Little League World Series uniforms

[mjrbaseball]

Watching the regional qualifiers for the Little League World Series, I noticed that the teams are all still wearing their hometown league uniforms. They wore them all through sectionals, states and now regionals.

Most, if not all, of those uniforms display the name of the team's hometown on them (despite ESPN insisting on calling them by their state). For some, the Little Leaguers are wearing colors identical to the local high school team, which enables kids to emulate their older siblings whom they are proud of.

Now the teams will travel to South Williamsport, where they will be given bright shiny new uniforms. These are special uniforms, to be sure, worn only by the 16 teams who make it to the ultimate competition.

These uniforms will have generic names on the front, such as "North" or "Southeast", not the name of the kids' hometowns. And they will be in pre-selected colors, which won't match the colors the players have so proudly worn so far.

I for one would prefer that the Little League World Series allow the teams to play in the same uniforms they wore during all of the preliminary competitions, with their team's own names and their team's own colors on display to the world. Nothing wrong with a little Hometown Pride.

Some of you may believe it's an honor to wear the custom LLWS uniforms. Discuss.

[FiddySicks]

I can see both points pretty well, actually. While it's awesome to represent your own home town, it's also nice to get some brand new gear from the top suppliers.

Speaking of that, I really wish I could find the New Era 59Fiftys they give to the teams. Some of them are awesome, but I have NEVER seen them for sale. I guess it's a privilege to get one, but I would love to add one or two to my collection

[Sport]

My cousin Jack was 2 games away from Williamsport 4 years ago. He was most excited about playing on ESPN, but he also kept talking about the cool new uniforms they were going to get. From one source, the kids seem to like the brand new professionally designed uniforms over the ratty jerseys and hats they've been wearing all summer.

His team lost before the regional championship and ended his LLWS dream.

[batman1211]

I like that the kids wear jerseys showing the region they represent. I think it is no different than a college athlete wearing a country colored jersey in the Olympics, not their college uniform. These kids represent more than the community that they are from. They worked hard for that accomplishment and they deserve it. All the teams that lost during the course of the tournament deserve to be represented. Otherwise the Little League World Series is just made up of sixteen or so LL cities, half of which are international. IMO opinion, the way it is now is inclusive where city representation would be exclusive. I understand that in sports there is one winner and everyone else is a loser, but that is an argument for another day.

This is just my opinion and is in no way intended to be critical of any other opinion.

[LMU]

A compromise might be to give out uniforms with the state instead of the region. Sure, you can't pick your colors, but at least you won't be scratching your head at why the heck a team from Kentucky is wearing "Great Lakes" uniforms.

[WJMorris3]

I think the technology is there that Russell could make more custom uniforms with local colors and either league names or state names on them. Although I'd consider coloring them a little different.

Example for this year:

New England: Columbia blue jerseys with navy trim, white numerals

Mid-Atlantic: Navy jerseys, white trim, white numerals

Southeast: Red jersey, black trim, gold numerals

Great Lakes: Black jersey, white trim, red numerals

Midwest: Royal blue jerseys, yellow trim, yellow numerals

Southwest: Purple jerseys, white trim, yellow numerals

Northwest: Maroon jerseys, silver trim, silver numerals

West: Red jersey, navy trim, white numerals

Canada: White jersey, black trim, red numerals

Mexico: Green jersey, red trim, white numerals

Caribbean: Yellow jerseys, black trim, Columbia blue numerals

Latin America: Maroon jerseys, gold trim, white numerals

Europe: Orange jerseys, black trim, white numerals

MEA: White jersey, black trim, green numerals

Japan: Navy jerseys, white trim, red numerals

Asia-Pacific: Royal blue jerseys, white trim, red numerals

[north dakota]

I think the team from the US that makes it to the championship game should get a special United States uniform to wear.

[bucknut40]

I think the team from the US that makes it to the championship game should get a special United States uniform to wear.

