Which is better PONY BASEBALL or LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL...

[VP93....]

Just wanted to know what you think.  Is Pony Baseball better then Little League Baseball or is Little League better then Pony Baseball..

[westend1]

Better for what?  They both teach the kids the game.  The individual league depends on the volunteers and support it gets from the community.  My guess is lots more kids play Little League, but I don't think that makes it better.

[77]

They're both good in my opinion but I like the fact that in pony ball you can take a lead off of the bases that you cant do in little league. Helps to learn better base running. (you can only lead off in the older leagues.) Unless its changed since I was involved which has been a few years.

[ALLABOUTSTATE4BC09]

They're both good in my opinion but I like the fact that in pony ball you can take a lead off of the bases that you cant do in little league. Helps to learn better base running. (you can only lead off in the older leagues.) Unless its changed since I was involved which has been a few years.

Yeah Bridge City changed thier 13-16 year old PONY program to Junior Little League and Senior Little League...do those older kids get to take leads? if not they should have  just kept PONY league thier.. the 2006 13@ 14 year old All Stars were only one win away from going to to the PONY World Series in Pennsylvania.. I think they just should've kept it PONY League

[westend1]

At 13, they play loose bases in Little League(called Junior League).  I prefer tight bases at the younger levels.  You actually see force plays in Little League.  In PONY, the young catchers and pitchers can't hold the runners.  A walk is an automatic triple for most kids, with the batter taking pitches to let them steal.  They MIGHT learn base running better, but they sure don't learn the art of the middle infield as well.  JMO

[77]

At 13, they play loose bases in Little League(called Junior League).  I prefer tight bases at the younger levels.   You actually see force plays in Little League.  In PONY, the young catchers and pitchers can't hold the runners.  A walk is an automatic triple for most kids, with the batter taking pitches to let them steal.   They MIGHT learn base running better, but they sure don't learn the art of the middle infield as well.  JMO

Good point.

[The Voice]

Little league or Pony don't matter, it's about learning the fundamentals. It's about teaching the kids the right stuff. If a young man is taught how to steal a base by someone who has no clue, then in high school he will be that much farther behind the player that was taught the correct way. Running, catching , throwing, hitting .......... bottom line is to find good coaching and private instruction. Invest in your children. Time, time, time.

[jetski]

Little League takes this one.  As previously mentioned, it comes down to pitching & leading off.  What sense does it make to take a 9 year old kid who is just starting to learn the mechanics of pitching and then turn around and ask him to learn how to hold runners on?  These kids have little control at this age and asking to them to throw strikes is hard enough, so making them also concentrate on a base runner is idiotic.  This is what PONY does.

[SWB]

Little League takes this one.  As previously mentioned, it comes down to pitching & leading off.  What sense does it make to take a 9 year old kid who is just starting to learn the mechanics of pitching and then turn around and ask him to learn how to hold runners on?  These kids have little control at this age and asking to them to throw strikes is hard enough, so making them also concentrate on a base runner is idiotic.  This is what PONY does.

PONY at age 9 - 10 gives the individual league the option to lead off or not.In my particular community the  PONY league is much more competitive than our local LL and  they  choose to lead off.Their mentality is it prepares the select few for allstars.Instead of making it a positive experience for the whole group of kids. We have a lot of kids that quit baseball between the ages 10 and 11. I feel it's because at the 9-10 yo level they get beat up on by a few strong teams that just steal bases at will and run up the score. There are kids at 9 and 10 that do very well with leading off and holding runners on. But the majority of the kids do not and it becomes a field day on the base pads. Coaches run up scores by walking and stealing home.This is not how it should be done.I'm a huge PONY supporter ,and believe if done the right way is a very good program. But do agree that at the 9-10 yo should not lead off unless the more competitive teams are separated.I do think that coaches and parents are putting too much emphasis on competitiveness at 7,8,9,10 years old and when it starts to matter and the kids start actually developing they fall off because we've pushed so hard at early age.

[jetski]

Little League takes this one.  As previously mentioned, it comes down to pitching & leading off.  What sense does it make to take a 9 year old kid who is just starting to learn the mechanics of pitching and then turn around and ask him to learn how to hold runners on?  These kids have little control at this age and asking to them to throw strikes is hard enough, so making them also concentrate on a base runner is idiotic.  This is what PONY does.

PONY at age 9 - 10 gives the individual league the option to lead off or not.In my particular community the  PONY league is much more competitive than our local LL and  they  choose to lead off.Their mentality is it prepares the select few for allstars.Instead of making it a positive experience for the whole group of kids. We have a lot of kids that quit baseball between the ages 10 and 11. I feel it's because at the 9-10 yo level they get beat up on by a few strong teams that just steal bases at will and run up the score. There are kids at 9 and 10 that do very well with leading off and holding runners on. But the majority of the kids do not and it becomes a field day on the base pads. Coaches run up scores by walking and stealing home.This is not how it should be done.I'm a huge PONY supporter ,and believe if done the right way is a very good program. But do agree that at the 9-10 yo should not lead off unless the more competitive teams are separated.I do think that coaches and parents are putting too much emphasis on competitiveness at 7,8,9,10 years old and when it starts to matter and the kids start actually developing they fall off because we've pushed so hard at early age.

That's all our local league is concerned with is All-Stars.  And since we're from such a small community with such a small pool of kids to pull from, our All-Star teams VERY RARELY ever get out of this area.  It's usually two & out.  My kids make All-Stars every year & I think this infatuation with All-Stars is crap.  Yeah a lot of our kids here also quit by the time they turn 11.

[adminbaberuth]

The league is only as good as it's volunteers.

The goal of both leagues is to keep the kids involved in baseball as long as possible. When the focus is winning at all cost, your league will fold like an old suit. 

[jetski]

The league is only as good as it's volunteers.

The goal of both leagues is to keep the kids involved in baseball as long as possible. When the focus is winning at all cost, your league will fold like an old suit. 

It looks like ours may be headed that direction.  I heard the numbers for all divisions is WAY down.