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Shoreline Little League

League Age Guidelines

League-Age Guidelines 

Your player’s league age is determined by the Little League Softball® Age Charts. The Age Determination Date for a Little League Softball player is the actual age of a child on December 31 of the year prior to the season. 

League Age Calculator - League Age Determination - Little League


Division Information

Division

League Age

Division Objective

Requirements

Assessments

Team Formation

T-Ball

(Coed)

5-6

At this level of play, the focus is exclusively on learning the very basic fundamentals of the game and having tons of fun, so the kids will come back next year. Coaches place balls on the tee for hitting. Emphasis is on basic skills, teamwork, and fun. Teams are formed by neighborhood where possible and may vary depending on enrollment for a given neighborhood.

Hitting: Ball placed on tee

Field Size: 60-foot base path (or shorter)

Ball Type: Tee ball or RIF Safety 5

Practice/Games: 1 practice and 1 game per week typically 1 hour

End of Season Tournament: None

Team Formation: Placement and by request

• Open to all league age 5 and 6 year olds

N/A

• By neighborhood and request

A/AA RapidSoftball

6-8

AA Division is for League Age 6 - 9 year-olds, and is a transitional level to upper level softball. Players further develop their softball skills, softball IQ, and sportsmanship in a safe and fun environment.

Utilizes a pitching machine or coach pitch (when a machine is not available), with a set of rules to promote a faster pace of play, with an emphasis on player development and more frequent reps. Games feature the following:

- Time-Based Innings: Each inning will be 20 minutes, divided evenly with each team stepping up to bat for 10 minutes.

- Continuous Play: Designed to maximize player development. After three outs, bases will clear, but the batting team keeps batting until the clock runs down.

- Pitch Count: Batters will have 3 swinging strikes or receive a maximum of 5 pitches.

Enhanced Pitching Development: In each half-inning, guided by a coach, players not in the field will take on a 25-pitch “bullpen” session. This approach is tailored to afford more players pitching opportunities, thereby enhancing their skills and deepening their understanding of pitching fundamentals.

Hitting: Coach or machine pitch - timed 10 minute half innings

Field Size: 60-foot base path

Ball Type: 10” Hard Softball

Practice/Games: 1 practice and 2 games per week typically 1 hour 30 minutes

End of Season Tournament: None

Team Formation: Placement and by request

• Open to all league age 6 - 9 year olds

• Recommended that 6 year olds have at least 1 year of T-Ball or prior playing experience

• Exceptions for playing up may vary year to year dependent on registration data and division enrollment

N/A

• By neighborhood and request

AAA

9-10

The goal of our Softball - AAA division is to have fun, while refining the fundamentals of softball (Fielding, hitting, pitching and throwing) and introducing individual (Bunting, etc) and team concepts (Cut-offs, rundowns, stealing, etc). Scores are kept. The season wraps up with a double elimination, end of season tournament (EOS) amongst all of the AAA teams within our league.

Hitting: Player pitch

Field Size: 60-foot base path

Ball Type: 11” Hard Softball

Practice/Games: 1 practice and 2 games per week typically 2 hours

End of Season Tournament: Pool Play, Championship

Team Formation: Placement and by request

• League age 9 year olds that have at least 1 year of A/AA RapidSoftball  are eligible to assess

• League age 9 year olds that are not drafted to AAA will be placed on A/AA RapidSoftball  division teams based on evaluation scores

• Exceptions for playing up may vary year to year dependent on registration data and division enrollment

League age 9 and League Age 10

Teams are formed by draft after an individual player assessment. If a player is unable to attend assessments due to illness or hardship the player needs to follow the Waiver process to maintain draft eligibility. League age 8 and 9-year olds are not guaranteed to make a Softball- AAA team (If not drafted, a player would move to our Softball– A/AA RapidSoftball).

Majors

11-12

Majors Softball is a competitive level of play. The goal of our Softball-Majors division is still to have fun, while refining the fundamentals of softball (Fielding, hitting and throwing) and introducing individual (Bunting, etc) and team concepts (Cut-offs, rundowns, stealing, etc). Scores and standings are kept and an end of the season district tournament is likely.

Hitting: Player Pitch

Field Size: 60-foot base path

Ball Type: 12” Hard Softball

Practice/Games: 1 practice and 2 games per week typically 2 hours

End of Season Tournament: Pool play random draw, Championship

Team Formation: Draft

• Players little league age 12 have priority placement in the Major’s division.

• League age 11 year olds have priority placement IF they have played at least 2 years of AAA

• League age 11 year olds that have at least 1 year of AAA are draft eligible

• Exceptions for playing up may vary year to year dependent on registration data and division enrollment

• The player agent may opt to bring up players from younger divisions to fill a roster to ensure balanced teams for competitive play.

League Age 12

League Age 11

• Establish minimum number of league age 12 year olds to ensure that all 12 year old’s are placed on Majors teams

• Remaining slots on roster may be any combination of ages from those available in the draft pool

Juniors / Seniors

13-16

Juniors

For girls league age 13-14. Score and standings are kept, and a double elimination league tournament is held at the end of the season

Practices: 2 or 3, 90-minute field practices per week

Games: 2 to 3 games per week, with games during the week and weekends. Some games will be against teams from neighboring leagues within District 8

Seniors

For girls league age 15-16

Aiming to see if we have enough high school age players that are interested in extending their season, or girls that didn't play high school that would like to play as a tournament team/all stars team with practices beginning after the high school season ends and anticipate tournament to start in June/July.

Juniors

For girls league age 13- 14

Seniors

For girls league age 15-16

Contact

Shoreline Little League

PO Box 33005 
Shoreline, Washington 98133

Email: [email protected]

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