As the weather in Queens continues to get warmer, the Northeast Queens Baseball Alliance is now accepting registrations for its upcoming spring little league season. This upcoming season will also mark the return of the “Pony League,” for kids ages 13 and 14 across each division.
The Northeast Queens Baseball Alliance is a coalition of Bayside Little League, Little Neck-Douglaston Little League, Dwarf Giraffe in Whitestone, College Point Little League and Glen Oaks Little League. Parents can register their children online at the league of their choice.
The reintroduction of the Pony Division comes after there were nine teams in the division for 12-year-olds in 2023. Many of the kids who took part in that league are expected to compete at the next division.
“It was a big deal to see that we had nine teams in Queens because it showed that we came out of COVID pretty healthy now,” LND Head Coach Nicholas Singh said. “In the four years [since the pandemic], baseball has slowly resurfaced. Every town has one or two teams, so it’s spreading evenly.”
Since Singh took over LND, the number of kids there across each division (ages 5-12) has jumped up from 12 in 2021 to 105 in 2023. He is optimistic about the possibility of there being five or six teams in the Pony Division alone.
The sponsors for this upcoming little league season include Gino’s Pizzeria and Brian Dempsey’s in Bayside, Groomurrs barbershop in Oakland Gardens, the Amazin’ Mets Foundation and many more. In addition to providing the league with donations to help pay for uniforms and equipment, these sponsors are also putting up banners of the league at their establishments.
“I think baseball is bottom-heavy, where you got a lot of kids who are five or six years old,” Singh said. “But now, we’ve got a system where people can enter at the age of five and have the opportunity to play all the way until the age of 14 or 15.”
While there are several local little league organizations that comprise the Northeast Queens Baseball Alliance, each of those representing the divisions get along well together. This friendly relationship even extends toward the commissioners of each league.
“I would like to see that any given Saturday, if you were to drive by one of our parks, it will be full of kids playing,” Singh said. “I don’t care if the kids are from Bayside or Douglaston or Whitestone. Just the idea that we could have a full day of baseball every Saturday is great. If kids see other kids play, it will help grow the interest in the sport.”
Singh estimated the total cost for parents to sign children up for any of these leagues to be around $200. The season will have approximately 10 games for each team, plus playoffs. Registration for the Pee Wee League (ages 5-7), Competitive League (ages 8-12) and Pony League (ages 13 and 14) will be running until Mar. 31.
The Pee Wee League is scheduled to begin its spring season May 1. The Competitive League is expected to run from Apr. 13 through June 22. The Pony League is anticipated to run from May 11 through June 29.
