Games may have been postponed, but Little League Week continues

The second Monday in June is the start of National Little League Week. This year, although COVID-19 has seriously impacted sports, it will still be recognized from June 8 through June 14. Many of the traditional events hosted locally and around the world will be cancelled this year, but people can still honor their own Little League members while observing social distancing rules.

This all started in 1939 when Carl Stotz and his wife Gayle wanted to create a baseball league for their neighborhood youth. The very first Little League game was held on June 6 of that year and other cities started to join, then states, and even other countries. Little League spread rapidly. Six decades later, Little League grew from three teams to 200,000 teams, in all 50 states as well as in more than 80 countries, and includes both baseball and softball. Celebrations have recently added T-ball activities and games for the younger players.

National Little League week has celebrations all over the country. Some leagues only celebrate locally while others gather together by the state.

In 1959, President Dwight Eisenhower first proclaimed National Little League Week as the week that starts with the second Monday in June. Five years earlier, he had proclaimed September as National Little League Month, thus bracketing the season in special opportunities for observances.