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2009 ABR Levels of Play and Fees
Please note: The national Babe Ruth Baseball organization (as well as all other youth baseball leagues in the country) have changed the playing age determination date for the 2006 season and beyond. A players 'playing age' is the age the player is on 4/30/09.
| Level of Play | Fee | Description |
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BLASTBALL!®
Ages 4 - 5 | $40
| Intro to baseball unique in Arlington County to ABR. Early introduction to baseball. Small teams, fast paced play, simple rules, oversize soft ball and light weight bat. Teaches basic skills and team play and ensures a positive first sports experience for your child. Two games per week, one during the week (usually at 6pm) and one on Saturday (games start at 9am). Games last one and 1/2 hours. No score is kept. See www.Blastball.com.
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Super T-Ball
Ages 5 - 6 | $40
| Players learn the basics of batting using a batting tee and advance at their own pace through the season to eventually hit underhand coach pitches. Catching and fielding confidence enhanced by soft but lively reduced injury ball. Two games per week, one during the week (usually at 6pm) and one on Saturday (games start at 9am). Games last one and 1/2 hours. No score is kept.
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Single A
Ages 7 - 8 | $45
| Players develop greater confidence in their hitting abilities and better hitting mechanics by use of pitching machines. Machines throw repeatable strikes at the appropriate trajectory and speed. Promotes better hitting mechanics and confidence compared to kid pitch or coach pitch alternatives for this age level. Reduced Injury Ball. Nine batters per inning. Two games per week, one during the week (usually at 6pm) and one on Saturday (games start at 9am). Games last two hours. No score is kept.
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Double AA
Ages 8 - 9 | $45
| Players develop greater confidence in their hitting abilities and better hitting mechanics by use of pitching machines. Machines throw repeatable strikes at the appropriate trajectory and speed. Promotes better hitting mechanics and confidence compared to kid pitch or coach pitch alternatives for this age level. Regulation Hard-Ball. Three out or nine batter innings. Two games per week, one during the week (usually at 6pm) and one on Saturday (games start at 9am). Games last two hours. No score is kept.
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Triple AAA
Ages 9 - 10 | $50
| Players first "real" baseball experience. Players pitch. Standard Babe Ruth Cal Ripken Division Rules. Two levels of play for beginning and more advanced players. Two games per week, one during the week and one on Saturday (games start at 9am). Games last two hours. Scores and standings are kept. Competitive, post-season travel teams for players at both levels.
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Majors
Ages 11 - 12 | $50
| Players build upon the basic fundamentals learned at earlier levels. Standard Cal Ripken Division Rules. Two games and one practice per week, one during the week and one on Saturday (games start at 9am). Games last two hours. Two levels of play for beginning and more advanced players. Competitive, post-season travel teams for players at both levels. American Division will follow standard Cal Ripken Division rules with 60 foot bases. National Division will be a 50/70 intermediate level helping players transition easier from the Cal Ripken size field to the Senior Babe Ruth full size field. Besides the distance between bases being at 70 feet, players will be able to take leads off the bases, read pitcher's pick off moves, steal similar to the traditional game and learn to make fielding adjustments as baseball is played at the older levels.
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What is Babe Ruth Baseball?
The Cal Ripkin Division of Babe Ruth Baseball is a youth-oriented non-profit baseball program currently serving over one million children aged 5 - 12. It is both the fastest growing youth program in American and the largest regulation amateur youth baseball program in the world with over 70,000 teams and 8,000 leagues in the United States and Canada.
Babe Ruth is a national program which is unique in that it allows local groups sufficient freedom to design baseball programs to fit their local needs.
Here in Arlington, VA, Babe Ruth has recognized the uniqueness of each child and has designed a baseball program flexible enough to accommodate almost any situation that may arise.
Arlington Babe Ruth Baseball works in close harmony with the Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation to give our children a quality baseball program second to none in the local area.
The promotion of equal competition, camaraderie, full participation, good sportsmanship and just plain fun are the key objectives of this joint Arlington County and Babe Ruth Baseball effort.
Organized youth baseball began in Arlington in 1952 and the county leagues adopted Babe Ruth Baseball sixteen years ago. The program has grown at a phenomenal rate ever since. Today our program is comprised of six level of play with 135 teams and over 1,600 participants, making Arlington Babe Ruth the largest baseball program not only here in Arlington, but also throughout the entire state of Virginia.
Description of the Program
Arlington Babe Ruth has many different levels of play to include all children ages 4 - 12. There are a few basic points common to all.
 The program is available to every child regardless of their experience or skill abilities.
Every child is placed on a team based upon consideration of their age and skill. This system has enough overlap to ensure that each child plays where they will be most successful.
All players and coaches are covered by Babe Ruth's comprehensive accident and liability insurance.
Every player plays a significant portion of every game.
Every team will practice and play their games on Arlington County's best fields.
Every team's equipment is of the highest safety standards.
Each organization which has more than one team in any league will balance these teams as equally as possible. This policy provides equal competition throughout the total program.
Neighborhood Teams
Arlington Babe Ruth endorses the NEIGHBORHOOD CONCEPT in youth sports. In fact, we are the ONLY Arlington Baseball Program that attempts to allow children to play with their friends on teams of their choice through the whole program.
Another feature of our league is the fact that children need not "try out" nor be subjected to a "draft" to get on a team. Most likely your child's friends are on a school team which practices right in your own neighborhood. For this reason, Babe Ruth teams are based on elementary school districts with practices as close to those schools as possible (i.e. a Taylor player would be on one of the Taylor teams and practice on that school's field). We do this everywhere a safe and suitable field is available.
We believe that our community is best served when children (with the help of parental guidance) are allowed to choose where and with whom it would be easiest and best to play.
Arlington Babe Ruth is unique because it does not draft children at ANY AGE. We know from experience that, after playing together with their friends and shcoolmates at the younger levels, parents and players would like to play together throughout their Triple "A" and Major levels. A draft breaks up and scatters these players - while this may be fine for professional athletes such as the Wizards and Redskins, it is not the best method for our nine, ten and eleven year old boys and girls.
By using the NEIGHBORHOOD CONCEPT throughout our program Babe Ruth also takes into consideration the rights and desires of children and the needs of parents who must fit all youth activities into an already busy family schedule.
Brief History
Arlington Babe Ruth Baseball was the natural outgrowth of the Arlington County Twelve and Under program which began in 1952. Most of the present day Babe Ruth organizations can trace their roots to those early days.
For twenty years, the Arlington County program was as good as any in the region. It remained strong until the early 1970s when it slowly began to decline. It reached an all time low point in the early 1980s when only 550 children participated county-wide. Causes for the decline were carefully examined, solutions were considered, and a new national program was proposed.
In 1985, many of the coaches at the time, after carefully evaluating most of the established youth programs (Dixie Youth, Babe Ruth, Little League and Pony League) decided upon Babe Ruth Baseball as the best alternative for Arlington County. Reasons were many such as successful post season schedule, adequate insurance coverage, fair and equitable playing rules, safety regulations which were second to none, plus the fact that only Babe Ruth allowed children to play with their friends and schoolmates with a guaranteed "neighborhood concept."
Questions, comments? Email the Webmaster
If you have any comments, questions or suggested improvements for the web site, please e-mail the webmaster by clicking below:
Arlington Babe Ruth Webmaster
ArlBabeRuth@yahoo.com
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