Youth Baseball Athletic League

Imagine a baseball league in which neither game scores nor league standings are kept. In games with younger players, outs aren't even counted. Three league-certified coaches are assigned to each team. Balloon-filled opening-day ceremonies are held, during which the national anthem is sung. There are no tryouts or league boundaries, so players often can play with their friends wherever they live. Practice is held only once a week. Players use safety balls in practice and games. Each player will have the opportunity to play whatever position he or she wants to. All players bat and take the field each inning. To avoid burnout, only one game a week is played on eight to 10 Saturdays from April 1 to August 15. There are no night games. And after the last game of the season, a picnic with awards, food, clowns, singers, and relay races is held in lieu of a tournament.

Such is the way the Youth Baseball Athletic League (YBAL), a non-competitive coed T-ball and baseball program for children age 4 to 14, is organized.

"YBAL is passionate about giving the game back to kids," says Chuck Alley, who founded the organization in 1988 and is its commissioner. Some 1,300 youngsters played YBAL last year. About 3,000 will play in Arizona, California, Nebraska, Iowa, and Virginia this year. One-third are girls.

YBAL trains its coaches at clinics, where they learn to always kneel down when talking to young players.

Kids can be a member of a team without being pressured to be the best. Success is measured by how he or she develops as a baseball player.

"We teach that winning isn't the only thing and losing is not the worst thing, but that playing for enjoyment and doing the best job they can at their level of playing ability is everything," says Alley. "When kids leave the field, everyone is a winner."

YBAL has T-ball for 4- and 5-year-olds and baseball for players age 6 to 14. The Midget Division is made up of 4-year-olds and kindergartners. During each at-bat, players play T-ball. They hit one practice ball and a "home-run" ball. Games are two innings or 45 minutes. In the Junior Division, first-and second-graders play T-ball or coach-pitch. During the at-bats, the players hit a practice ball off the batting tee and a pitched game ball. Games are three innings or one hour. Clinics are held before each game in the Sandlot Division (for third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders), where coaches or kids pitch. Players field the ball and run the bases. Outs are counted. After pre-game clinics, games run five innings or 1 ½ hours, as they are in the Triple A Division, which is for sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders.

"YBAL is baseball in its purest form," says Berry Weiss, a California parks and recreation superintendent and the former baseball coach at Hayward State University. "The kids come off the field with smiles on their faces. They have a great time as they learn proper baseball technique."

Says Alley, "The magic of noncompetitive baseball will last a lifetime."