1. League Development

2. LEAGUE DEVELOPMENT
Objective – To provide District Administrators insight into growing the program within their district. Additionally, to provide recommendations and ideas on how to retain existing leagues.
Approach – As a result of our research, we have been able to identify why leagues and players choose to leave our program. As a result, we have developed premium benefits that we hope will assist in retaining leagues and players.
The easiest way to retain leagues is to be an active District Administrator. You will hear this mentioned throughout the course of the new DA training and will find that being active and engaged with you leagues will assist with league retention.

3. DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR KEY OBJECTIVES
Grow participation within your district
Create awareness about Little League
Retain existing leagues
Updating local league contact information

4. WHERE IS MY DISTRICT IN FOUR YEARS?
So, let’s get to it—
Before looking ahead, you must understand where your district is today, first. A great D.A. is active within their district in order to know it well, learn its nature and characteristics, current situation and desired future outcome.

5. WHERE IS MY DISTRICT IN FOUR YEARS?
Time to work and jot down some quick facts about your district TODAY—
What Do You Think Determines Success For your District?
How Many Leagues In your District?
How many divisions (Minor BB, Major SB, etc.) on average per league?
Does your district offer Teenage Divisions? Softball? Challenger?
Allow the group to take a few moments to complete the questions. Ask for volunteers to share.

6. WHERE IS MY DISTRICT IN FOUR YEARS?
What is the Total of Regular Season Teams In your District?
What is The Average Number Of Teams Per League in your district?
How Many District Staff Members do you currently have?
How Many Volunteer Umpires Do You Have in your District? And, per league?

7. WHERE IS MY DISTRICT IN FOUR YEARS?
The average District in Little League…
10-15 Leagues
4 Divisions per league (either baseball or softball)
300 Total regular season teams
25 Teams per League
5 Staff members (ADA’s)

8. WHERE IS MY DISTRICT IN FOUR YEARS?
Take time to think about where you would like to see your district in 4 years?
How many leagues? _________
How many teams/players? _________
How many volunteers on district staff? _________
How many volunteer umpires do I have? _________

9. WHERE IS MY DISTRICT IN FOUR YEARS?
How many leagues offer the following programs?
Teenage Divisions: _________
Softball: _________
Challenger: _________
Implement Tee Ball Program: _________
Implement Coach Pitch Program: _________

10. GOALS, GOALS, GOALS…
You will notice that all the information collected and written down in the previous sections can now be used to determine your district goals. Measuring progress will assist you in growing your district.

11. GROWING THE PROGRAM League Finder
Target areas of your district that are not currently affiliated with Little League.
Reach out to the League Development Department for resources.
The League Finder is a great way to increase individual enrollment within leagues in your district. Encourage your leagues to promote and use the league finder on all registration/promotional materials.
Target and identify areas of your district that are not currently serviced by existing league boundaries. It would be ideal to involve league presidents in this process to determine if they feel the areas would provide opportunities for growth.
Reach out to the league development department in Williamsport for collateral/promotional materials that will assist you when working to grow the program.

12. GROWING THE PROGRAM
Encourage leagues to utilize the marketing and player registration information from the President’s Resource Guide (Toolkit)
Work with other districts in your state to grow the program
Be an active District Administrator
District Administrators should challenge leagues to find new ways to grow/promote their leagues annually. By using the marketing and player registration information from the resource guide, leagues can utilize resources or ideas that they have not used in the past to grow their league.
Leagues who a Board of Directors that are less experienced should be encourage to spend time reviewing the resource guide as a board and utilizing the resources suggested to grow the program.
Work with DA’s within the state to discuss strategies that will assist everyone to grow the program. Share ideas and best practices in an effort to expand Little League participation as much as possible (Georgia example) .
Again…be an active DA and engage with your leagues often throughout the year to assist whenever you can.

13. GROWING THE PROGRAM
Provide annual training and development opportunities for the leagues in your district
Utilize the Little League Urban Initiative to grow the program in urban communities
Work with local HS, College, Minor League, and Major League Baseball teams to create awareness and develop a positive relationship for leagues
Use the resources provided by Little League to train your leagues throughout the year in areas of operations that you feel will assist with growth. This can be accomplished by taking time during monthly meetings to focus on key areas of training.
By working with these groups, we hope you will create awareness about Little League and local leagues can capitalize on the additional exposure. Events, in addition to the international tournament and LLWS, are very important to assist with creating awareness. For example – ESPN Baseball Tonight, College softball/baseball days, Little League Days with MLB and MiLB teams

14. GROWING THE PROGRAM
Analyze each league in your district to growth opportunities.
Areas where leagues can focus on for growth
Develop and promote the softball program
Teenage Division Baseball/Softball
Challenger Division and Senior Challenger Division.
Work with each league in your district to determine growth opportunities.
Discuss the importance of the Tee Ball Curriculum and spend time discussing during monthly meetings well in advance of the playing season. Remember, Tee Ball books are sent to leagues based on the number of teams they charter with Little League

15. WHY DO PLAYERS CHOOSE LITTLE LEAGUE?
To have fun and play with their friends
A chance to play in the largest youth baseball/softball tournament the world
Proper training from managers/coaches – a fun environment
Their idols played Little League
"It seemed like I spent a lot of time thinking about Derek in Little League," Dr. Jeter said. "Opening Day, walking the parade with his uniform on, and he's stepping up with his shoulders back and smiling -- so proud to be part of a team as he heads to the field. Some of that enthusiasm, I still see now."

