Amateur baseball is

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

in which the players either are not paid for playing, or (as in

Town Team Baseball Town Team Baseball is a variety of amateur baseball played in the United States. In Town Team baseball, sometimes also called townball, the teams represent either a given city or town, or a commercial enterprise which sponsors the team. Usually a ...

) receive only a modest

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

arranged by the

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

's boosters.

Amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

baseball is played in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

by players of all ages, from young

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

adult An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

Varieties

Leagues for various skill levels and age groups exist throughout the US. In ascending order of age participation, here are a few examples:

Youth baseball

Youth baseball is played by

elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, an ...

-school-age and

high-school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

-age children of both

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

s. Of the various leagues listed below, Little League baseball is the most widespread. The

Little League World Series The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the Wor ...

in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, draws participants from around the world and is

televised Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

in the US on ESPN. *

American Amateur Youth Baseball Alliance known as AAYBA American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

(World Series in Flower Mound Texas with over 300 teams participating ages 7–14 Founded in 1989) * American Legion Baseball (ages 13–19) *

Babe Ruth League The Babe Ruth League is an international youth baseball and softball league based in Hamilton, New Jersey, US named after George Herman "Babe" Ruth. The parent program, Babe Ruth League, Incorporated, is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. ...

(ages 13–18) **

Cal Ripken Baseball Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

(a division of Babe Ruth League, Inc.) (ages 5–12)In 1999, the Babe Ruth League changed its largest division's name to "Cal Ripken Baseball" (from "Bambino")
History: About Ripken Baseball
. Ripken Baseball official website. Retrieved 2011-09-05. *

Little League Baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizationIntermediate, Junior, and Senior League) (ages 5–16) *

PONY Baseball and Softball PONY Baseball and Softball is a non-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, Pennsylvania. Started in 1951, PONY organizes youth baseball and softball leagues and tournaments, as over 500,000 players annually play PONY in over 4,000 l ...

(ages 5–18) *Sam Bat Fall League Baseball (ages 12 to 18) Wood-bat fall leagues designed to help players develop their skills. Leagues are sponsored by Sam Bat. * USSSA Baseball (ages 8U to 14U) *

American Amateur Baseball Congress The American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC) is an amateur baseball organization in the United States for players from sub-teens through adults.

(AABC) is for players above junior-baseball age. It provides progressive and continuous organized competition from pre-teens to adults. National tournament play is organized by leagues, with successful teams advancing to higher levels of tournament play, instead of the " all-star" procedure used by

Little League Baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizationAbout Us
YouthMajors.com. Retrieved 2011-08-10.National Youth Baseball Championship
Weplay, Inc. Retrieved 2011-08-06. The purpose of the tournament is to recognize one team as the "National Youth Baseball Champion." The tournament organizer is the Major Youth Baseball Alliance, LLC, which was formed by eight major national youth baseball organizations, whose programs have more than eight million participants. The eight organizations are: AABC (American Amateur Baseball Congress), AAU (Amateur Athletic Union of the United States), Babe Ruth Baseball, Dixie Youth Baseball, NABF (National Amateur Baseball Federation), Pony Baseball, Super Series Baseball of America, and USSSA (United States Specialty Sports Association). ;2008 *12U Youth Majors NYB champions: Juice 12s (

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

) (AAU)2008 NYBC Archive
YouthMajors.com. Retrieved 2011-09-07. *10U Youth Majors NYB champions: Tomateros de California (

Paramount, California Paramount is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 54,098, down from 55,266 at the 2000 census. Paramount is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area and is borde ...

) (USSSA) ;2009 *12U Youth Majors NYB champions: Team Rattlers (

Spring, Texas Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston in Harris County, Texas, United States, part of the metropolitan area. The population was 62,559 at the 2020 census. While the name "Spring" is popul ...

) (Super Series) *10U Youth Majors NYB champions: N. Texas Bulldogs (AAU) ;2010 ;2011 *12U Youth Majors NYB champions: Banditos Black (

Tomball, Texas Tomball ( ) is a city in Harris County in the U.S. state of Texas, a part of the Houston metropolitan area. The population was 12,341 at the 2020 U.S. census. In 1907, the community of Peck was renamed Tomball for local congressman Thomas Henry Ba ...

