We’ve had this information for more than a year, but in case you haven’t heard about Fayetteville-Cumberland’s switch to Little League Baseball, you can check out the press release.
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (March 23, 2010) – The children in Fayetteville will all be playing their youth baseball and softball under the Little League Baseball and Softball umbrella following a recent decision by the local parks and recreation organization.
The Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation Department made the decision to charter seven leagues with Little League Baseball and Softball in the city of Fayetteville and Cumberland County. The new leagues will bring approximately 250 baseball and softball teams to the Little League family.
“Our Advisory Board was in favor of the change after seeing some things that they liked about Little League,” James Parker, Baseball Coordinator for the Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation Department, said. “Things like the background checks and the publicity were two of the main reasons for the change.”
With the leagues serving a population of approximately 312,000, the Parks and Recreation Department leagues will sponsor teams in all eight divisions of play in baseball and softball starting with Tee Ball, for children ages 4-7, through Big League Baseball and Softball for boys and girls, ages 16-18.
The seven new leagues join the West Fayetteville Little League (WFLL), which has been a chartered Little League program since 1971. The WFLL had been the only Little League in the area until the recent decision to bring the entire city under the same youth baseball and softball organization. The WFLL will operate independently of the Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation Department having had their organization in place for many years.
Little League’s volunteer staff in North Carolina District 6, was also instrumental, along with members of the Little League Baseball and Softball staff, in convincing the decision-makers in Fayetteville to make the switch to the Little League program.
“We are very happy to have children in Fayetteville and Cumberland County now playing their youth baseball with Little League,” Sam Ranck, League Development Manager for Little League Baseball and Softball, said. “They are one of the largest Park and Recreation Department’s we have and the Little League mission is a good fit with the mission of their organization.”
The first games of 2010 in the Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation Department Little Leagues are scheduled to be played on April 17.
In 2009, there were 34,080 players on Little League teams in the baseball and softball divisions in North Carolina, comprising 2,272 teams.
For more information on Little League Baseball and Softball, please visit the Little League web site at www.LittleLeague.org.
Little League Baseball and Softball is the world’s largest organized youth sports program, with nearly 2.6 million players and 1 million adult volunteers in every U.S. state and scores of other countries.
