https://www.pony.org/Default.a...;

Birthdate Range: Sept. 2014 - Aug. 2016

PINTO 8U is an instructional league to teach eight and under players the fundamentals of baseball.

PINTO 8U comes in three flavors, Coach Pitch, Machine Pitch, and Player Pitch. If your community does not offer a SHETLAND LEAGUE it is recommended the pitching core be handled by coach-pitchers or a pitching machine. If the Shetland League is not used in your community, it may even be good to start PINTO 8U LEAGUE players with the batting-tee, switching to the coach-pitch format in the latter part of the season.

PINTO 8U teams are full members of PONY, receive supplies and the full support of the headquarters staff and Field Director organization. International tournament play is not conducted at these age levels. Leagues may play in regional invitational tournaments, but it is recommended they do so with regular-season team rosters. The focus should remain on training more than the competition.

Managers and coaches at this level must be concerned with the development of all of the players on their team. These are training leagues and the development of a player's skill and personality must remain the prime goal of the manager and coach, rather than the winning of a league title.

Every effort should be made to place every player who registers for the program on a team in these early years, and every effort should be made to play every player on the team in every game.