Registration opened last week for East Hampton Little League, including tee ball, baseball, and softball programs for kids as young as 5 and up to seventh grade.
Tee ball, a coed league, is for boys and girls who are 5 and 6 who want to learn the fundamentals of the game. “This division will focus on skills and drills in a fun environment,” the Little League says on its website.
For kids in the first and second grades, there’s the Olympic division — sometimes called Minor League — in which coaches do the pitching and scores are not tallied. “This level of play fosters skills development and an understanding of the rules and nuances of the game,” the league says.
Third and fourth graders move up to the American division, in which competition is introduced. Players pitch, scores are kept, and umpires oversee games. However, the league says, “Winning and losing remain secondary to the essential goal of teaching each player to embrace success or failure with grace and to learn from both.”
The National division, sometimes called Major League, is for fifth, sixth, and eligible seventh graders. Tournament play heats up, sportsmanship and camaraderie are emphasized, and skills get more advanced as kids get ready to move up to play on middle and high school softball and baseball teams.
Parents have a Feb. 28 deadline to register their kids. Online sign-up is at bit.ly/3k21Wea. The administrators can be emailed at [email protected] for more information.