Break out your peanuts and Crackerjacks! Baseball season is back, and the North Central Little League (NCLL) is gearing up for a year of record participation. The league has around 500 participants signed up, substantially higher than the 400 who played last year. Thirty-seven teams will play each other this year in the league. This number is up from last year, as additional teams were added to accommodate the surge in participants. NCLL has 19 sponsors and has sought out more because of the growing number of teams. Sponsors include Anytime Fitness, Zokas Coffee and Greenwood Hardware. Ayers credited the surge in registration to the marketing team of parents and board members."They put lots of time into it," said league president Chuck Ayers, explaining that the team sent fliers home with kids through school and e-mailed parents.COMMITMENT TO THE COMMUNITYChuck Ayers has been president for two years, but has been involved with the league for about five years. His involvement began through coaching both his daughter's softball team and his son's baseball team. Ayers said that parent volunteers do the "vast majority of coaching." Ayers said the NCLL's goal is "to raise good, healthy kids committed to their community, by teaching them the sport of baseball.... That's really what it's all about." Patrick Murphy, whose son will participate in the Majors this year, has been involved with the league for more than nine years. Currently, Murphy serves on the board and the marketing team; previously, he volunteered as a coach and an umpire. "Every league is different," Murphy said, noting that while some leagues around the Seattle area have cuts after tryouts, in the NSLL "every kid that signs up to play gets to play." Murphy explained that the league "takes the approach that it's about having fun," but conceded that the older a player gets, the more competitive the divisions get. The games are intra-league, for the most part, meaning the different teams play each other. Occasionally, teams will set up games with other leagues. Ayers said that although they have "fantastic volunteers," they are in need of more, particularly in the area of umpiring: "Unfortunately, we have problems finding umpires." While help for the younger leagues is typically adequate, the older leagues have trouble finding umpires because the scoring gets more complex. "Parents (the main volunteer demographic) can't ump their own kids' games, and it can be tough to find people willing to get trained," Ayers said. FOR ALL SKILL LEVELSCarl Stolz officially started Little League in 1938 in Williamsport, Penn. Since its creation, Little Leagues have popped up all over the world. The North Central Little League, serving kids in the community for 57 years, is in District 8 of Washington's 13 Little League districts. District 8 serves North Seattle, from the ship canal north to the King/Snohomish county line, and from Puget Sound east to Lake Washington and through Woodinville, according to its website (www.district8wa.org).District 8 has 15 different leagues, with the North Central Little League encompassing Wallingford, Fremont, Phinney Ridge and parts of Green Lake and Ballard. The League is a nonprofit organization. It incorporates both softball and baseball teams and has different levels of teams for different age groups and skill levels. For 5- and 6-year-olds, the T-Ball Division is where they begin. Coach Pitch Division, created in 2004, is for kids age 7 and 8. This division focuses on training and skill-building rather than competitive play.Once children reach age 9, they enter the Minors Division, where the play becomes slightly more competitive but is still focused on building skills.Competitive play becomes a bigger factor in the Majors Division, generally intended for those age 10 to 12. (In some cases 9-year-olds can move up to play in the Majors.) A Majors draft occurs at the beginning of every season after tryouts to allocate players to teams. Players age 15 and 16 can try out for the Junior/Seniors Division. The Girls Fast Pitch Division is intended for girls age 9 and up. The upcoming season is scheduled to kick off with a jamboree April 5. Regular season play begins April 7.For more information on NCLL, visit eteamz.active.com/northcentral/.[[In-content Ad]]
