FOAL LEAGUE 4U™ is an instructional league to teach three and four-year-old players the fundamentals of baseball and softball by the simplest method possible - letting them play the game. If this purpose is kept paramount, FOAL 4U™ LEAGUE can be a valuable addition to the more formally organized leagues for older players. Emphasis must be on instruction, not on the league championship.
FOAL 4U™ LEAGUE coaches are allowed on the field to offer instruction during the game. The rules require that players be given the opportunity to try different positions, and that all of them get to play in every game.
Players in this age range have a short attention span in any single activity and games must move rapidly. Only the basic fundamentals of the game should be brought out. It is not uncommon for players of this age, initially, to be unfamiliar with which is first base, which is third base, and which field is left and which is right. Lack of knowledge indicates merely that the player has not yet been introduced to the game and has no relationship to the player's potential athletic ability.
FOAL 4U™ LEAGUE was introduced this year and provides an excellent opportunity to teach basic catching, throwing, batting and fielding, and a love of the game of baseball without making the experience a course of intensified instruction. The best approach is to let the teams play with little thought to victory or defeat, but merely for the joy of participation while, at the same time, learning the fundamentals of teamwork, group discipline and sportsmanship.
BASEBALL
BASES : 50 feet
PITCHING : Shetland Baseball : 38 feet
FAIR PLAY AREA : Within the first base and third base foul lines and a fence or marked line 150 feet from home plate. A ball hit beyond that distance on the fly will be a home run. A minimum home run distance of 125 feet or a maximum of 200 feet will be recognized, with the recommendation that the home run distance be 150 feet at the foul lines and 200 feet in center field to a six or eight foot barrier wherever possible.
BASES, PLATES : The home plate, pitcher's rubber and the bases shall be official size as used in regulation baseball.
PITCHING MOUND : Flat surface.
RESTRAINING LINE : Located along first base, beginning 25 feet from home base and extending three feet beyond the first and second base line. The line, paralleling the first base foul line and extending three feet (36 inches) into foul territory, shall be marked with chalk or other white material two inches wide.
DISTANCE TO BACKSTOP : Recommended distance from home plate to the backstop is 20 feet.
CATCHER'S BOX : By local option, the catcher's box may be rectangular in shape 43 inches wide and eight feet deep from the point of home plate or it may be triangular in shape extending eight feet from the rear of home plate, being a continuation of the foul lines, in which case the line closet to the backstop shall be 16 feet in length.
FIELD DIMENSION DRAWING :
GIRLS FASTPITCH SOFTBALL
BASES : 55 feet
PITCHING : 35 feet
RECOMMENDED FENCES : 150 feet to 175 feet
FIELD DIMENSIONS DRAWING :
GIRLS SLOWPITCH SOFTBALL
BASES : 50 feet
PITCHING : 40 feet
RECOMMENDED FENCES : 150 feet to 175 feet
FIELD DIMENSIONS DRAWING :
