If your child registered for DLL's 2023 Spring season and you submitted residence and age documentation – You will NOT be required to resubmit proof of player residence and age as long as you register with the same user account you did last year.
 

If you are registering a player who was not registered in our 2023 Spring season – Please make sure that your child meets the DLL eligibility requirements noted below and submit proof of residence (or school attendance) and age before submitting registration. A step-by-step process is provided toward the end of registration. the system uses Little League’s official Age Determination policy (summarized below) to place children in the appropriate age group/division.  Little League does NOT consider grade in their Age Determination policy. Based on your child’s birthday, the system will automatically place them in the correct age group and you will not be able to override the placement

• Baseball age determination - child’s age as of 8/31/2024.  For example, if your child is currently 7 and turns 8 on June 1, 2024, they are considered Age 8 for the 2024 season
• Softball age determination – child’s age as of 12/31/2023.  For example, if your child is currently 8 and turns 9 on February 1, 2024, they are considered Age 8 for the 2024 season
• Either lives OR attends school in our catchment area, basically, below Canal Street.

The Little League determination date:

• For all BASEBALL (coed) players is August 31.  A child must be at least 5 years old as of this date to be eligible for DLL's baseball program.
• For all SOFTBALL (girls only) players is December 31. A child must be at least 5 years old as of this date to be eligible for DLL's softball program. 

All DLL baseball & softball divisions utilize Little League age to determine placement per Little League rules, not grade level. We do not move players up or down divisions during registration.

You can find Little League's Baseball, Softball, and Challenger Age Charts along with League Age Calculator here:

• Click Here For Little League Age Calculator 
• 2024 AGE CHARTS
  • Baseball
  • Softball
  • Challenger

A player must either reside or attend a school within the DLL catchment area and boundaries to play in DLL. Previously registered DLL players who no longer meet the residency or school requirement will be grandfathered. A Little League waiver is required for anyone registering who lives or goes to school outside of the catchment area such in Manhattan or Brooklyn.

SCHOOLS IN DLL'S CATCHMENT

• PS 89 Liberty School
• PS 150 Tribeca Learning Center
• PS 234 Independence School
• PS 276 Battery Park School
• IS 289 Hudson River Middle School
• PS 343 Peck Slip School
• PS 397 Spruce Street School
• Blue School
• Leman Manhattan Preparatory School
• Pine Street School
• Portfolio School
• Lower Manhattan Community Middle School
• Millennium High School
• Stuyvesant High School
• High School of Economics & Finance
• Richard R Green High School
• Leadership & Public Service High School

Proof of age includes a birth certificate or passport. Once you have formally registered your child, you can provide the required documentation in one of two ways detailed below:

UPLOADING DOCUMENTS

1. Login to your Sportsengine account that you used to complete registration
2. Select the bubble in the top right corner of the screen to go to your account settings
3. Select "Registrations" from the left nav menu
4. Find the registration that you completed (DLL Spring Registration)
5. Scroll down to the Player Information page and select the small blue "Edit" option or the Pencil icon (whichever is visible to you) and find the Proof of Age and Proof of Residence Upload questions and upload your documents and save.

or

MAIL COPIES TO:

Downtown Little League

Box #144
33 Park Place

New York, NY 10007

NOTE: If your child is a returning player and you register through your existing DLL account, you do NOT need to resubmit proof of age or residence documents.  If you create a new account or are registering new players, you will be required to resubmit all required documentation.

DOWNTOWN LITTLE LEAGUE REGISTRATION - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
 

Hello DLL Families - hope that all is well.

In response to your questions, we are providing an FAQ to make your registration experience as smooth as possible. In addition to questions about eligibility, fees and SportsEngine accounts, we address the process of requesting specific teammates and coaches, sponsoring a team and the possibility of winter workouts.

IMPORTANT: Downtown Little League strives for every registered player to be placed on a roster and to participate in practice and games from early March through Father's Day weekend in June.

During the online registration process, each registrant will be prompted – and required – to acknowledge all of its provisions in order to participate in DLL.

Remember to email registration@downtownlittleleague.org with any registration-related questions and we’ll see you at the ballfields soon!

The DLL Board

----------

1. What is the timing of the 2024 season?

2024 is scheduled to start with practices in early March, weather permitting, with games beginning the 1st weekend of April. The season will conclude Father’s Day weekend. Winter clinics are scheduled to start in December.

2. How do I know if my child is eligible to play with DLL?

Please refer to our catchment area and age requirements for eligibility details, noting that a player must live OR go to school within the DLL zone in order to be eligible. A waiver with Little League International is required otherwise.

Exception: If your child previously played in DLL but no longer lives in – or goes to school in – our catchment area, he/she is grandfathered and remains eligible to play in the league.

3. Should I sign up if my child will likely be out of town for several weeks during the season?

Probably not. There is always a lengthy waitlist of players who’d like to play each week and we want to do our best to get as many kids on the field as possible on a regular basis.

4. What’s the cost?

The fee is $200 per player, unchanged for the past 14 seasons and payable by credit card (Amex, MasterCard, Visa and Discover) or check by SportsEngine.

Registrants wanting to pay by check should email registration@downtownlittleleague.org for further details.  

NOTE: Things work a bit differently for our Challengers Division for special-needs participants. You’ll still go through the registration process but there is no fee for participation. Please email us at registration@downtownlittleleague.org for further details about the program after you’ve registered, and we will respond soon.)

5. When does registration begin and how early do I have to sign up?

Registration begins December 1st, and we encourage you to sign up ASAP as field and time constraints force DLL to place caps on the number of registrants. Please note that many of our divisions typically enter waitlist-mode within the first 24 hours.

