Hingham Little League’s Board of Directors has been in regular dialogue since Governor Baker announced his plan to reopen the state to determine what it means for Hingham Little League Baseball.

This is what we know of Governor Baker’s Plan:
Phase II (begins June 8th) - allows for all athletic fields and courts to open with guidelines and youth sports to open in limited fashion
Phase III (begins June 29th) – allows for youth sports with games and tournaments with limited crowd sizes

We also know that while the daily COVID #’s reported are encouraging, the Phase roll-out is fluid and as a result, these dates could change.

As it relates to Little League Baseball, there are a number of new safety rules that have been recommended by Little League International including but not limited to the following:
1) No handshakes/No high fives
2) No chewing gum or seeds
3) No spitting
4) Each player will be required to have their own helmet and bat (no sharing of equipment)
5) Baseballs will be regularly swapped out every inning
6) All players in dug-outs will wear masks and separate 6 feet from each other. If too many players are in dug-out (when team is hitting), players will be spread 6 feet apart behind fence line; players are not required to wear masks on field
7) All coaches, umpires and fans are encouraged to wear masks on and off field
8) All players must have a parent, guardian or responsible adult present for the entire game
9) Parents and families watching games must also sit 6 feet apart from other families
10) All players and families must leave the field within 20 minutes of game ending

As a result of the new safety guidelines (of which, there are many), the Hingham Little League Board of Directors has concluded that we cannot consistently implement, enforce and monitor the new safety guidelines for 750+ kids and 120+ coaches across 6 separate divisions.

So what does this mean?

We will only have a MAJORS and AAA season this year.

• Little League 10-12 year olds (born between September 1, 2007 and August 31, 2010) – you will have a baseball season. Contact us if you prefer to “opt” out (see details below)
• Little League 9-year olds (born between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011) – parent/guardian decision. Contact us if you want to play (see details below)
• Little League 5-8year olds (born between September 1, 2011 and August 31, 2016) – no season. There is nothing to do (see details below)

If your player is LL age of 5-8yrs old, born between September 1, 2011 and August 31, 2016, they will not have a Little League baseball season. All such players (parents) will receive a 100% refund.

If your player is LL age of 9yrs old, born between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011, the HLL Board recommends that parent/guardian should make the decision as to whether they think player is able to handle the new safety rules as well as skilled enough to play in AAA (as a reminder, AAA will predominantly be 10/11year olds). All 9year olds (born between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011) that are interested in playing, should email: playeragent.hinghamll@gmail.com as soon as possible.

If your player is LL age of 10-12yrs old, born between September 1, 2007 and August 31, 2010, your player is eligible to play in either the AAA division or the Majors division. We plan to have up to 130 players per division and all player parents/guardians will be required to sign a waiver prior to their player participating.

Any player 9-12yrs old that does NOT intend to play must send an email to: webmaster.hinghamll@gmail.com in order to receive a refund and/or credit for next season. Please include your child’s name and whether you are requesting a “refund” or a “credit”. We request that refund/credit requests be made prior to June 3rd so we can reshuffle eligible players, coaches, teams and leagues.

We anticipate the AAA and Majors practices could start mid-to-late June and games will start on July 6th. Our goal is to have all teams play 10-regular season games followed by playoffs with the season concluding in mid-August. All games will be scheduled for week days (no Saturday/Sunday games unless there is a rain-out/make-up game). If your family is planning on taking a vacation and missing a week of the season, we encourage your player to play baseball this summer but it would be helpful to notify the coach in advance for planning purposes.

Our focus has and always will be on the safety of our players, coaches, parents and families of Hingham Little League which is why we are limiting this year’s season to only the older players. We will do our best to make up for this crazy season and make next season (2021) the best possible little league experience for all players.

We look forward to getting some of you back on the fields soon!

HLL Board of Directors

We've posted some videos for fun family activities and to help keep your player developing skills!

If your son or daughter has a birthdate between 9/1/13 -8/31/15 and they want to play Hingham Little League Baseball, Registration is still Open.   

Please click the link below for all the details.

Umpire and Pitch Counter Registration

The Training Sessions have been Cancelled

If you are 13 or older as of 2019 and interested in learning more about the rules of baseball and trying the umpire/pitch counting rules on the field, please register below. 

Please contact Jason Anderson or Greg Griffin for questions at Umpire.HinghamLL@gmail.com.

Note:

This year HLL will be using patched home plate umpires and a youth pitch counter for all Major regular season and playoff games.  As a result of this HLL will also provide a youth home plate umpire for all Single A games.  Youth pitch counters, bases and home plates umpires will continue to be used for all AA and AAA regular season and playoff games.

In addition to the umpire changes, HLL is looking for youth umpires and pitch counters that are committed to being part of an ongoing experienced umpire program.

Please note:

• Age is calculated based on National Little League age guidelines, with the birthdate ranges listed above.
• Players age 8 and above could play in a higher division, based on registration numbers at each level and evaluation results.
• Evaluations are held in Sept/Oct.  Please look for emails from Hingham Little League for exact dates/times.
• Opening Day for the 2020 season is scheduled for Monday, April 13, 2020. This would be the earliest official game, but practices and scrimmages could be held before this date, based on each coaches' discretion.
• The game schedule isn't released until March, once rosters are complete and the number of teams in each league is finalized.
• Please see each league website for information about practices at each level.