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 .
18-747: The Asheboro ZooKeepers are an amateur baseball team playing in the Coastal Plain League . The team plays its home games at McCrary Park in Asheboro, North Carolina . The team is named for the North Carolina Zoo , which is in Asheboro. They were previously known as the Asheboro Copperheads until changing their name in 2022. McCrary Park was built in the late 1940s for the McCrary Eagles,
36-536: A coach at Georgia Southwestern University, will become the first player to return as head coach in 2017. Ritsche returned for 2018 and remains for 2019. Asheboro hosted the CPL Petitt Cup tournament in 2006 and the league's all-star game in 2008. McCrary Park has also been the site of the American Legion Southeast Regional baseball tournament in early August since 2013 and is scheduled to host
54-557: A semi-professional team sponsored by the Acme-McCrary Corporation, which is still in existence today manufacturing women's hosiery products. The Eagles disbanded in the mid-1950s and the park subsequently became the home for the local American Legion Post 45 team and the Asheboro High School Blue Comets . In the spring of 2010, McCrary Park received some significant upgrades, including the installation of
72-600: A state-of-the-art synthetic infield surface. The Copperheads first started participating in the Coastal Plain League during the 1999 season and in 2000 reached the CPL championship series but lost to Petersburg . They have made the CPL playoffs five of the past six seasons and were the No. 1 seeded team from the West Division in the 2015 league playoffs, although they lost in the opening round series. The Copperheads went 34-22 in 2015, ending
90-615: 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
108-554: 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
126-661: The Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, Louisville Slugger , New Balance , Rawlings , Wilson Sporting Goods , and Outdoor Cap. In April 2023, MLB announced that Nike had become the presenting sponsor for RBI. Teams compete in three divisions: the Junior Boys division (13 to 15 years of age), the Senior Boys division (16 to 18 years of age), and Girls Softball (up to 18 years of age). League schedules run from May through August. Teams compete in regional tournaments in order to compete in
144-636: The National Baseball Congress . The MLB Draft League debuted in 2021. Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities ( RBI ), known for sponsorship purposes as Nike 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 softball . The program
162-699: The mayor of Los Angeles , who agreed to fund a youth baseball program in Los Angeles, providing $ 50,000. Young also received funding from the Amateur Athletic Union . Young, with the Professional Baseball Scouts of Southern California, organized 12 teams of 180 13- and 14-year-olds in 1989, the first year of the RBI program. Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis , African American baseball players from Southern California, devoted time and money to help
180-640: The RBI World Series, which began in 1993. The RBI World Series is aired on the MLB Network and can be streamed on MLB.com , starting in 2010. RBI operates programs in more than 200 cities, with over 100,000 participants annually. Programs run in the United States , Canada , the Caribbean , and South America . MLB provides college scholarships to RBI participants. A Junior RBI program serves children from
198-682: 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
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#1732858696013216-668: The event at least through 2020. Amateur baseball in 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
234-527: The program. MLB took over operation of the RBI program in 1991. By 1992, the RBI program expanded to Harlem , St. Louis , and Kansas City . Leonard S. Coleman, Jr. , the former president of the National League , took over operation in the program in 1994 and forged a working alliance with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America to help grow the RBI program. The RBI program has received support from KPMG ,
252-543: The regular season on a five-game winning streak and winning the second half West title before dropping two straight in the post-season. The team placed four players on the mid-season CPL West Division all-star team (SS Ryan Mincher of Penn, C Kyle Hamner of West Florida, OF/C Will Albertson of Catawba, 3B Skyler Geissinger of SIU-Edwardsville and P Micah Wells of Charlotte) and also had four on the post-season All-CPL first and second teams. Albertson and Wells were first-team selections, while Hamner and INF/P Ryan Colombo (Drury) made
270-525: The second team. The ZooKeepers earned the league's Organization of the Year Award for the 2013 season when the team set a franchise record with 35 regular season wins. Keith Ritsche, an assistant coach at Winston-Salem State University, an NCAA Division II institution that plays in the CIAA, became the team's field manager just prior to the 2014 season and held that position 2016. Former Copperhead Taylor Bratton, now
288-485: 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
306-714: 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
324-899: Was created by John Young in 1989 in Los Angeles , and now serves more than 200 communities. In 2023, Nike, Inc. became the presenting sponsor. Working as a scout for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB) following his playing career, John Young noticed a lack of African American prospects. While working for the Baltimore Orioles , he surveyed prospects selected in the 1986 MLB Draft , many of whom attended four-year colleges , and then noticed that among California colleges, 4% of players were African American and less than 3% were Hispanic . He presented his findings to Orioles' general manager Roland Hemond and MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth . Ueberroth contacted Tom Bradley ,
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