Legion Baseball exceeds 3,000 teams as registration deadlines near

With 20 departments already matching or exceeding last year’s registration numbers, American Legion Baseball has exceeded 3,000 teams for the 2016 season ahead of the final two registration deadlines.

Officially, 3,025 teams are signed up to play this summer in all 50 states with Minnesota leading the way with 340 teams.

“It is great to see so much positive growth in so many departments,” said Gary Stone, chairman of the American Legion Baseball Committee. “We are looking forward to another great season leading into the 90th (American Legion) World Series, which will take place this August in Shelby, N.C.”

Prospective teams still have time to sign up to get in on the action, but any team that fails to register by May 15 shall pay an additional $200 to their respective American Legion department. And any team that fails to register by June 1 will not be permitted to play during the season.

Team registration information is online at www.baseball.legion.org.

Coaches can use the same username and password from last year, and they can locate and renew teams and players from previous seasons. The registration site also meets the Legion’s policy for background screening checks.

Background screening checks will be conducted annually each season prior to any meetings, events, practices or games that involve youth participants. During the annual online Legion Baseball registration process, an acknowledgement will be required that each coach, manager and volunteer staff of an American Legion Baseball team has been verified as having passed the mandated background check screening requirements for that upcoming season. This is required before managers and coaches can purchase insurance and enter their team roster on the baseball registration website.

For questions or concerns, please email baseball@legion.org.