Bethlehem Little League

General Area: Located 3 miles northwest of the city of Richmond, Virginia. Located at 5600 Bethlehem Rd. Johnson Elementary is our location. Our ball fields are on their campus. Bethlehem Little League ID# 3460405 Field Layout: T-ball Field #1, Senior Field #2, Major Field #3 History: The beginning of Bethlehem Little League started as many leagues did. There were kids “playing baseball” throughout the surrounding neighborhoods. There was no organization., no adult supervision, and no coaching. In the winter of 1959, several men in the neighborhoods surrounding BLL was trying to find a way to bring organized youth baseball to the neighborhood kids. They got together with Henrico County and Little League Baseball and founded Bethlehem Little League. Bethlehem received its first Little League Charter in April 1960. The first Board of Directors was as follows., President John Morrison, Vice President Bob Davidson, who became the president a year later, Secretary Robert Stewart, Treasurer George Riegel and Player Agent Stanley Hill. The league consisted of four Major Leagues teams of 15 players and played 18 games. Major and Minor divisions were the only divisions at the time. Each team had individual sponsorship from the surrounding businesses. Other divisions were added as BLL grew. The divisions were Farm division 6-7 and 8 year-olds, Minor division 9 and 10 year-olds, Major divisions 11 and 12 year-olds, and Senior Division 13-14 and 15 year-olds. Eventually there was a Big League division which consisted of the 17 and 18 year-olds. Farm division was kid pitch and there was no T-Ball or Pitching Machine division. Those divisions have been added in the past 15 years. The first field at BLL was the Major Field. The Senior and T-Ball field were added as BLL grew. Baseball was not always played at the BLL complex. In the early years, Farm division games were played at Epworth Church (Wister and Staples Mill). The farm division uniforms consisted of blue jeans, a team jersey, and a hat. BLL won its first District V Championship in 1969 and has won two others since, as well as a BIB tournament championship. We have won many invitational tournament championships throughout the years. Many of our players have gone on to be successful individuals who spent their youth here in the spring, summer and fall playing ball, making friends and having fun. Some of our players have even made it to the professional ranks of the game. Our goal is to provide a place where all feel welcome, and the feeling of being apart of something that will impact them for the good. To have a place where kids grow up and remember where they learned to be a kid. BLL is very proud to say we have a tremendous amount of players return as Managers, Coaches, Umpires, and Board Members. They all want to give back just a little of what they received as players. The success of BLL have come from the love all the volunteers that are willing to give up their time, their sweat, their knowledge,