Current season, competition or edition: 2024 Little League World Series | |
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1947, 77 years ago |
| No. of teams | 20 |
| Countries | International |
| Most recent champion(s) |  Lake Mary Little League, Lake Mary, Florida (2024) |
| Most titles |  Tokyo-Kitasuna Little League, Tokyo, Japan (4) |
| Official website | LittleLeague.org |
The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children (primarily boys) aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States.[1][2] Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the World Series in Major League Baseball. The Series was first held in 1947 and is held every August in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania;[3] while the postal address of the organization is in Williamsport, the Series itself is played at Howard J. Lamade Stadium and Volunteer Stadium at the Little League headquarters complex in South Williamsport.
Initially, only teams from the United States competed in the Series, but it has since become a worldwide tournament. The tournament has gained popular renown, especially in the United States, where games from the Series and even from regional tournaments are broadcast on ESPN. Teams from the United States have won a plurality of the series, although from 1969 to 1991 teams from Taiwan dominated the series, winning in 15 out of those 23 years. From 2010 through 2017, teams from Japan similarly dominated the series, winning five of those matchups.
While the Little League Baseball World Series is frequently referred to as just the Little League World Series, it is actually one of seven World Series tournaments sponsored by Little League International, in different locations. Each of them brings community teams from different Little League International regions around the world together in baseball (four age divisions) and girls' softball (three age divisions).[4] The tournament structure described here is that used for the Little League Baseball World Series. The structure used for the other World Series is similar, but with different regions.
- ^ "Player Age Requirements". Little League World Series. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- ^ "World Series Player Age Requirements". Little League International. 2013-08-12. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
- ^ World Series History Archived 2010-08-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Associated Terms of Little League".