Little League World Series

The Little League World Series is a counterpart of the MLB World Series for children under 13. It started in 1947 and is held every August in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA. (The postal address of the organization is in Williamsport, but the stadium complex is in South Williamsport.) At first it was only between cities of the U.S. (much like the MLB "World Series"), but it now truly lives up to its designation and has become a worldwide tournament. The tournament has gained popular renown, especially in the United States, where games from the Series and even from US regional tournaments are often broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2.

Qualifying Tournaments

In the summer months leading up to the tournament, every Little League organization around the world competes in district, sectional, state, and regional tournaments in hopes of advancing to Williamsport. Just how many games a team has to play varies widely from region to region. In the United States alone, for instance, the tournaments at the lowest level (district) lack nationwide standardization. Some use pool play or double elimination, others use single elimination.

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In the US, the fate of district winners varies widely from state to state. In certain larger states such as New York and Florida, the winners have to survive sectional tournaments before advancing to state tournaments. Other smaller states lack competition at the sectional level and go straight from district to state tournaments. A handful of states are composed of only one district, and the district champion is the automatic state champion.

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With four exceptions, all 50 states crown a state champion and then send one representative to its regional tournament. Because of their large geographic and population size, California and Texas send two each: Northern California and Southern California play in the West region, Texas East and Texas West compete in the Southwest region. Conversely, because of their sparse population, the Dakotas have just one district spanning the two states, and its winner becomes the joint champion.

Related Topics:
California - Texas - Northern California - Southern California - Texas East - Texas West - Dakotas

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The state champions compete in eight different regional tournaments, with the eight winners advancing to the Little League World Series. See this page for a comprehensive breakdown on US regional tournament locations and participants.

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Other countries and regions select their own way of crowning a champion. Little League Canada, for instance, holds tournaments at the provincial and regional level to field five champions at the national tournament: Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, the Atlantic Provinces, and the Prairie Provinces. The host site of the national tournament varies from year to year, and the home team gets an automatic berth as the sixth team. The winner of the national tournament earns the right to represent Canada at the Little League World Series.

Related Topics:
Canada - Ontario - Quebec - British Columbia - Atlantic Provinces - Prairie Provinces - Home team

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