THE 12-YEAR-OLD SWING PLAYER OPTION

We at Babe Ruth Headquarters have been receiving numerous inquires concerning the 12-year-old swing player option.

Due to the new age determination date of April 30, Babe Ruth League, Inc. has adopted the 12-year-old swing player option. For the 2006 season, this option affects those players who are born between May 1, 1993 and April 30, 1994. This option was implemented because under the new age determination date we now have some older 12-year-old players participating in the Cal Ripken Major Division that under the previous age determination date would be considered as league age 13.

The 12-year-old swing player is a local league option and falls under the jurisdiction of the Cal Ripken League President and the 13-15 League President.

The Cal Ripken league president may elect to permit a 12-year-old player to play in a Cal Ripken and/or 13-15 league. For the tournament season, the Cal Ripken league president will decide on which tournament team the 12-year-old player participates. The player must meet all Babe Ruth League, Inc. eligibility requirements for the respective division in which he participates. A player can only participate on one tournament team in any given year.

To further interpret the rules concerning this local league option:

A league age 12-year-old player can participate in the Cal Ripken league and the Babe Ruth 13-15 league at the same time provided he has permission from both the Cal Ripken League President and the 13-15 Babe Ruth League President.

A league age 12-year-old player can participate in the 13-15 Babe Ruth Division only with permission from the Cal Ripken League President if the player belongs to a Cal Ripken league.

The Cal Ripken league president will determine what tournament trail the 12-year-old swing player will participant. If the 12-year-old swing player participates in the Cal Ripken Tournament trail the player must meet all eligibility requirements for the Cal Ripken division (example: he resides within the league’s geographical boundaries, is on a Cal Ripken local league roster, has played in one-half of the Cal Ripken local league games, etc).

If the 12-year-old swing player participates in the 13-15 Babe Ruth Tournament trail, the player must meet all eligibility requirements for the Babe Ruth 13-15 division (example: he resides in the geographical boundaries of the 13-15 league, is on a Babe Ruth 13-15 local league roster, has played in one-half of the Babe Ruth 13-15 local league games, etc).

I want to cover another scenario: What if a 12-year-old player wants to participate in the Babe Ruth 13-15 division and the player does not participate in the Cal Ripken Division because there is no Cal Ripken league in his area and/or the player is rostered with some other youth baseball organization?

As long as the 12-year-old player resides in the geographical boundaries of the 13-15 Babe Ruth League and the 13-15 Babe Ruth League President accepts the 12-year-old player, the player will be eligible to participate in the 13-15 Babe Ruth Division.

It is our mission to educate our leagues that sports are supposed to be fun for the kids and a rewarding and learning experience. We want our players to get the most from their Babe Ruth affiliation so they will gain self confidence and self esteem. If our players are happy and confident in their youth baseball experiences, we can feel comfortable that we have accomplished our goal and can look forward to them realizing happiness and success in their adult lives as well.