be in the class of 2018.

I hope the sanctioning bodies do NOT change their cut-off. As it stands, first year 15U are still eligible for 14U showcases and I know of some orgs outside of Ohio who uses that to their advantage to get the last of their uncommitted girls who are late bloomers, shown in front of colleges who are at the 14U age group tourneys (and not at the 16U side of the house)

 

[MD 20/20]

This is interesting. I believe it was just this year that LL changed the boys age cutoff (traditionally been 4/30) to match the girls (1/1) but only for incoming players (7 year olds) all older players would continue to play with the grandfathered 4/30 date. It will be interesting to see if the girls follow suit. As far as the playing field being all 13 year olds, I really don't mind that, as everyone is playing by the same rules, so all the teams are 13 heavy rather than 12 heavy. I just can't believe and this is the only thing that truly bothers me about the whole LL tournament and it being shown so much on TV..... LL is so over the top concerned about players safety, and pitching rest and restrictions. How in the world can they allow breaking balls at this age. 11 and 12 year olds will be getting Tommy John soon. I manage one of my local 11-12 Babe Ruth teams and I won't even show a breaking ball nor allow any of my players to throw it even in warm ups. A fastball, changeup and maybe a 2-seamer is all a kid needs at that age.

 

[jt7663]

Little League Int. initially did this to align with the Softball Age Cutoff of Jan. 1st & to curtail the 13 year old LL World Series Players. Now they have decided it would be best if they align with the school cutoff. All this is not to be enforced until 2018 so by the they will probably change a couple more times.

 

[FastBat]

The new breakdown says, Players born on or after September 1, 2005: The new age determination date will be effective immediately, starting with the 2016 season; Players born on or before August 31, 2005: The new age determination date of August 31 will be effective starting with the 2018 Little League Baseball Season. So it changes this year for most 05's and younger.

Thinking about it...I am beginning to realize our SB age determination is actually pretty darn good! I have complained before, but compared to charts and possible mistakes, the simplicity of softball age determination makes me a fan.

 

[Softball Dad]

DD has a late September birthday. This makes her a young one on her travel team and one of the oldest on school team. Add to that she played up to 16U as a 14 and she now has a lot more experience than most freshman. This past summer she played ball with this school years juniors and seniors. Hopefully this pays off come time to tryout for varsity team.


Down side is recruiting talks get serious junior year and she will have to be playing 18u. I know she needs to be on the radar before then.

 

[Louuuuu]

The actual date is irrelevant, as long as Everybody in the sport uses the same date.

As far as Travel Ball goes, "playing with your classmates" doesn't happen anyhow, as people travel great distances to be on any given team. There are very few kids in the same grade - at the same school - on any team.