A Little Bit About Little League

It's Little League season in Rancho Bernardo.

From its founding in 1939 (the 100th anniversary of the supposed invention of the game itself by Abner Doubleday), Little League Baseball has lived up to the pledge all participants learn and recite, written by Peter J. McGovern, then president of Little League Baseball, in 1954.

"I trust in God
I love my country
And will respect its laws
I will play fair
And strive to win
But win or lose
I will always do my best."

Although there are numerous baseball, softball, challenged and instructional divisions in the Little League organization, the Little League Baseball Division (sometimes known as the Major Division) is the best-known, geared for boys and girls ages 9-12.

That division holds its championship each August in Williamsport, PA, the home of Little League Baseball. San Diegans took pride in the Park View All-Stars from Chula Vista, who took both the 2009 U.S. and International championships with their booming bats. La Mesa (1957) and El Cajon (1977) represented the U.S. in the title game but came up short against Mexico and China respectively.

San Diego County Little League teams are divided among eight California districts: 31 (North County), 32 (Coronado/Point Loma), 33 (La Mesa/Lake Murray), 41 East County), 42 (South Bay/Chula Vista/IB), 58 (Borrego/Warner Springs), 66 (Lemon Grove/South Bay) and 70 (Oceanside/Vista). Each has its own organization and board.

For links to individual leagues, click here. For more on Rancho Bernardo Little League, click here.

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Coaches, managers, league officials, team moms and dads, scorekeepers: You can add your team's results and photos to our Patch sites, either in the "What do you have to say" box (limited to 160 characters) on our homepage or on our announcement page, using the category "sports awards" in the pull-down menu. Either way, just register with Patch, and it's free!