Too late for baseball?
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Anonymous
| Our 12 year old son told us he was interested in playing baseball (he will be turning 13 this summer). This caught us by surprise since he only played one season when he was 6. Has the ship sailed or are there still rec leagues in the fall for older kids? He is athletic and plays several sports. We really do not know anything about baseball though. |
Anonymous
| Where do you live? How athletic is your kid generally? |
Anonymous
|
OP- he is athletic, plays sports all year. We are in Falls Church.
To be clear, I am not making plans for him to play in high school or anything. I’m just trying to figure out if it’s even possible to play on a rec league if he wants to play. |
Anonymous
| There is junior level little league and there is no requirement to know how to play before you join a team. You may have missed sign ups but no harm in asking. |
Anonymous
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Depending on where in Falls Church you are, you’re likely within the boundaries of the McLean, Mason District or Falls Church Kiwanis Little Leagues. I think all of them have intermediate-level fall ball for kids who are 12/13 — that would be the better place to start, as your son will be on a slightly smaller field than the full-sized 90’ field of Babe Ruth.
If he wants to play on a team in the fall, he should spend time this spring and summer working on throwing, catching and hitting. The other really important piece will be the strategy — knowing when/where to throw or run in different situations. YouTube is good for this. Watching baseball games (especially high school and college, where they make mistakes and there is more variety in plays than the pros) is useful to. He can do it — after all, that’s what rec leagues are for. But it will be a lot less frustrating for him if he goes in with at least a bit of knowledge and skill. |
Anonymous
If Falls Church doesn't have a juniors team, McLean will and so will some of the outlying places. In Prince William County, for example, there are little league teams all the way through high school. |
Anonymous
| He can definitely do it if he wants— there is senior little league for kids who are older than 12. They are on a big diamond. If your kid hasn’t hit puberty, it may be a frustrating experience because it’s really hard to get a hit on the big diamond if you’re not adult sized yet. He should do it though! |
Anonymous
| Absolutely not too late |
Anonymous
| I would look for the closest Babe Ruth league (basically little league for kids 13 and over). I feel like it's somewhat less common for kids to start baseball at 12, but there's no reason your son can't give it a try. My boys are a bit younger, but from what I've read, it seems like moving to the big field is an adjustment for all the kids anyway, so it may not even matter that much that he is new to baseball. |
Anonymous
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There are different baseball leagues that use two age cut offs ages for baseball- some leagues use April 30th so if your son is 12 now he will be league age 12 this spring and be league age 13 next spring 2026. He could play in a 13/14 year old division this fall and next spring.
Little league ahead cut off is Sept 1 so your son is league age 13 now and next spring will be league age 14. He would be in the junior division. The best bet is to sign him up first a week of baseball summer camp and put down he is age 12 and only played one year so he is playing with younger kids. See if he likes it. It is all going to friend in whether he hs physically a bigger kid. If he is tall and early to puberty he won’t have a problem. If he is on the shorter and skinner side there isn’t much hope. |
Anonymous
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Greater Vienna-Falls Church-Annandale Babe Ruth League. Every year there are kids who have never played before. And it is so much fun! You can even still get in for the Spring if you act quickly!
https://www.gvbr.org/ |