Youth Baseball Age Cutoff Date to Change
USA Baseball, the governing body for amateur baseball, has recommended that the league age determination date for youth organizations be changed from July 31 to April 30, although the change won't take place in time for the 2005 season.
Virtually every major national amateur baseball organization in the United States - including Little League, Babe Ruth, Dixie, AABC, NABF and PONY - is a USA Baseball member and is affected by the decision.
"This rule change is an attempt to provide a better playing experience for those born in May, June and July, in hopes they will have a degree of success that will keep them in the game longer," Abraham Key, PONY League President, said after the announcement in January.
The main goal of the age cutoff change is to retain as many players as possible in the 12-and-under division. Participation in youth baseball drops off severely when players move into the 12 and 14-year-old age brackets. The date change means that players born in May, June and July will get to play all or part of their 12-year old seasons in the appropriate age group.
In an article published by Baseball America, Allan Simpson noted that players born immediately after the July 31 date have been proven to have a decided advantage over players born in the months before that date because "they are more physically mature and able to dominate their competition at the youth level."
Research by Baseball America also showed that "a majority of players on youth league all-star teams of all age groups are born in the four months immediately after July 31." Even in the Major Leagues, more players are born in August than any other month, while the fewest were born in July.
In passing the resolution, USA Baseball recommended that the new cutoff date be implemented no later than 2007, although all of the youth organizations are expected to implement the change in time for the 2006 season.
"This spring, the April 30 date will go before the Little League International Board of Directors for formal approval to implement the change in 2006," said Stephen D. Keener, president and chief executive officer of Little League Baseball and Softball.
For the 2005 season, a youth player's league age remains his/her age as of July 31. That date has been used in Little League for nearly 60 years. Other youth baseball organizations followed Little League's lead in adopting the date so that there would be a seamless transition if players moved from one program to another.
So why was July 31 made to be the age cutoff date in the first place? Little League established that date in the 1940's because that was the day schools in Williamsport, PA used to divide grade levels.
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