Across the world, local league programs continue to find ways to grow the game. Whether it’s through successful volunteer recruitment, junior umpire programs, community events, alumni engagement, or intentional inclusivity efforts, local league leadership is discovering that meaningful growth comes from efforts rooted in Little League’s five core values: teamwork, community, inclusion, integrity, and fun.
In 2025, Little League sat down with several local league officials for Local League Spotlights, a series of content created to help other leagues learn from each other’s success stories. Below are the leagues spotlighted throughout the year, and a best practice that has directly and positively impacted their league’s player and volunteer participation.
La Grange (Ill.) National LL
Growing Your Softball Program
“In the last two or three years, I have found that having more female coaches and volunteers involved has done wonders in growing our softball program. We have drawn a lot more female athletes to our program who stay season after season because they can see leaders and learn from leaders who are women,” said Michael Buttron. “Sometimes softball can be a scary sport to play, so having women be that source of comfort for the players as they develop their skills and confidence is huge and has done wonders for the numbers in our program.”
- In addition to increasing the number of female coaches, La Grange National LL has also placed a greater emphasis on the development program for softball and has expanded the Coach Pitch Division of play, allowing more females to start developing their softball skills and on-field confidence at a younger age.
La Grange Park (Ill.) LL
Alumni Engagement
“We have worked hard to bring those who played Little League back into the program. Rather than bringing in third–party groups to umpire games, we are now bringing in alumni through a program called ‘JUMP,’ Junior Umpires in Minors Program,” said Nicholas Michaels, League President. “Through the program, siblings of current Little Leaguers come back to the fields to train and work as umpires. We have another program, as well, where athletes who went through the Little League program and now play for their high school varsity baseball or softball team come back and coach the players.”
Mamie Johnson LL (Washington, D.C.)
Advice for Urban Initiative Programs
“Take advantage of the travel opportunities that come with being an Urban Initiative league, if you can. By participating in a Little League Urban Initiative Jamboree, you’re giving the players a chance to see leagues from other communities and states. The first year that our league did it, we went to the Bronx and were able to see teams from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut,” said Keith Barnes, League President. “Since then, every year, I get asked when we are going back because it’s the event that the kids look forward to, finally being of age to participate in. This year, I had a player who was six years old when his brother went to the Jamboree, and now, six years later, he is of age to go play. That was a really cool full-circle moment for me.”
Adapting to Your Community
“Eight years ago, our league had less than 1,000 players. Now, Lower Merion LL has close to 2,000 registered players and participants. We did an analysis of participation rates among our six public elementary schools and estimated that 38% of all boys in our elementary schools participate in Lower Merion LL. We not only serve the community, we ARE the community,” said Wally Orlov, League President. “Lower Merion LL offers a broad menu of great programs for our players. Our dramatic growth is due to our highly inclusive and positive culture. We offer a breadth of programs, including many baseball and softball clinics throughout the year, a strong Challenger program for our special needs community, and specific teams for our Orthodox Jewish members. Our success results from a focus on inclusivity AND FUN throughout our league.”
- To bring the Little League community together and thank the players and volunteers throughout the season, Lower Merion LL hosts ice cream truck days.
South Pasadena (Calif.) Little League
Running a Successful Junior Umpire Program
“The win-win-win is everywhere. We have gotten so much positive feedback, such as ‘I love it when we get the junior umpires, how can we have them more?’ The best response is all the junior umpires coming back to me and telling me how games have gone and the different situations they’ve been in,” said Karissa Adams, League Softball Commissioner. “I have this joy in my heart seeing these kids having the ability to take on a responsibility like this and instilling confidence in them being out on the field, making calls and decisions. I have gotten letters from parents saying how important the role is to them, to feel like an adult and feel responsible.”
- The junior umpire program has been active for two years, and about 20 players are actively umpiring, with a handful that will be training this summer.
Midway Little League (Hewitt, Texas)
Recruiting Volunteers
Each age level tends to have three or four parents who really want to be involved and play a bigger role. I try to get with those parents earlier in their time as volunteers so they can help us recruit for their division and the ones below them as new parents sign their kids up, especially at the Tee Ball level,” said Todd Ivy, League President. “We really like to keep those three or four parents active beyond practice and games, since we also usually lose a couple of parents as coaches as their kids grow older and play in the higher divisions of play. So, really, it is about getting with the Tee Ball and Coach Pitch volunteers and letting them know that we need them and that there is a role for them as their player gets older.”
Grandville (Mich.) Little League
Chartering Early
Chartering early is a benefit to us so that when we cross our fiscal year, we can make that transition. We open up registration right away as soon as we charter in October, and that benefits us for getting the word out,” said Josh VanBuskirk, League President. “It enables us to allow payment plans for registration fees and to funnel people towards the T-Mobile Little League Call Up Grant. It just allows us to get all the communication out and plan accordingly based on registration numbers.”
Emphasizing Inclusion
Our Challenger Division is really well supported. We keep the registration cost really low to make sure we can include all of the families that want to be involved. It is definitely the excitement and the joy you see when they come out to the park once a week to play. Some leagues within our district don’t have the ability to run a Challenger Division, so it is really important for us to carry on our program and make sure that individuals across the district have somewhere to play. They’re excited to be out there and play, so it is fun to watch them feel that complete joy.
To learn more about the Little League program and find a league in your community, visit PlayLittleLeague.org. To check out everything that happened in 2025, including alumni features and how leagues throughout the world are living out Little League’s core values, visit LittleLeague.org/News.