JEDDAH, 30 March 2007 — The Jeddah Youth Baseball League (JYBL) opened its 2007 season at Saudia City Baseball field recently.

The league has children ranging from 5 to 16 years old. There are four divisions that the children play based on their age.

The Tee-Ball league has children 5-8 years old, Coach Pitch children 7-9 years old, Majors 9-12 years old and Juniors 12-16 years old. Little League baseball is played around the world. The parents of millions of Little Leaguers combined with their children, league officials, umpires, managers, coaches, and countless volunteer agencies including sponsors, represent an imposing cross section of our world. Organizers have urged parents to take the initiative to make the local program successful.

“Little League Baseball is not a club in which membership implies baby-sitting benefits and entertainment privileges. Practically speaking, Little League Baseball is an adult, volunteer work project constructed, supervised and assisted by parents who want to extend this benefit to their children. The parent who shirks this responsibility cannot in turn, expect others to assume the burden,” Richard Harris said on behalf of the organizers.

JYBL is a non-profit organization serving the youth in Jeddah. It is run by volunteers and offers children in the community an opportunity to play organized baseball. It is only with the support of local business, combined with the token fees paid by children who participate in the league, that is organized successfully year after year.

In the Tee-Ball League held recently, there was a game played between the Colorado Rockies and the Atlanta Braves. In Tee-Ball there is no score keeping and all children play and take turns batting in a continuous system.

The game was well played by both sides, with everyone improving with each week that passes. For the Braves on Offense Suleiman El-Jerby hit a home run. The Braves Defense was playing tough and good plays were made by Suleiman El-Jerby, Danny Adhami and Ali Baig. For the Offense of the Rockies Hamad “Dodi” Alhtailah and Kareem Moumina each hit a home run and a Triple was hit by Sara El Rass. On the Defensive side for the Rockie, some great plays were made by Peter Excell, Nicole Harris and Sam Westwood. It was a great game and the kids did a great job.