When are sign ups?
Sign ups for Spring baseball are usually between November and December. For our draft programs, Juniors, Intermediate, Majors, Minors and Farm when registration closes in early January, players will need to enter a waitlist registration. 

For Tee Ball we will accept players until all our teams are full, occasionally we may have additional room after sign ups close.  If we are full and you still want to sign up, volunteer to manage a team and we may be able to create more slots for your player.

Signups for Summer ball are in June and Fall Baseball are usually August through September.

How much does it cost?
See the "Registration" tab. Fees for each division are listed there.

I am late, can I still sign up?
If teams have already been formed and tryouts are complete we typically cannot take any new players. Sign up for the wait list, if there is a cancellation that creates an opening, we may be able to accept a new player late. We will do our best to find an opening at PALL or point you toward another local program that still has openings for new players.

What areas Does PALL Cover?
See the "League Boundaries" page under the "Registration" tab.

Do I live within PALL League Boundaries?  Is my school inside PALL Boundaries?
See the "League Boundaries" page under the "About Us" tab.

We live outside of PALL Boundaries, can we still play for PALL?
Players may only sign up for PALL if they reside or attend school within league boundaries, or you live in an area NOT serviced by another little league. Any players not living within PALL boundaries must obtain a Little League Residency Waiver form.

We attend a school inside of PALL Boundaries, can we play for PALL?
Yes but the player must provide a Little league school enrollment form signed by a school administrator.

What division should I sign up for?
See the Divisions Player Age FAQ's below. Also see the baseball age chart below.

See the "PALL Events Calendar" page under the "Calendar" tab.

When does the season start and end?
General dates for a typical baseball year:
December/January sign ups for spring complete
January:Skills Assessments
January: Draft for Junior, Intermediate, Majors, Minors, and Farm teams
February:  Teams formed and practices start
End of Feb/early March: Opening Ceremonies, Games Start
Middle of May: Closing Ceremonies, final playoff games
End of May: All-Star teams announced
End of May/early June: TOC and City Tournaments

Last week of June:  All-Star games start
2nd week of July: All-Star final games
End of July: Summer Ball starts
End of August: Summer Ball ends
4th week of Sept:  Fall Ball Starts
2nd week of November:  Fall Ball Ends

How do I get news about sign ups and other League Events?
A notification email about league events are sent to all users registered on our website. Create an account on our website and like our Facebook page so you are sure to get all the latest news.

Why are players required to attend Skill Assessments?
Farm, Minors, Majors, Intermediate and Juniors are all draft programs. Players will attend skills assessments and will placed in the appropriate division based on skill level. The draft helps us provide evenly matched teams and player safety and keeps kids of similar skill levels playing together.

I provided all this information last year, why do I have to do this again?
Sorry, Little League rules. Required for every season. People move, information changes etc. Sadly, leagues have cheated by getting players from out of boundaries to win tournaments, including the Little League Worlds Series.

My child is only available certain days of the week due to other activities, can the League make sure he/she is on a team that aligns perfectly with my child's other extracurricular activities?
No.  

Can we pick our practice day?
Volunteer to manage a team and you may have some influence on the team's practice schedule. Otherwise, your team's practice day will be the day the team manager has selected. We cannot adjust practice and game schedules to work around individual players' extracurricular activities. We have 400+ players , 30+ teams, 8 fields, and only 7 days a week to conduct games and practices.

My player will play tee-ball. Do we need to attend skills assessments?
No. Tee Ball players do not need to attend skills assessments.

What is my Players Baseball/League Age?
See the "Age Chart" links on the bottom of this website.

Do PALL Board Members' kids get special treatment?
Absolutely Not!  See below how draft and all star teams are formed. All players are treated equally regardless of their parent's level of involvement. Don't believe it? Become a volunteer, join the board and see how it all works. See areas the league could do better? Do you have ideas on on how to improve the league - please volunteer to join the board. We would love to have your help.

Volunteer!
The league is an all-volunteer organization and relies on parent volunteers for a successful season each year. If you are not already a volunteer for PALL, please consider volunteering. Complete the volunteer form located on the forms page of the website.

How To Become a Volunteer?
Register as a volunteer on the website. 

Tee Ball (Ages 4-6)
Kids first learning to play. Hit off the tee the first half of the season, then try some coach pitch the second half of the season. We bat all the way through the line up and change sides. We don't keep score or count outs.  Game is played with squishy training ball. If they can throw and catch, it may be time to move up to Farm. Although the new little league age rules allow players that have not yet turned 4 to play tee ball, as a league we do not encourage it. 3 is just too young! For younger players we highly encourage parents to volunteer as assistant coaches or team managers.  Young kids require more attention!

