Kinley Rasmus, Carsynn Meyer set to play in Little League World Series
Sam Cardona-Norberg shares information on the two girls playing in the Little League World Series: Kinley Rasmus for Alabama and Carsynn Meyer for Nevada.
Sports Seriously
Patrick Wilson grew up in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Long before he would direct the organization that draws thousands to watch the Little League World Series every year, he would ride his bike a half-block down the street to a community center.
“There wasn’t a Boys & Girls Club in Williamsport but it did look and feel very much like a Boys & Girls Club, and that’s where I spent my time,” says Wilson, the chief executive officer for Little League International. “I’d walk down the street, I’d ride my bike, and that’s where I grew up when my parents were working.”
Lorraine Orr played Little League baseball. “The only girl on the team for a long time,” she says.
The future chief operating officer for Boys & Girls Clubs of America was following in her father’s footsteps in rural Mint Hill, North Carolina, east of Charlotte.
“It was neighborhood baseball, almost like ‘A League of Their Own,’ ” she says. “There was a cornfield in the back. They made their baseball fields and we traveled around with my dad and watched him and his brother. They both played. My dad was a pitcher. My brother was a pitcher. I pitched a little bit myself. It was just an amazing family bond.”
Finding sports kids like to play, and seeing them comfortable while playing them, is more difficult now. There are widespread digital distractions at their fingertips, and there is unequal economic access. The cost of youth sports has risen 46% since 2019, according to the Aspen Institute’s Project Play research.
“Kids need organizations like the Boys & Girls Club of America and Little League more than ever,” Wilson says. “I just think kids need activities and resources to support them in a very complex society.”
Little League and Boys & Girls Clubs of America are partnering to create more baseball and softball access opportunities for youth athletes. It’s “centered on the shared belief that every child deserves the opportunity to belong, build confidence, and reach their full potential,” the organizations said in a release shared with USA TODAY Sports ahead of Sunday’s official announcement of the union.
Orr, who has been in her line of work for almost 39 years, puts it this way: “I like to think about it as two American institutions coming together to provide deeper access for every young person.”
We spoke with Wilson and Orr about what it could mean for your youth athlete.
How will the partnership between Little League and Boys & Girls Clubs of America work?
Starting with 25 to 30 pilot programs during the 2027 season, it will focus on creating pathways for club members to play baseball and softball through local Little League programs.
“We did an overlay between where Boys & Girls Clubs and Little League programs are located, and it’s over a 90% match,” Orr says.
Boys & Girls Clubs, which mainly offer intramural baseball and softball, will have access to more facilities and equipment. Wilson says the organizations will cross-promote one another as well.
“We have the ability to say, ‘Here’s a Boys & Girls Club, here are one, two, three Little Leagues in the area,’ and match the club and the leagues directly,” Wilson says. “We’ll get some leagues out of it, but we’ll also be able to promote to boys and girls that haven’t participated before (that) this is in your area.
“How we can help the Boys & Girls Clubs win is through that same matching process. The Boys & Girls Club leads with a lot of afterschool programming, whether it’s activity, after-school care directly, or even tutoring and meals. (Now) here’s a Boys & Girls Club in your area if you’re a Little League participant, and you should consider enrolling in the Boys & Girls Club because there’s services that might help you and your family.”
How many kids does the partnership affect?
Nearly 5,500 Boys & Girls Clubs serve more than 4 million young people through membership and community outreach.
Orr, the COO, says there are Boys & Girls Clubs on virtually every U.S. military base and installation around the world, while the organization is the largest service provider to Native American children in America.
Little League has about 2 million players (ages 4-16) playing baseball and softball in every U.S. state and more than 80 other countries.
“As we think about Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Little League Baseball, we are nearly in every community, every Congressional district across the country,” Orr says.
The organizations hope to expand the number of Little League programs once the pilots are successful.
To give you an idea of the potential reach, the Boys & Girls Clubs have a strategic plan called Future Ready that Orr says could eventually increase the number of clubs from 5,500 to close to 10,000.
“We have a little north of 600,000 young people that participate in sports in our Boys & Girls Clubs, and we have a goal of getting that to 1 million,” she says.
How much will it cost to play Little League through this partnership?
It won’t necessarily be free, but the organizations will provide whatever equipment or finances are needed, Wilson says, to support the pilots. Their locations have yet to be announced.
According to Orr, as the partnership continues to grow, signing up will be as simple as going to a Boys & Girls Club in your area and completing an application. She says membership dues at clubs average $7 a child.
Wilson says Little League participation within the partnership will be open to anybody who wants to play.
“As long as they’re part of a baseball program that’s already operating in the Boys & Girls Club and we have a league in the area,” Little League’s CEO says. “There are some Boys & Girls Clubs in areas where we don’t have Little League programs. So Phase 2 would be: what is the opportunity we can create in those areas as well?”
Who will do the coaching?
While Little League relies almost entirely on volunteers, it will gain access to 76,000 Boys & Girls Cub professionals across its network. They’re trained in the physical safety and emotional development of youths.
Little League will provide coach training through Little League University, a resource for coaches, umpires and administrative volunteers.
Orr says the Boys & Girls Clubs have a network of about 200,000 volunteers split between athletics and academics.
“My assumption is, as we start to roll this out, there will be some of our staff that will become coaches,” Orr says. “We will source for volunteers. And our jobs between us and Little League will be making sure that they’re trained and that they understand the needs of young people and they create these safe spaces for them to learn and grow.
“We both are uniquely positioned to close the access gap and the quality gap, which is around preparing trained adults through positive youth development experiences. Sports can be the doorway to a much broader developmental experience. I’ve lived that myself and I see it inside of young people in our clubs every single day.”
‘Sports builds more than athletes’: What does the partnership mean for youth and travel sports?
Orr, who played three sports (basketball, volleyball, softball) at Division III Greensboro College in the 1980s, points to the Boys & Girls Club Alumni Hall of Fame. It’s full of boys and girls who grew up to become professional athletes or to be highly successful in other professions.
“Not every kid is going to become an elite athlete,” Orr says. “For me, it goes beyond the physical activity of the sport, but it helps young people build confidence, resilience, learn teamwork. So it is about preparing young people for the future.”
The partnership is grounded in the idea that playing sports benefits you whether you “make it” or not. It also gives us all a chance to take a deep breath and consider our definition of “making it.”
And perhaps it helps us look at the bigger picture and consider which sports options are best for our kids, and why we’re spending money on their sports in the first place.
“Sports builds more than athletes,” says Orr, a mother of 8-year-old twins who are just beginning their athletic journeys. “They build futures and they build communities, they build lifelong relationships and healthy habits. … It’s about belonging, building character, these lifelong skills that stay with you.
“I see it as a responsibility because every young person deserves the opportunity to experience the power of sports. This is a powerful thing to see young people when they start to fall in love with something.”
You might even remember that feeling when you played sports as a kid.
Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He played baseball in high school, rowed in college and spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents to a college and high school baseball player. His Coach Steve column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.
Got a question for Coach Steve you want answered in a column? Email him at sborelli@usatoday.com. at sborelli@usatoday.com.