Feeny

Players must reside or attend a school within the league boundaries to play baseball for Midland Northeast Little League. The interactive map below can be used to see if your home or school fall within that area.

Schools

Schools that are inside the NELL boundaries include Adams Elementary, Chestnut Hill Elementary, Plymouth Elementary, Blessed Sacrament, and Northeast Middle. Any player that attends one of these schools can play for NELL, regardless of residency.

Residency

Players who live inside the NELL boundaries but attend a school that is within another league (or vice versa) have the choice to play in either league with full rights and without waiver.

Waivers

Players who both live and attend school outside of the NELL boundaries should play with their local league. While discouraged, we do allow players from outside our boundaries to play for NELL at the tee ball and coach pitch levels. Players at the AA Minor level and above who neither reside or attend school within the NELL boundaries must request a waiver to play for NELL from Little League International. This waiver is rare and requires parents to get a letter signed from the local league releasing their child to play for our league. Assistance with a letter format can be provided in some circumstances.

Documentation

New players must show a league official one document verifying they either live or attend school within the NELL boundaries before being allowed to play. Players selected to play on All Star teams may be required to provide additional residency or school records to meet the rules stipulated by Little League International. These documents will be collected at time of selection in June.

Further Reading & Questions

Here is a link to Little League International's Residency and School Attendance Eligibility Requirements for those interested.

For questions about residency requirements and the NELL boundaries, email midlandnell@yahoo.com.

Effective January 1, 2018, USA Baseball, the national governing body for the sport of baseball in the United States, has adopted a new bat standard that will impact Midland Northeast Little League players for the 2018 season.

What will the new USABat standard change and why?

Similar to the NCAA and NFHS BBCore standard that was implemented in 2011, this new "USABat Standard" will create wood-like performance in youth baseball bats. The goal of adopting this new standard is to make the game of baseball more uniform and safe at the youth level.

What does this mean for Midland Northeast Little League players?

For the 2018 season and beyond, all bats must conform to this new USABat Standard. The logos on the bat will look like this:

Bats that do not have this logo printed on them will no longer be allowed.

The good news is that the new USABat standard allows players to use up to a 2 5/8 inch barrel (as long as it bears the new USABat logo).

The one exception to this rule is the use of any t-ball bat in coach pitch. Northeast Little League is not yet requiring USA Baseball certified bats in the coach pitch division.

For more information, and to view a comprehensive list of approved bats, please visit the USABat Youth Baseball Standard website.

The table to the right can be used to determine a player's "baseball age." Clicking on the image will take you to a printable PDF version of the table. Little League International also provides an Age Calculator on their website that will display your child's baseball age by entering their birthdate.

This will be the first year that Little League International imposes the new August 31st cutoff for all divisions of baseball. The new rule prevents anyone who turns 13 during the season from playing in the major division of Little League baseball.

You will see two listings for 12-year-olds on the chart. This is because Little League International is "grandfathering the four months of children born between May 1 and August 31, 2005, for the 2018 season, so that no child will lose their 12-year-old season of Little League baseball." This small group of players will them jump to 14-year-olds in 2019.

For more information about the change in Little League age determinations, visit LittleLeague.org.

Midland Northeast Little League Divisions

The table to the right is provided to help parents understand the baseball divisions at Midland Northeast Little League. The navy blue squares align what can be considered typical or appropriate ages with each division of baseball. The light blue squares highlight ages players can "play up" or "play down" based on evaluation and the availability of spots to fill balanced teams.

Tee ball is offered at Midland Northeast Little League for our 4 year olds only. In the event that there are not enough 4 year olds to field enough teams then they will be brought up to Coach Pitch 1 teams.

Coach Pitch 1 is typically appropriate for 5 or 6 year olds who are playing organized baseball for the first time. As players advance to 6 and 7 years old, they typically play on Coach Pitch 2 teams. Eight year olds can play Coach Pitch 2 at parent discretion if concerned about their child's individual development.

Most 8 and 9 year olds play in the AA Minors. Seven year olds are considered for AA Minors if they attend evaluations, but spots are only available to them if there is space on AA Minors teams.

As players reach 10 and 11 years old, they typically play on AAA Minors until drafted onto a Majors team. Some 9 year olds move up to AAA Minors if spots are available and based on evaluations. Eight year olds are not allowed to play AAA Minors.

All 12 year olds are drafted onto Majors teams. Spots can open up for 10 and 11 year olds based on availability and evaluation. Once a player is drafted onto a Majors team, they stay there until they "age out" of Little League baseball.

More information about age divisions is provided in our FAQ. If you have questions about age divisions, contact us at midlandnell@yahoo.com