16. WHY DO COACHES CHOOSE LITTLE LEAGUE?
Little League University
To be with family
Community involvement
To be a positive role model
A chance to coach in the Little League International Tournament
Structure and parity – Everyone in the world is playing by the same rules and regulations to ensure a level playing field.

17. WHY DO PARENTS CHOOSE LITTLE LEAGUE?
Locally organized and community based
Time tested safety rules and regulations
Child protection program
Parent education and volunteer support
Social opportunities

18. WHY DO VOLUNTEERS CHOOSE LITTLE LEAGUE?
D&O insurance coverage included in General Liability Insurance
Service and Structure – Little League provides guidelines to run the program
Support – DA, Regional Offices, International Headquarters
Community based organization

19. CLOSING THE DEAL: STEPS TO TAKE AFTER RECEIVING AN INQUIRY
If an individual contacts you, contact the league development department for a new league packet
If we forward an inquiry to you, the individual will have already received a packet
Call/ the contact and introduce yourself
Offer to set up a meeting
Responsiveness is key to successful follow-up after receiving an inquiry. When following up, allow the league to tell you about their program and what they are looking to gain through a Little League affiliation. Setting up a meeting with the league will give you an opportunity to present Little League while the lead is “hot” and allow you to demonstrate the positive service that we can provide to our leagues.

20. CLOSING THE DEAL…WHY LITTLELEAGUE?
Focus on unique benefits
Brand recognition
Tee Ball/Coach Pitch curriculum
FREE Background checks for volunteers within a local league
Little League University
Little League International Tournament
Service and support –
Regional Office
District Administrator and staff to provide local support.
When discussing Little League with potential new leagues, focus on the positives of our program, rather than the negatives of their previous experience. If you have knowledge of the factors that led them to look at Little League, focus on how we can help solve their issue in a positive fashion. Benefits that are unique to LL and are helpful when selling the program are:
*Brand Recognition – the ability to use the LL name – research has shown a positive recognition with parents and in communities
*TB/Coach Pitch – Great training tools to develop and retain young players and to recruit new volunteer coaches
*Background checks – a cost savings for leagues that are paying for checks – often entirely offsets the cost to charter/insure
*LLU – Free online training for all constituencies of a league
*International Tournament – Recognition; attract players for the opportunity to participate
*Service and support – Most robust service and support offered by any youth sports program

21. NEW LEAGUES
Determine if any other league’s boundaries encroach upon the area… are adjustments possible?
Meet with the board to present the Little League program; we can provide a presentation
Be available for follow up and to assist the league in completing the charter paperwork
Give the league an idea of what to expect in their first year
Boundaries – Contact region and use league finder to assist if you did not receive maps from previous DA – Region should be able to provide you with copies of maps on file
Meetings – As discussed earlier we can provide a presentation, and in some cases staff support
Follow-up – Opportunity to provide service – charter paperwork will be new for these leagues – don’t make assumptions about their knowledge of the process
First year – Provide a positive experience by not allowing surprises (deadlines, paperwork, district fees, district activities, etc.) to affect a leagues first year

22. LEAGUE RETENTION
Reach out to leagues in your district in the Fall months to discuss their future involvement with Little League
Allow leagues to express concerns or issues they had with the program during the previous season
Encourage leagues to share successful ideas with other leagues in your district

23. “I’M LOSING LEAGUES….HELP!”
Why do leagues leave the Little League program?
What can we do to prevent leagues from leaving our program?
Immediate steps to take when a leave informs you they are leaving the program

24. WHY DO LEAGUES LEAVE LITTLE LEAGUE?
To participate in competing programs
Restrictive rules and regulations
Flexibility of travel baseball/softball
To prepare for the next level
Little League has too much paperwork

25. WHAT CAN WE DO TO PREVENT LEAGUES FROM LEAVING THE PROGRAM
DA-local league relationship-Reach out to your leagues early to identify possible problems.
Explain to your leagues why Little League has the rules it has.
Annual marketing and parent meetings.
The grass is not always greener on the other side.

26. TIPS WHO IS GOING TO DO IT?
Preferably, recruit your staff based on personal, professional background.
Be sure to assign someone to the position of MARKETING & PR Officer.
Verify that your Treasurer has basic knowledge of corporate Finance.
Incorporate your league presidents into your staff/advisory board.