Types of Youth Sports Leagues

Youth sports leagues offer different levels of competitiveness, costs and camaraderie for young players. From Tiny Tot fun programs to nationally ranked elite teams, there is a league for almost every child, regardless of their skill level or competitive fire.

Many youth sports leagues offer children ages eight and under an entrée to the world of sports, focusing more on social skills and general athletic skills, such as running, kicking, striking, throwing and catching, more than proper execution of correct techniques. Often using modified equipment, such as tees for baseball or short courts for tennis, these leagues introduce children to sports play, teamwork and participation in front of a crowd.

After a child has developed the basic physical coordination to begin specializing in a sport, entry-level leagues introduce the child to proper technique and the rules of the game. This gives children a chance to acclimate themselves to a particular sport before they or the parent commit significant time or funds to the activity. Rules are often modified to give lesser-skilled players a chance to participate more and get the playing time they need to begin mastering specific skills for their sport. For example, a pre-competitive tennis league, like Tennis Buddies, has children in two lines on the same side of the net, aiming at targets on the other side of the net in a team game. An entry-level tennis league, like the National Junior Tennis League uses the more traditional singles and doubles format of tennis player, with more emphasis placed on the proper grips, swing, etc.

Once a child has made a determination that she likes a particular sport and wishes to pursue it, she'll move into a league with a regular schedule of games or matches, league or division titles, playoffs and rankings. At this level of play, parents consider spending more money on better equipment or private coaching.

Children who wish to play a particular sport in college or possibly at the professional level enter elite sports leagues. These leagues feature paid coaches, the best equipment, more personal attention and travel. Often costing thousands of dollars per season, elite leagues have much smaller participation levels, due to the cost and seriousness of the players, coaches and parents.

Both competitive- and recreational-level children have the opportunity to play one or more high school sports, participating in their conference or district league, with a chance to move on to regional and state playoffs. Seasons typically run for three months, with free practices, coaching, transportation and equipment. Frequently, both highly-ranked and lower-skilled players compete on the same team at smaller schools due to the small number of athletes from which they have to draw.