I have always thought that to, thatd be the ultimate honor

[winghaz]

I would have rather worn old, ragged uniforms with my hometown on it than wear new uniforms with some bogus geographical area on it. There was, and still is, a lot of pride in my hometown of Wing, N.D. (pop. 150, but it was 203 when I was growing up).

[gueman]

I think they should wear the uniform they started with. All these teams are league all star teams, and you would not see a Chico's Bail Bonds. In my area all the LL and CRL teams take on the identity of a MLB team. Although letting the kids through with their league all star jerseys would show some have and have not teams for sure. Some leagues go all out and the kids have the best Under Armour or NIKE uniforms mom and dad's money can buy, and some teams have just T-shirts. Perhaps a happy medium could be reached and both the local league and LL region could be on the jersey. Since the region name is usually smaller it could be on the back, with the local name on the front. And NNOB is a must.

[ohryan]

More than anything, I think it having all the teams wearing the same uniforms levels the playing field as far as that aspect of the game is concerned. There is an intimidation factor if your team wears old ratty t-shirts and you step on the field across from a team decked out in state-of-the art uniforms and equipment. It would be neat to see the home towns represented, but the further you advance, you're not just playing for your town, but for your state, and your region, and your country if you're lucky enough to advance.

[BBTV]

These kids represent more than the community that they are from.

Yeah, those little kids with "MID ATLANTIC" on their chest really stick up for every value that I hold dear.

[crashcarson15]

The thing is, it'd be a quick turn around for Russell to make the jerseys... although it is doable IMO.

(But you also do get some really dumb, longass names in Little League)

[-kj]

These kids represent more than the community that they are from.

Yeah, those little kids with "MID ATLANTIC" on their chest really stick up for every value that I hold dear.

Really? I mean... really?

They are the representatives from that region of LLB, which is "more than the community".

There's being pedantic... and then there's just being argumentative.

[Shumway]

If I'm not mistaken, the teams competing in the Little League World Series (including regionals) are All-Star teams from their respective "leagues" or districts. Meaning, the uniforms they wear for the opening rounds of the tournament aren't even the ones for the team they played for during their "regular season". That's always how it worked when I played in All-Star tournaments...you got to wear someone else's uniform for a weekend. Not particularly thrilling.

For example, my friend made it to some sort of competition that had he kept winning, he would've gone to Williamsport. Now, during his "regular season" of Little League, he was on, say, The Pirates. Upon being chosen to be an All-Star and potentially compete to go to Williamsport against other leagues, he didn't wear his Pirates uniform. He got a random jersey from some other team, as did all of the other All-Stars.

[poser]

If I'm not mistaken, the teams competing in the Little League World Series (including regionals) are All-Star teams from their respective "leagues" or districts. Meaning, the uniforms they wear for the opening rounds of the tournament aren't even the ones for the team they played for during their "regular season". That's always how it worked when I played in All-Star tournaments...you got to wear someone else's uniform for a weekend. Not particularly thrilling.

For example, my friend made it to some sort of competition that had he kept winning, he would've gone to Williamsport. Now, during his "regular season" of Little League, he was on, say, The Pirates. Upon being chosen to be an All-Star and potentially compete to go to Williamsport against other leagues, he didn't wear his Pirates uniform. He got a random jersey from some other team, as did all of the other All-Stars.

Thats how I always thought it was

XYZ Little League takes the best players from the Giants, Rangers, Red Sox, Tigers etc.. to form a Allstar team and these are the teams we see playing.

[north dakota]

I know if I made it to the LLWS, I'd want a new uniform.

[JTernup]

I think the team from the US that makes it to the championship game should get a special United States uniform to wear.

I have always thought that to, thatd be the ultimate honor

Not to mention it makes no sense for Southwest to be playing Japan or East playing Europe. I had never thought about that but it is a great idea.

Personally I like the idea of the sparkly new jerseys for the kids to wear. Like others have said it is kind of honoring the fallen competitors and all the little leagues in the region. Playing for Southwest is worth a lot more than playing for a little city.