It's a special competition format for players aged 10, 11 and 12, played in the January school holidays each year.

The actual game itself is very similar to weekend baseball for the U/12 age-group, played throughout summer and winter in the Hills District. There are some differences ...

   Bats are restricted to a 2¼" barrel diameter, and a "Minus-10" weight/length differential.
   The ball we use is a Kenko Class C safety ball,
   The base paths are 60',
   The pitching distance is 46',
   Game time is 90 minutes,
   Pitching restrictions are different to weekend games.
   Players aged 12 as at 30/4/10 (from the Hills U/13 age group) are eligible.
 

Local Competition Structure:

The competition runs locally (within Hills) in a round robin format over about 12 games in January. All games are played at the same venue each day, but the venue itself may change.

Team construction:

Unlike our weekend competitions, Little League does not operate with club teams. Instead, all available players are placed into a pool, from which coaches select their players using a system designed to equalise the talent. The idea is to have teams which are broadly similar in ability, providing everyone with a chance to win.

There are still provisions that allow players to play with their friends on request, as long as this doesn't upset the team balance. Read more detail at the "How" page.

State & National Tournaments:

At the end of the Holiday Season, we'll select two Tournament Teams (one from each Zone) to compete at the NSW State Championships at Easter 2010.

At the State Championships, our two Hills Tournament Teams will compete against a dozen or so other teams drawn from the Sydney metropolitan area and perhaps Country NSW. The team that wins becomes the NSW Team that competes at the National Championships in May 2010, probably in Queensland.

From there, the National Champion team progresses to the Asia-Pacific Championships in June. If the team can win that tournament, it goes to the World Series held in Williamsport, USA, in August.

In 2008, the Hills North team won through to represent Australia in Hong Kong - a fabulous achievement for everyone involved.