National Little League Week – June 8, 2026

Expected National Little League Week Deals

National Little League Week is a time for communities to rally around youth sports programs. Expect local sporting goods stores like Dick’s Sporting Goods or Modell’s Sporting Goods to offer discounts on equipment, uniforms, and team supplies, encouraging participation. Fast-food chains such as Little Caesars or Pizza Hut might run special team meal deals or sponsor local league nights. Local restaurants often host fundraisers or offer ‘spirit night’ promotions where a portion of sales benefits the league. Keep an eye out for community events, opening ceremonies, and volunteer drives organized by Little League International itself. We will update this page with confirmed live deals and community events as June approaches.

History of National Little League Week

Though Little League itself was a program that began two decades before, it was only in 1959 (on the 20th anniversary) that President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared National Little League Baseball Week as an official week to commemorate the benefits of Little League. According to Eisenhower, this week was worth instituting because it served to increase interest in the game of baseball itself, and encouraged a lot of younger people to direct their energy into a healthy, physical competition, while simultaneously instilling values in them which would last for a lifetime.

The history of baseball itself has rather murky origins, due to many myths surrounding its invention. Its precursors are said to be the English sports of cricket and rounders, but the game of baseball (as we know it today) is purely an American invention, somewhere in the mid-1800s. In the 1840s, there was a man called Alexander Joy Cartwright, who played a game they called ‘base ball’, in New York. During the American Civil War (1861-1865), many of the soldiers would play baseball in between battles to pass time, so by the end of the 1800s the game got its title as “America’s pastime”. During the 1920s, there was a program started for teenage boys which were called the “American Legion,” and schools also inculcated the sport into their physical education programs. However, there was still a gap because there was no avenue for pre-teen boys who wanted to play the sport. Till along came Little League.

Little League was started in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, by Carl E. Stotz. Stotz did not have any sons, but in 1938 he began to think about how his nephews enjoyed the game, yet lacked any organized program for playing it. In 1939, Stotz and his wife Grayce, together with Bert and George Bebble, roused up their local community and began Little League, by raising funds for uniforms and equipment through local sponsorship. Together they became the initial board members of Little League and the first game was played in an old lot on June 6. Initially, the Little League was founded only for boys, between the ages of eight and twelve. However, this changed in 1974, when girls of the same age group were also admitted to the league, and softball was also included. Little League now has three main divisions, based on age groups — junior, senior, and big league respectively. In 1990, Little League also began a new inclusive program for children with mental and physical disabilities, which was named the “Challenger Division.”