The Backyard Batting Cage

By Communications Division
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.
November 23, 2011

A downloadable PDF version of these changes is available as well:
2012 Rule Changes

Little League International today announced the full list of significant changes that will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2012, to the policies, rules and regulations of the program.

In order to give timely information to parents and leagues, some of the changes were announced several weeks ago. One change, in the bat regulations, has been further updated since the first announcement. The update clarifies the penalty for using an illegal bat.

A list of all the significant changes, along with a summary and explanation of the changes, is below:

 

POLICY

Residence Eligibility Requirements for all divisions of play has been amended to read, in part:

Residence shall be established and supported by documents, dated or in force between February 1, 2011 (previous year) and February 1, 2012 (current year), from THREE OR MORE of the following categories to determine residency of such parent(s) or guardian:

Summary and Implementation:  For the 2012 season, this requires players’ parents or guardians to provide residency documentation dated or in force between February 1, 2011 (previous year) and February 1, 2012 (current year). This means, for instance, that a Driver’s License that was issued a number of years earlier, but was in force between the dates noted, is acceptable. However, a utility bill that is dated outside of the dates noted, is not acceptable.

 

REGULATIONS

Regulation I(c)(9) for all divisions of play has been amended to read, in part:

Note 1: The United States Department of Justice National Sex Offender Public Registry is free and available at www.nsopr.gov.

Note 2: Little League International currently provides each league with access to 125 free criminal background checks per year. Due to the refusal of the states of Hawaii, Iowa, Michigan & Virginia to provide sex offender registry data to the records check provider, the free criminal background checks no longer meet the minimum Little League requirement of a nationwide search of the sex offender registry. Sex offender registry data for the four states listed above are currently only available through the Department of Justice National Sex Offender Registry (www.nsopr.gov) and/or through the individual state’s sex offender registry website.

In addition to meeting the minimum requirement of checking the United States Department of Justice National Sex Offender Registry, (www.nsopr.gov), Little League strongly encourages all leagues to also utilize the national criminal records search available through the Little League website. This additional criminal records check may provide additional important information regarding the criminal records of individuals whose crimes do not require that they be listed on a sex offender registry. For example, convictions for assault, battery, theft or drug offenses would not result in a report to sex offender registry.

Information on how to utilize this benefit, as well as how to conduct back ground checks, can be found on the Little League website at www.littleleague.org/learn/programs/childprotection.htm

Summary and Implementation: For the 2012 season, this modifies Note 1 and 2 in Regulation I(c)(9) to highlight changes in the laws/procedures of four states with regard to sex offender registries, and the free criminal background checks Little League strongly recommends.

Regulation I(a)