Special guests include Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, Veteran MLB Umpire Gerry Davis, ESPN’s Karl Ravech, Jessica Mendoza, and Kyle Peterson, and America’s Got Talent’s The Passing Zone.
Nearly 1,500 representatives of Little League® Baseball and Softball from around the world gathered together in New Orleans as the 27th Little League International Congress kicked off on Friday, January 19.
The official start of the 2018 Little League International Congress begins with the Opening Convocation at the New Orleans Convention Center on Friday night as Little League officially welcomes and recognizes all of its volunteers. The night will also feature a special ceremony enshrining Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, the first Little League alumni to hold the position, into the Little League Hall of Excellence. Following his enshrinement, Commissioner Manfred will host a keynote conversation with Stephen D. Keener, Little League President and CEO, which will be broadcasted via Facebook Live on Little League’s official Facebook account.
The 2018 Little League International Congress will feature special guest appearances by ESPN talent Karl Ravech, Jessica Mendoza, and Kyle Peterson, as well as Veteran MLB Umpire Gerry Davis.
The four-day event will also be capped off with a feature performance at the Chairman’s Banquet on January 22 by America’s Got Talent’s The Passing Zone, a comedy-juggling duo that has won 18 gold medals from the International Jugglers’ Association and holds five Guinness World Records.
First launched in 1956, the purpose of the International Congress is to chart the course of the world’s largest organized youth baseball and softball program. More than a thousand Little League volunteers from around the globe attend the Little League International Congress, held once every four years.
Nearly 450 of those attending are volunteer District Administrators, or delegates, who serve as liaisons between the local leagues and Little League International. District Administrators are elected by their constituent leagues to provide support, and to represent their interests as delegates to the International Congress. The primary purpose of the Congress is to amend rules and regulations.
The delegates, and their assistant district administrators, meet in round table discussions, making any necessary changes in the proposed amendments, then vote on the changes on the final day of the Congress. A two-thirds vote is required for passage. Those amendments receiving the necessary vote are then presented to the International Board of Directors for final approval.
For more information on the Little League International Congress in New Orleans, including tentative schedules and agenda items, visit LittleLeague.org/Congress.