Sandpoint Little League taking over Babe Ruth baseball

SANDPOINT — Sandpoint Little League has now expanded to a Senior Little League program for area players age 13 through 16, with players from the entire Panhandle area invited to participate. The Panhandle Babe Ruth board supports this transition 100 percent and will not be renewing the Babe Ruth Charter for 2011.

There are a lot of advantages to this move, including players being grouped together closer to their age, with 13 and 14 year-olds on the same team and 15 and 16 year-olds on another team. There are provisions for certain exceptions. Please contact Troy Hancock, Sandpoint Little League President, for details.

In Babe Ruth, 16 year-olds could no longer play in the Babe Ruth program and would have to play on the American Legion team whether they were ready to move up to that level or not. Now 16 year-olds can choose to play on a Senior Little League team and sign up for the Legion team as well. Some 13 year-old players dropped out believing that they may not get to play much when the teams were made up of players age 13 through 15 all on the same team.

Little League fees will be less expensive than Babe Ruth due to the size of the local organization. We hope that this will help encourage parents who might not have otherwise been able to afford to have their kids play baseball.

This move not only affects players in Sandpoint, but in Priest River, Newport, Bonners Ferry and other outlying areas. The Panhandle Babe Ruth board members have met with the Sandpoint Little League board and we unanimously determined that this will help improve the baseball community in the Panhandle area in this age group.

Please look for further announcements providing details on when and where to sign up. You will see many familiar faces with coaches and volunteers along with a few new ones. See you out on the diamond.