) (Super Series) *10U Youth Majors NYB champions: Oakley Stingrays (

Norwalk, California Norwalk is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 105,549 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated 103,949 in 2019. It is the 58th most densely-populated ...

) (USSSA)

National all-stars tournament

From 1998 (or earlier) through 2010 (or later), there has been an annual, national all-stars tournament each June — the USA Baseball Tournament of Stars; its predecessor was the National Amateur All-Star Baseball Tournament (NAABT). The tournament features the top 16- to 18-year-old players from various baseball organizations, including the American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC), American Legion, Babe Ruth Baseball, Dixie Baseball, National Amateur Baseball Federation (NABF), PONY baseball, Major League Baseball's

Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) is a youth baseball program operated by Major League Baseball. This youth initiative is designed to provide young people from underserved and diverse communities the opportunity to play baseball and softba ...

(RBI), and at-large teams from

USA Baseball USA Baseball is the national governing body for organized baseball in the United States, and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Basebal ...

(the governing body of amateur baseball).History of RBI
Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Retrieved 2011-08-10.

School baseball

School baseball is played throughout the United States.

High schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

often have

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

, junior-varsity, and

varsity team In most English-speaking countries, varsity is an abbreviation of the word ''university''. In the United States and Canada, the term is mostly used in relation to sports teams. Varsity in the United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, varsity team ...

s. Some

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

s offer baseball programs. In the 2014-15 season, 486,567 boys and 1,203 girls played baseball at the

National Federation of State High School Associations The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) is the body that writes the rules of competition for most high school sports and activities in the United States. NFHS's headquarters are located in White River State Park in Indi ...

American Legion Baseball

American Legion Baseball is popular with junior-high- and senior-high-school students from ages 13 to 19. American Legion also provides regional, state, and national playoffs.

College baseball

College baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

is sanctioned by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

, NAIA, and NCBA. College baseball players, especially

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

prospects, often also play in

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

leagues during the off-season. In these leagues, their lodging and meals are provided by their host team, but no money changes hands. Many collegiate summer baseball leagues are affiliated to the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball,

National Amateur Baseball Federation The National Amateur Baseball Federation (NABF) is a nonprofit organization that serves as a governing body for amateur baseball in the United States. The organization was founded in Louisville, Kentucky in 1914 and is the oldest continually-operat ...

or the

National Baseball Congress The National Baseball Congress of Wichita, Kansas is an organization of 17 amateur and semi-professional baseball leagues operating in the United States and Canada. Since its founding in 1935 by Hap Dumont, it has conducted an annual North America ...

. The

MLB Draft League The MLB Draft League is a collegiate summer baseball league that began play in 2021. Created by Major League Baseball (MLB) and ''Prep Baseball Report'', the league serves as a showcase for top draft-eligible prospects leading up to each summer' ...

debuted in 2021. Alma baseball team in 1899 - DPLA - 1647fe8273026378d650be9cf2026226

Adult baseball

is another area of broad participation of sports institution in the

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...

, particularly in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. *The

National Adult Baseball Association The National Adult Baseball Association (NABA) is an adult, amateur baseball organization, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It offers competitive and recreational baseball for players in over 125 leagues in over 40 U.S. states. Over 25,000 pla ...

(NABA) and the Men's Senior Baseball League (MSBL) are the two largest organizations, sponsoring leagues and tournaments for a variety of age groups (e.g. 18+, 28+, 38+, 48+, 55+, etc.). Both leagues play regular-season games, playoffs and host tournaments on both a regional and national level. The NABA has 25,000 players, and the MSBL has 45,000 players. *

All-American Amateur Baseball Association The All-American Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) is an amateur/ collegiate wood bat baseball organization that holds an annual tournament that takes place every August at Point Stadium in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The annual event features 16 ...

International level

References

{{reflist

External links

National Adult Baseball AssociationNCAA Baseball Official Site Men's Senior Baseball LeaguesNWIBL 18 and older summer Baseball League Portland ORAmerican Amateur Baseball Congress Official Site
* ttp://www.weplay.com/youth-baseball Youth Baseball Weplay, Inc.
Minnesota Baseball Association