Little League numbers way down in Palatine

Every August, fans of America's national pastime turn their attention to ESPN and Williamsport, Pa., to follow the Cinderella story that always seems to accompany the Little League World Series.

However, the chances of Palatine ever fielding a team that would qualify for the prestigious baseball tournament are slimmer than ever given the shrinking pool of local players.

Organizers of Palatine North Little League reported only 105 kids have registered for this season - half of last year's sum.

"We're not exactly sure what's going on. Maybe they're not playing baseball because they're into video games and other things," President Roy Ori said. "We hope it changes because win or lose, you get to play baseball. That's a good day."

Despite Palatine North Little League's woes, Palatine Youth Baseball and Softball - a Palatine Park District affiliate - has seen a slight increase in registration to about 1,650 participants between house and travel teams.

Ori doesn't know yet whether Little League will have enough teams in each division, so there have been discussions about setting up games against other suburban Little League teams. The teams have always played in-house games in the past.

In 2009, worldwide participation in Little League was 2.53 million kids, about 50,000 fewer participants than the previous year.

Ori has a couple theories on what's behind the decline in Palatine, and at the top of the list is difficulty getting the word out.

Little League used to rely on Palatine Township Elementary District 15 schools to distribute its fliers, which would go home with every student. But the district changed its policy this year to save both paper and man hours by posting "E-Flyers" online.

Ori, in addition to Boy and Girl Scouts of America representatives, implored district officials to make an exception for their organizations because other recruitment efforts were failing. In December, the school board unanimously voted to permit paper fliers for Scouts to be sent home. The scouting groups printed and bundled their own fliers for each class. Ori's request was never put up to a vote.

The irony, Ori said, is that District 15's efforts to go green caused Little League volunteers to consume a lot more gas in order to drive around and distribute fliers in businesses and in front of grocery stores.

Palatine Youth Baseball and Softball President Mark Miller said District 15's move to E-Flyers forced his organization to get creative too, such as asking restaurants to staple fliers to pizza boxes.

Their teams aren't eligible to play in the Little League World Series, but Miller said the league has strong relationships with local high school coaches and offers a wider range of competition.

To learn more about both leagues, go to palatinelittleleague.org and pyb.com.