Farm (Ages 7-9)
Players over aged 7 and up not drafted up into AA will play Farm. A great place to develop baseball skills. Balls are pitched at the batters by a Coach at the start of the season and then we ease into kid pitch.  Players leave Farm able to throw, catch and hit, ready to move on to AA. Farm is instructional/developmental, we don't keep score and we don't keep standings. There is a competitive end of season tournament for all teams. Game is played using "Level 5" Baseballs. These are just a little softer than regular hard balls.

AA (Ages 8-10)
This is the first division where kids pitch to batters the entire season. Players must attend skills assessments to be selected to play AA based on a draft. Typically each AA team will have between two to three 10 year-old players. Pitchers are typically throwing between 25 to 40 mph in prep, from a distance of 40'. The game is played with regulation little league baseballs. Players typically play one or two seasons in the AA division depending on their skill level and age.   Managers are encouraged to rotate players among various positions to foster development so long as this can be done safely. AA games will have an umpire to call ball strikes, and outs, and we do keep score. There is a competitive end of season tournament for all AA teams. Players age 11 or 12 must move up to AAA or Majors. Similar to the   

AAA (Ages 9-11)
Players are selected to play AAA based on a draft. All players must skills assessments to play AAA. The bulk of the minors players are 10 and 11 year olds. A few more skilled 9 year olds who have graduated from AA will be drafted into AAA. About half of the AAA players will already have a year of AAA under their belts. Players typically play AAA one or two seasons depending on their skill level. AAA pitchers will typically throw in the 30 to 45 mph range, however a few exceptional AAA pitchers might be throwing close to 50 mph. Pitchers throw from a distance of 46'. AAA is competitive. Score is kept, team standings are tracked and a champion team is declared at the end of the season based on a tournament. Managers are encouraged to rotate players among various positions to foster development so long as this can be done safely. Players may sit on the bench for some innings, and some players will get more infield time than others based on skill level.

Majors (Ages 10-12)
This is the highest level of play in Little League Baseball. These are the kids you see on TV in the Little League World Series (LLWS). 12 year olds automatically play in majors. All players must attend skills assessments to play majors. Pitchers may be throwing up to 65 mph in majors. Pitchers throw from a distance of 46'.

Juniors (Ages 12-14)
The Junior League Baseball Division is a program for boys and girls ages 12-14, using a conventional 90-foot diamond with a pitching distance of 60 feet, 6 inches. Preparation for high school level baseball, intended for kids not yet playing high school baseball.  We will see Juniors pitchers throw in the 65-75 mph range.

Seniors (Ages 14-16)
The Senior League Baseball Division is a program for boys and girls ages 14-17, using a conventional 90-foot diamond with a pitching distance of 60 feet, 6 inches. PALL has not run a seniors division for several years due to a lack of interest/players to fill teams. At this age group most players have moved on to High School baseball.

Challenger Division
The Challenger Division was established by Little League Baseball in 1989 to enable any boy or girl with a physical or intellectual challenge ages 4-18 (or up to 22 if still in school) to enjoy the game of baseball along with the millions of other children who participate in the sport world wide. See our Challenger Division page on our website for more details.

Summer/Fall Baseball Divisions
Typically kids will play fall in the division they will likely play the next season. As a result the level of play drops a bit in all divisions. Fall minors will be a few returning younger minors kids and a bunch from Farm. Majors will be a mix of 11 year olds from majors and new kids coming up from AAA, etc. 

Expected Behavior at Tournaments
Everyone should take a moment to remember - The reason we play baseball is to have fun. This is only Little League baseball, these kids are 8 to 12 years old, this isn't the MLB World Series, no college scholarships will be awarded, none of this is a big deal and worth getting worked up over.  However, it's an inevitable side of effect of competition - Once we start keeping score and the games really count, the competition can get heated.  Unfortunately before the end of the tournament each year we typically witness at least one coach or parent lose their cool and likely embarrass themselves and their children.  At Pasadena American, let's all strive to make sure that regardless of the outcome of the game this person is never be one of us. We are role models for these kids, we should all behave in such a way to represent our league and our children well. This is true all season long, but especially important during tournament play.

