USA BASEBALL

“The game of baseball remains strong in its core traditions while embracing new audiences, new technologies and new opportunities for growth,” he says.

The organization is as focused on promoting participation in baseball as it is organizing national teams for various age groups.

“The Fun At Bat school program came to be in 2017, falling under the Play Ball initiative, and since then has reached the impressive milestone of five million participants nationwide,” reports Hartford. “Created in tandem with Major League Baseball, it is a physical education program for elementary school-aged children. The program is primarily delivered through P.E. courses and is intended to help students reach expected standards for their age, while also introducing them to the fun of diamond sports.”

Each year at the national level, USA Baseball identifies, selects and trains up to six national teams that will represent the U.S. in international competitions.  

As far as where the baseball games in the Olympics in 2028 will be held, there is still no official word on where those games will be played. USA Baseball won’t start ramping up plans to pick the baseball squad for the LA Olympics until late 2027 or early 2028.

LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL INTERNATIONAL

Little League International, which was founded in 1939, oversees the most youth baseball participants in age from 4-16 years old. Little League-sanctioned games are held in all 50 U.S. states as well as more than 80 countries.

“Little League International today remains the world’s largest youth sports organization with approximately two million children playing baseball and softball in more than 80 countries around the world,” reports Kevin Fountain, senior director of communications. “Additionally, Little League’s global participation in recent years has also seen an increase as more leagues around the world have come through the pandemic and are able to return to a pre-pandemic league operation.

“Overall, our team numbers were up slightly from what we saw for the 2023 season and slightly up from our 2019 participation, so we’re encouraged to see more children returning to youth baseball and softball, especially Little League.”

According to Fountain, the age groups with the highest participation levels continue to be at the youngest age groups — from T-Ball, which starts at age four, through the Little League Baseball and Softball divisions, which are ages 10-12.

PONY BASEBALL & SOFTBALL

Since 1951, Pony Baseball & Softball has been busy promoting, organizing and conducting youth baseball programs. The organization started in the same town where the organization is headquartered -- in Washington, PA, and nits presence is felt in 42 states and 50 countries. According to president Abe Key, his organization’s biggest presence in the U.S. is in Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Texas, and California. Internationally, PONY has a strong presence in Germany, Czech Republic, Holland, Italy, Japan, The Philippines, and Indonesia.

This year, there will be eight different Pony Baseball World Series events.  One of the more intriguing initiatives has been its role in expanding interest in international women’s baseball.

BABE RUTH LEAGUE BASEBALL

Since 1951 the Babe Ruth League baseball experience has been enjoyed by children aged four to 18. In 2024, the Babe Ruth League—headquartered in Hamilton, NJ – had approximately 625,000 players in its baseball division. According to president/CEO Steven Tellefsen, his organization’s highest rates of participation are with younger children.

“Our strongest participation numbers are typically in the Cal Ripken Baseball Division, which serves players aged 4-12,” he says.

The Babe Ruth League Baseball experience is currently enjoyed in 49 states as well as 26 countries where there are more than 3,370 teams.

AMERICAN AMATEUR BASEBALL CONGRESS

Since 1935, the American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC) has been conducting organized/sanctioned baseball programs. According to president Richard Neely, now in his 18th year in charge of the AABC, the organization has a presence in 20 states with 80,000 participants competing under the AABC banner.  

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Major League Baseball is just as focused on developing players for the future as it is focused on the players currently playing in the big leagues. A few of those programs include MLB’s Pitch Hit & Run, The Breakthrough Series, the Nike RBI Program, and the MLB GRIT: Girls ID Tour.

• Major League Baseball’s Pitch Hit & Run is a free event that provides boys and girls ages 7-14 an opportunity to showcase their skills while earning a chance to attend and perform during the MLB World Series. Athletes are tested, and their measurements are recorded. Based on their scores they advance from a local event to a Team Championship held in MLB stadiums.

• The Breakthrough Series, established in 2008, is a joint effort of USA Baseball and Major League Baseball that focuses on developing players on and off the field through seminars, mentorship, gameplay, scout evaluations, video coverage and the highest level of instruction, all while providing a platform for the players to perform for scouts and collegiate coaches. The events are completely cost-free with USA Baseball covering expenses for the players.

The Nike RBI Program has served approximately two million young people since its inception back in the early 1990s with many RBI alumni having played in MLB, including Jackie Bradley, Jr. (Kansas City Royals), Hunter Greene (Cincinnati Reds), Alek Thomas (Arizona Diamondbacks), and Dominic Smith (Washington Nationals). The program is administered by Major League Baseball and designed to give young people from underserved and diverse communities the opportunity to play baseball and softball, while also encouraging academic achievement and success and teaching the value of teamwork and other important life lessons. Nike RBI currently serves youth in more than 200 programs in approximately 200 cities worldwide.

• Major League Baseball’s MLB GRIT: Girls ID Tour is specifically for female athletes (18 and under) to showcase their talent and ability as baseball players. The event format is similar to a pro-style workout where athletes are evaluated on their talent. The top performers from the event will be selected to participate in the Girls Baseball Elite Development Invitational, a one-week program geared toward providing elite training and instruction, as well as the annual Girls Baseball Breakthrough Series.