www.littleleague.org
Little League Baseball and Softball is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Little League organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the United States and the rest of the world.
The Little League International Complex in South Williamsport hosts the annual Little League Baseball World Series at Howard J. Lamade Stadium and adjacent Little League Volunteer Stadium and is also the site of the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum, which provides a history of Little League Baseball and Softball through interactive exhibits.
In addition to hosting the Little League Baseball World Series at its flagship complex, the organization puts on events in other areas, including the Intermediate (50/70) Baseball World Series, Junior League Baseball World Series, Senior League Baseball World Series, Little League Softball World Series, Junior League Softball World Series and Senior League Softball World Series; it also hosts multiple Region tournaments in various locations around the U.S.
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Sports Destination Management: Little League serves an enormous number of players. Is there a current count?
Dan Velte: Globally, we have around two million players; we have now exceeded our pre-pandemic numbers. We’ve done a lot of work to grow the sport, including focusing on tee-ball for four-year-olds and working with our partners in MLB. The global expansion of the program is also going well; we have established partnerships with national federations in non-traditional areas for baseball outside the USA.
SDM: You also have adaptive baseball programs.
Velte: Yes, we have the Challenger program, for children with physical or intellectual challenges. We are seeing increases to participation numbers there as well; in part, that growth is because of our willingness to get people involved. We will encourage kids to participate even if the Challenger program is not part of the home league in the area where they actually reside.
Something else we’re proud of is our Little League Urban Initiative, which was established to bring baseball to underserved areas. We have a lot of communities that reach out to us about that. In fact, we host eight urban Little League Baseball Jamborees each year; those are tournament-style events held throughout the USA.
SDM: What do you look for when you look for sites to host tournaments?
Velte: We look for locations that can provide an all-encompassing atmosphere, where the event will run on a turnkey basis. For example, with the increased growth in the numbers of kids traveling from other places like Asia, Europe and Latin America, we need a destination where everything is easy to access. Great facilities make the experience so memorable for the kids, who also enjoy the ability to stay in hotels and eat in restaurants.
We like to find a place with a good strong network of volunteers, as well as the ability to partner with the local chamber, CVB, etc. to do economic studies; I think that in turn allows communities to support us. Every one of our World Series is televised on the ESPN family of networks, which provides a great opportunity for us to highlight those destinations and drive tourism there.
SDM: Switching gears very quickly, can you tell us about softball?
Velte: Softball is leading the way with steady growth of 7 to 10 percent annually. It is creating more awareness and we are seeing more female participation, not just as players but as volunteers. It’s great to see the fruits of our labors there.
SDM: And the location of your headquarters couldn’t be better.
Velte: It’s a real destination for families, and many consider it a bucket list trip. We have people from around the USA and around the world who stop by; the complex is open year-round and people can visit the museum and shop in our flagship store; what makes it even better is that we’re actually only a couple miles away from where the first-ever Little League game was played. SDM
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