Youth Baseball Registration News

New Little League Age Cutoff Dates Go Into Effect

A new league age determination date will be in effect for the coming season in all divisions of Little League. The decision was announced in May after the Little League International Board of Directors officially accepted a recommendation from USA Baseball to change the league age determination date for its players starting in the 2006 season.

The league age determination date is the age a player has attained as of a specific date, for the purpose of placing the player in a particular division. For more than 55 years that date was July 31, but starting in 2006 the date used by all divisions of Little League Baseball will be April 30 of the current year.

Exceptions

• Little League has approved a change that provides an option for 12-year-olds to "play up" in the Junior Division
• For the 2006 season only, a player born in May, June or July of 2001 may be selected to a Tee Ball team.

The main goal of the new age cutoff change is to retain as many players as possible in the 12-and-under division, since participation in youth baseball drops off severely when players move into the 12 and 14-year-old age brackets. Due to the change, most players on a team will now spend the majority of the regular season at the same chronological age as their league age.

For more information on the change, visit the Little League website at:
www.littleague.org/media/age_change_Oct05.asp

2006 Little Leage Age Chart (for baseball divisions only)

Match month (top line) with year of birth to determine League age

Without using the chart, an easy way to determine a child's league age for the 2006 baseball season is to follow these guidelines:

• A participant born on or between the dates of May 1, 2000 and April 30, 2001, is league age 5
• A participant born on or between the dates of May 1, 1999 and April 30, 2000, is league age 6
• A participant born on or between the dates of May 1, 1998 and April 30, 1999, is league age 7
• A participant born on or between the dates of May 1, 1997 and April 30, 1998, is league age 8
• A participant born on or between the dates of May 1, 1996 and April 30, 1997, is league age 9
• A participant born on or between the dates of May 1, 1995 and April 30, 1996, is league age 10
• A participant born on or between the dates of May 1, 1994 and April 30, 1995, is league age 11
• A participant born on or between the dates of May 1, 1993 and April 30, 1994, is league age 12
• A participant born on or between the dates of May 1, 1992 and April 30, 1993, is league age 13
• A participant born on or between the dates of May 1, 1990 and April 30, 1991, is league age 15
• A participant born on or between the dates of May 1, 1989 and April 30, 1990, is league age 16
• A participant born on or between the dates of May 1, 1988 and April 30, 1989, is league age 17
• A participant born on or between the dates of May 1, 1987 and April 30, 1988, is league age 18