6. How do waitlists work?

We remove players from the waitlist when another player drops out from the same division, on a first-come, first-served basis.

For example, if Child A is first on the waitlist and Child B, who has registered and already been placed onto a roster, decides to drop out, then Child A would replace Child B on the same team roster.

7. How does the registration process work?

A. First, set up your SportsEngine profile, creating the account under the parent/guardian name and email address. Later during the registration process, you will add your athlete to your SportsEngine account as a sub profile. 

Here’s how to set up the SportsEngine profile:

-Navigate to downtownlittleleague.org 

-In the upper right-hand corner of your screen, click Sign In.

-Under Welcome, click create an account. 

-Fill out all requested information.

NOTE: Ensure the information entered belongs to the primary account holder (parent/guardian). 

-Once complete, click Sign Up. 

IMPORTANT: Don't forget to Verify Your SportsEngine Account by navigating to your email inbox and opening the "Activate Your SportsEngine Account" email. Please check your junk or spam folder if you don’t see it within five minutes.

Finally, click “Activate My Account” and you’re all set.

B. Next, go to the DLL website and click “Register: DLL Spring 2024 Registration” under the large DLL logo near the top of the home page. IMPORTANT: if you do not see this option when you go to the site, you are likely on the legacy DLL home page. If that’s the case, clear the cache on your device and try again.    

8. I’m having issues setting up my profile in SportsEngine. Where should I go for help?

Please email the SportsEngine support team at accounthelp@sportsengine.com. 

9. I’ve set up my profile in SportsEngine. Should I establish my child’s sub-profile as well?

SportsEngine support staff recommends waiting until you’re registering to establish a child’s profile. When you begin registration, you will be prompted to create a sub-profile for your child under your account.

10. How do I add a guardian to my child’s account, so they receive emails?

Please click on this link and follow the instructions. If you have any questions, please email accounthelp@sportsengine.com.

11. Do I have to submit proof of identification and proof of residence documents if my child played last year? And can I submit a passport as proof of ID?

Yes, if your child is a new registrant. If you submitted documents for the 2023 season, you do NOT have to re-submit. And, yes, a passport – or any government-issued ID, works for proof of residence.

12. Can I request specific teammates and coaches?

This option is available for younger baseball and softball players though, unfortunately, we are unable to honor all requests due to roster-size limitations. Simply make the request within the registration form and we will accommodate your request if we are able to do so.

In baseball, you can ask to be paired with specific teammates and/or coaches as long as your prospective player will be age 5-8 on the age determination date of Aug. 31, 2023.

In softball, DLL allows families to submit such requests for most divisions, prioritizing requests for our Minors Division and below. If a softball player requests a specific coach AND specific teammates and we can't honor both, we will prioritize by coach request and then player requests.

For older age groups for both baseball and softball, there is a focus on competitive balance. In baseball, for example, Divisions AA and above i.e., ages nine and above are subject to a player draft, conducted by the coaches of each division before the season.

13. Can I volunteer to coach? Or volunteer to help in another capacity?

Absolutely – we’d love to have you! Just check the appropriate box in the registration form, adding any important notes you’d like us to know and we will follow up in the coming weeks.

In addition to instructing the players, coaches are responsible for managing and storing the team equipment bag and tracking team attendance. For some divisions, coaches are also required to complete NYC Parks- mandated AED training/certification. All coaches should take training and coach certifications provided by the league at no cost before the season starts.

Thanks for volunteering!

14. Can I sponsor a team or DLL in general?

A limited number of sponsorships are available. Please email info@downtownlittleleague.org for more details and thank you for the consideration.

15. Are you offering winter clinics/workouts for softball and baseball again this year?

It is likely that baseball winter workouts will begin December. Softball pitchers and catchers' workouts will also begin in December with broader clinics beginning in January. All players must be registered to participate.

16. When are practices and games? And are there any other dates I should mark on my calendar?

The spring permitting process for NYC fields is still underway so we can’t confirm anything yet but our PROJECTED practice and game schedule serves as a helpful guide. We hope to have permits in place sometime in March so we can nail down the schedule.   

As for other dates, practices will begin in early March and games will start the early April. The season will end around Father’s Day weekend in June.

*IMPORTANT* Please note that these are PROJECTED schedules, not confirmed dates, times OR locations. DLL is unable to confirm the times until early March when we officially receive our permits from the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. We truly appreciate your patience and understanding as we await the permits. 

Planning for the 2024 DLL spring season is already in full swing. We will update this page by mid-Dec to include important dates and events. 

• Nov 20 - League Annual Meeting
• Dec 1 - Online Registration Opens
• Dec 12 - Winter Workouts Begin
• Jan  - Baseball Player Evaluations
• Feb - Baseball Player Evaluations - Makeup
• Feb  - Baseball Drafts
• Mar 9 - Equipment Day
• Mar  11 - Outdoor Practices Begin
• Mar  (late) - AED/CPR Training
• Mar (late) - Uniform Distribution
• April 6 - Opening Day
• April 20-21 - Spring Recess Break - No Games
• April 27-28 - Teams Will have Games
• May (early) - Tournament Team Tryouts for Minors & Majors
• May 4 - Photo Day
• May 24-27 - Memorial Day Tournament - No regular season games
• June (early) - DLL Night (Brooklyn Cyclones)
• June 9 - Playoffs Begin
• June 17 (Father's Day) - Conclusion of Season & Playoffs
• Jun  - Jul 5 - Little League Postseason District Tournament
• Jul - Little League Postseason Sectional Tournament