End of Season Tournaments General
The end of season tournaments, these match up all the top finishing teams from Little League CA District 17 which PALL is part of. Below are the leagues which comprise District 17;

• Pasadena American LL
• Arcadia American LL
• Arcadia National LL
• Central Altadena LL
• East Altadena LL
  
• Pasadena Southwest LL
• San Marino LL
• Santa Anita LL
• Sierra Madre LL
• West Pasadena LL

Tournament of Champions (TOC)
The first place team from each league plays in the Tournament of Champions to determine the District TOC Champion. This is a single elimination tournament run over one week played the week immediately following the regular season.  Participating Divisions:  Majors & AAA. Typically one league will host the TOC and all games will be played at the host league's field. At the end of the Tournament a Minors TOC winner and Majors TOC winner is crowned.

City Tournament
The second place team from each league play to determine the City Tournament Champion for the District    This is single elimination tournament run over one week played immediately following the regular season Participating Divisions:  Majors & AAA. At the end of this tournament a Minors City Championship Winner and Majors City Champion Winner is crowned.

All-Stars
All star teams are formed from each league for several age groups.  The All Star teams from all the league in the District play in a double elimination tournament ultimately deciding the District All Star champions for the season for each age level. For the 11-12 age group, the winning All-Star team will continue on to compete for a slot in the Little League World Series.  All Star team rosters are set in late May.  Games start in late June with the final games typically held in the second week of July.

Sectional Play
Winners of the District All-Star tournaments will move on to Sectional play (except for 8-9 team), competing with the winners from other Districts' All Star winners.  Winners of the Sectional tournaments then move on to play in the State Tournaments which lead to Regionals, which then lead to the Little League World Series.

For a kid, not getting drafted up into a higher division when some friends were can be a difficult experience.  It is part of life and much like successes and failures on the diamond, the disappointment of not getting drafted and overcoming it is a learning opportunity for the kid (and parents).  Having a great season on the team that drafted the player is the best response to a disappointment on draft day.

The draft is not perfect.  There are always a few kids that don’t get drafted up into the division they wanted to be in, or onto the team they want to be on.  Divisions may have 4 to 6 teams.  At best there is a 25% chance a player might get with the exact team desired.

Sometimes it is a numbers game. 12 year olds must be drafted into Majors. That leaves a very limited number of slots for 11 year olds and 10 year olds to play in Majors. The mix of ages and team counts is different each year.  Unfortunately sometimes the numbers and mix of ages signed up drive a reduced number of slots and there just isn't room for all the players that want to go up. Likewise for 10 year olds in AAA - 11 years olds must play AAA, this leaves limited slots for kids 10 and under in AAA.

Typically, players just on the border of making it up into a higher division not drafted up end up having great seasons in the lower division becoming team leaders making many great memories.  Lots of infield and pitching opportunities batting at the top of the order  Often a much more fun experience than if they had gone up to play in the division above with older more skilled players.  Being an above average player in a lower division can be a lot more fun than being a marginal player in an upper division. We have seen many players disappointed not being drafted into majors go on to have their best season ever in AAA and very happy for the experience.

Remember the draft is a competition between the managers present to put together the strongest teams they can. They are all trying to assemble the best possible team they can from the pool of players available.  If a player is better than the others still left in the pool, they will draft him or her.  A player not drafted up into a higher division is one of many players that all the managers unanimously decided not to draft onto one of their teams. The managers all saw things the same way and all decided to pass. A player not being drafted up is nothing personal. From the manager’s perspective, based on what they saw at tryouts and their knowledge of the player (and parents) from past seasons they selected other players for their team they felt were more suited to round out their roster. The managers do sometimes make mistakes, a kid might get overlooked, but this is rare.  All the managers are hoping the other managers missed a player they spotted as a hidden gem at tryouts. Managers may also choose to draft a particular player because they know the parents are helpful assistant coaches showing up for practices and games week after week. If on draft day a manager has a choice between two players that are similar in skills, the player with the parent that will come out and help coach the team week after week is often an easy choice. It’s hard to fault a manager for snapping up the help of a good parent can offer by drafting the player.  

Managers also consider the attitude of the player and the parents when drafting players.  A season is long, it’s even longer (and way less fun) if you if as manager have a difficult player on your team with a bad attitude or parents that are difficult or negative in any way. If a player really is much better than the kids drafted ahead of him, sometimes the mental attitude of the player (or parents) can be a deciding factor for the manager on who to draft.  A parent or player that brings a negative energy to the team, complaining from the bleachers, yelling at umps, arguing calls etc  - This is a top reason to pass on a player in the draft.