Merrillst, Your son just became the youngest player on his team. Yes he will play at his current age.

I actually submitted a ballot to one of the national organizations on this issue. I voted to use the calendar year as it is easier for new parents to figure out their kids age. We have lots of questions every year. After the kids get into school ball it is not a major issue anyway as they tend to play with their teammates and that forces them into the age group of the oldest player.

As to why you lose so many 13y/o. They just find other things to do. We had a LL team in our area the went to the SE regionals as 12y/o today there are 4 players out of 12 still playing baseball. It's not that we lose them on the big field, we lose them the day after they finish LL. The kids who want to play ball come over to the big fields and those who don't quit. It is a life style thing. Most of us here can't understand why someone would quit baseball, just like the other guys can't figure out why we don't like s....r. It will not change no matter how you change the age cutoff.

My son is a 13 years old with a June 18th birthday. He has always been one of the youngest on his team and has done well. He is 6' 160 lbs. I would never think about him playing in 13's again. I don't think it would benifit him to do so.

Remember, you can always play up in the older age group.

I'm not sure you can always play up. It depends on the organization. This never came up while I was running a Babe Ruth league, but my recollection is that the only way you could "play up" was as a 15 year old 'swing' player, when you were allowed to play in a 16-18 year old league. If you are 12, you can't play Babe Ruth. I don't know if they made a change with the age change or not.

Have the various baseball organizatons ever considered going to the international rule?

I'm not sure what good this debate does, as the USSSA has already made its determination and is highly unlikely to revert back or change again anytime soon.

The truth is, moving the date to April 30 will do nothing to increase participation--at least in the long term.

Any date established will have its supporters and detractors. I, for my part, was partial to moving the date to August 30, so that league level would coinside with school level to a better (not perfect) degree.

But, in two years, the date change won't make a bit of difference. Simply put, there is no perfect date.

I am however grateful that my birthday--July 31--is no longer the worst birthday on the baseball calendar . Unfortunately, the change came about 25 years too late . But, even with the trauma of that horrendous baseball birthday, I still managed to play competitive baseball until I was 22--the birthdate really doesn't matter.

Can the USSSA (and like minded organizations) just please make a promise to keep the new date and not change it anytime in the near future? This change has already caused me too many headaches, time wasted in meaningless conversations, and complaints from parents for something I had nothing to do with--I can't go through it again.

I think we just got hosed. If I'm correct and please correct me if I'm wrong. My son was born on April, 30 1999. Last Spring would have been his first year in LL T-ball. We chose not to register him because of other things going on in our lives. Now this coming Spring would technically be his 2nd year that he could play T-ball. Now that the rule change in in effect, he'll be playing as a 7 year old and in first year of coach pitch.

Man, I guess, I'd better start throwing bb's at him!

Glove,

I'm not sure "hosed" is the correct word, but it does appear as if you're going to get the short end of the stick. But, as someone who used to have the worst baseball birthday, I can feel your pain. And, yes, BP might be a good idea at this point.

Glove Man,
Under the old rules he would have been a 7yo this year. He'll have to face kids who are 3 mo older than he would have otherwise. That should be the only difference. Nobody ended up with an older league age because of the rule change.

The local organization that my son plays league ball in is not adopting the change. That means that the teams in our region (Pacific NW) will be four months older than his team when his team plays in tournaments. I have sent an email to the Board, but they are adamently opposed to comforming. I am not entirely sold on the idea of the age change, but I feel that this organization needs to adjust to stay competitive with regional teams.

Any ideas on how to sway the Board?

What organization is it? If the parent organization has adopted it, then I would assume that the Board is risking having the league lose its charter if it doesn't comply with the parent organization's rules.

It is an independent organization. There are about 12 members representing different areas of the state. Some representatives are voting for the age change, some are voting against.

My problem is trying to convince the hard headed ones to go with the flow and change the date.