Amateur baseball is baseball in which the players either are not paid for playing , or (as in Town Team Baseball ) receive only a modest stipend or employment arranged by the team 's boosters . Amateur baseball is played in the United States by players of all ages, from young children to adults .
10-799: The Alaska Baseball League ( ABL ) is an amateur collegiate summer baseball league based entirely in southern Alaska . Players in the league must have attended one year of college and must have one year of NCAA eligibility remaining. In the past, the ABL has sent its top teams to compete at the National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series, where the league's representatives have won multiple championships. Anchorage has won in 1969, 1971, 1986, 1991, and 2001, Fairbanks in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1980, and 2002, Kenai in 1977, 1993, and 1994, and Matsu in 1987 and 1997. League teams have also finished second in several years. Amateur baseball in
20-409: A showcase for top draft-eligible prospects leading up to each July's MLB draft ; after a break for the draft, play resumes for the season's remaining games with paid professional players who have exhausted their amateur eligibility. The league's six teams were formerly members of Minor League Baseball 's New York–Penn League , Eastern League , and Carolina League before MLB's reorganization of
30-615: Is played throughout the United States. High schools often have freshman , junior-varsity , and varsity teams . Some middle schools 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 . 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
40-554: Is sanctioned by the NCAA , NAIA , and NCBA . College baseball players, especially professional prospects, often also play in collegiate summer baseball 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 or
50-462: The National Baseball Congress . The MLB Draft League debuted in 2021. MLB Draft League The MLB Draft League is a baseball league that began play in 2021. Created by Major League Baseball (MLB) and Prep Baseball Report (PBR), the league operates a split-season format of 80 games with a hybrid amateur–professional structure: for the first half of the season, the league operates as an amateur collegiate summer baseball league to serve as
60-605: The United States 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 is played by elementary -school-age and high-school -age children of both genders . Of the various leagues listed below, Little League baseball is the most widespread. The Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, draws participants from around
70-682: 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). 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
80-457: The minors for 2021 . In 2021, each team in the league played a 68-game regular season, with an All-Star Break taking place around the MLB draft. The season was expanded to 80 games per team beginning in 2022. In 2024, MLB announced that the league would be expanded by two teams in the near future and that it would extend its support for the league through 2030. This article related to sports in
90-540: 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 (RBI), and at-large teams from USA Baseball (the governing body of amateur baseball). School baseball
100-714: The world and is televised in the US on ESPN. The first annual National Youth Baseball Championships (NYBC) tournament was held in August 2008 for players in two divisions: 10U and 12U. 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
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