Answer: The basic equipment your child needs to play is: a glove, cleats, and a cup for boys. Cleats are not completely essential but make for a safer and more competitve experience. Cups are mandantory for all boys playing Little League baseball both at practice and during games. We highly recommend that your child have: his own bat, his own batting helmet, and baseball/softball pants. Coaches will generally have a number of bats for kids to use should they not have their own. However, most players do bring their own favorite bat. Little League also provides batting helmets for each team. If you are concerned about your child sharing helmets with their teammates you should purchase a batting helmet for your child. Face masks are required for Mini League players. As far as the pants go, most baseball coaches require that player wear baseball pants to practice. Other items include sliding shorts, batting gloves, and a bat bag to store their gear in.

Question: What size bat should I purchase for my child?

Answer: This is a rather complicated question since kids come in all shapes and sizes. The basic concept is that first you pick the weight of the bat, and then you pick the length. A batter's power is determined by bat speed or how fast he can swing the bat through the strike zone. Therefore, the weight of the bat is the main determining factor in how fast a player can swing the bat. The rule of thumb is that your child should be able to hold the bat in one hand, extend his arm until the bat is at shoulder height, and then hold it for 20 seconds. Make sure the bat doesn't dip and that the kid is not doing gyrations to keep the bat up. This will give you the weight of the bat that your child can effectively handle. Now find the longest bat with that weight. The longer the bat the more of the plate the batter can cover. When looking at bats you'll hear a term called "drop". Drop is the length of the bat (in inches) minus the weight of bat (in ounces). For example, a 30 inch bat that weighs 20 ounces has a drop of -10. The greater the drop, the more effective the bat. Grip is another important factor. Your child should be able to comfortably grip the bat. Other factors include the material used in the grip, the size of the butt, the construction of the bat, etc. The bottom line is: 1) the bat must not be too heavy for the child, 2) it should be long enough to cover the plate, and 3) it should be comfortable in your child's hands.

Question: Why are the pitcher eligibility rules based on the number of pitches thrown?

Answer: In a nutshell, to try to protect young arms. In studies conducted by the American Sports Medicine Institute, the number of pitches thrown was the major contributing factor in arm problems for young pitchers. One study observed that pitchers who threw past their point of fatique were 36 times more likely to face surgery than those who stopped when signs of fatique began to show. Based on these studies, Little League stepped in and put a limit on the number of pitches a player could throw. To learn more about the reasoning behind the pitch count rules from Little League International, click here.

Question: What isn't MCLL providing baseball pants as part of the baseball uniforms this year?

Answer: In an effort to keep registration fees from going up this year the board decided not to include pants as part of their baseball uniforms. We are not having the fund raiser dinner and auction this year. In order to keep the organization financially sound the board needed to take some measures to cut costs without cutting services. It was felt that most families would already have pants for their children to wear and this would be a good place to cut back on costs to the organization.

Question: I wanted my child to play for a certain coach this year. Why can't I specify the coach that my child will play for?

Answer: All players in our organization are drafted onto teams at the beginning of each season. (The exception to this rule is in Major League baseball where players have remained on a team during their stay in the Major League. This is likely to change for next season.) The reason players are drafted each year is to give all teams an even chance at having a good season. This results in a more competitive, exciting season for everyone involved. If a player wanted a particular coach then the coach would have to draft that child. If we allowed one child to be placed on a particular coach’s team, then we would have to allow every child the right. Then you would have more players on a team then on others. Then you would also run into the problem of coaches going out and trying to recruit players by having them to request them as their coach. This would never work within our program. By allowing the coaches to draft their team, then they have the opportunity to get certain players.