**SCROLL TO BOTTOM TO READ NEW STRUCTURE FOR 2009**
OUR HISTORY
Eastern Loudoun Babe Ruth was founded in October of 2003, due to the tremendous growth in the population of Eastern and Central Loudoun County, creating a need to split from parent league, Greater Loudoun Babe Ruth. In its first year, Virginia State Babe Ruth endorsed a charter, for play in the 13-15 year old age divisions only, for play beginning in the Spring of 2004. In January of 2005, National Babe Ruth, with the support of then State Director Don Rose, Sr., approved an additional charter request to also house the 16-19 year old Senior Babe Ruth Division. 2005 saw ELBR proudly host all 3 divisions of National Babe Ruth Baseball; 13-Prep, Babe Ruth (ages 13-15), and Senior Babe Ruth (ages 16-18).
In 2005, ELBR began a high school cooperative, allowing current, and prospective, baseball players from the local high schools to remain together as a team, and continue their competitive play and training, as a team, through league play, and some travel.
In 2007, ELBR was granted charter for the new Super 70 Cal Ripken League, for 11 and 12 year old teams, and playing on the 70\50 fields (70' base paths, and 50' pitching distance). This division of baseball allows for an even smoother transition for 13 year olds moving to the 90' diamond, as these players get to play on slightly larger fields than in 60\40 Cal Ripken and Little League programs.
Boundaries
The league boundaries, until the Fall of 2008, were defined by the high school attendance zones for the following high schools:
Age Groups
There are four age groups: Cal Ripken is for 11 and 12 year old players wanting to play on the 70ft diamond. 13 Prep is composed of only 13 year old players to ease the transition from the 60ft and 70ft diamond to the 90ft diamond. The two other age divisions are 14-15 and 16-19. The 16-19 group will attempt to allow groups of players who attend the same high schools to play together. It is NOT required that a player be on the corresponding high school team.
League Structure - Spring
ELBR is split into two leagues: American and National.
The American League will consist of teams whose players are chosen after specialized try-outs, conducted by the managers for this specific division. American League teams will be scheduled to play up to 30 games against Babe Ruth and NVTBL teams, plus outside tournaments. There will be an additional fee for those players selected for the American League teams. All players can tryout for the American League teams. Those that are not selected are automatically entered into the draft for the National League.
The National League will be formed from all remaining eligible and registered players and will consist of 13 year old only, 14-15 year old teams and high school area teams in the 16-19 year old age group. Managers and coaches in the National League may create their own weekend or tournament teams but will not receive additional funding from ELBR for those activities.
Each league and division will send a representative team to All Star post season tournament play at the end of the regular season. The selection process will consist of a combination of open tryout and consensus manager\coach selection.
League Structure - Fall
In the Fall, there are no American and National Leagues. The age group divisions remain the same (11\12, 13, 14-15, 16-19).
2009 - ELBL has dropped its affiliation with Babe Ruth and will operate solely with VA USSSA. This allows for an expansion of the boundaries of our league, and we will no longer be handcuffed to only allow players from the high schools listed in the above "Boundaries." We will also be allowed to accept players and teams from outside of the Loudoun County boundaries.
This new affiliation will open up greater opportunities for the baseball youth of our area, in that more players will be afforded an opportunity to participate in state and regional post season championships. This means, no matter your skill level, there are levels of post season tournament play for everyone!
ELBR is proud to add the new Super Cal Ripken 50\70 Division to it's ever expanding League.
The new League will be called Loudoun County Super Cal Ripken (LSCR), and the boundaries will be the entire Loudoun County borders. To establish this new division, ELBR only invites established teams to compete at the 11 and 12 year old levels. The games are played on diamonds with dimensions of 50 foot pitching distances and 70 foot base paths. Games are played within Loudoun County, along with co-op scheduling with Fauquier, Rappahannock, Fairfax, and Prince William counties, and Winchester and Summit Point (WV).
Once established as a viable league, LSCR will then use a standard individual registration, try-out, and draft system to populate the league.
THe 50\70 league was adopted by Babe Ruth Baseball in 2007 to better develop the younger players to assimilate onto the 90 foot diamond with greater ease.
