Editing Baseball (section)

=== Among children ===
{{as of|2018}}, [[Little League Baseball]] oversees leagues with close to 2.4&nbsp;million participants in over 80 countries.<ref>{{cite web|title=Little League International General Media Guide 2018|publisher=Little League Baseball|year=2018|page=3|url=https://ll-production-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/General-Media-Guide-1.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://ll-production-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/General-Media-Guide-1.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=March 31, 2018}}</ref> The number of players has fallen since the 1990s, when 3 million children took part in Little League Baseball annually.<ref>{{cite news|author=Fisher, Mark|title=Baseball is struggling to hook kids – and risks losing fans to other sports|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=April 5, 2015|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/baseballs-trouble-with-the-youth-curve--and-what-that-means-for-the-game/2015/04/05/2da36dca-d7e8-11e4-8103-fa84725dbf9d_story.html|access-date=April 30, 2018}}</ref> Babe Ruth League teams have over 1&nbsp;million participants.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of the Babe Ruth League Program|url=https://www.baberuthleague.org/history.aspx|publisher=Babe Ruth League Online|access-date=April 10, 2018}}</ref> According to the president of the International Baseball Federation, between 300,000 and 500,000 women and girls play baseball around the world, including Little League and the introductory game of [[Tee Ball]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Frommer, Frederic J|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2009-04-06-2437047144_x.htm|title=Baseball to Add Women to Olympic Bid|date=April 6, 2009|access-date=April 29, 2009|agency=Associated Press|work=USA Today}}</ref>

A varsity baseball team is an established part of [[physical education]] departments at most high schools and colleges in the United States.<ref name=MB>{{cite web|author=Bradford, Marcia|title=Expanding Opportunities on the Ball Fields|url=http://www.sportseventsmagazine.com/article/baseballsoftball/207/|work=SportsEvents Magazine|year=2008|access-date=May 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209193735/http://www.sportseventsmagazine.com/article/baseballsoftball/207/|archive-date=February 9, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2015, nearly half a million high schoolers and over 34,000 collegians played on their schools' baseball teams.<ref>{{cite web|title=Estimated probability of competing in college athletics|publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association|url=https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/estimated-probability-competing-college-athletics|access-date=April 22, 2018|date=March 2, 2015}}</ref> By early in the 20th century, intercollegiate baseball was Japan's leading sport. Today, [[High school baseball in Japan|high school baseball]] in particular is immensely popular there.<ref>Bjarkman (2004), p. xxiv; Gmelch (2006), pp. 23, 53.</ref> The final rounds of the two annual tournaments—the [[National High School Baseball Invitational Tournament]] in the spring, and the even more important [[National High School Baseball Championship]] in the summer—are broadcast around the country. The tournaments are known, respectively, as Spring Koshien and Summer Koshien after the [[Koshien Stadium|55,000-capacity stadium]] where they are played.<ref>{{cite web|author=Ellsesser, Stephen|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060810&content_id=1602960|title=Summer Tournament Is Big in Japan|date=August 11, 2006|access-date=April 28, 2009|publisher=Major League Baseball|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014063836/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060810&content_id=1602960|archive-date=October 14, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> In Cuba, baseball is a mandatory part of the state system of physical education, which begins at age six. Talented children as young as seven are sent to special district schools for more intensive training—the first step on a ladder whose acme is the national baseball team.<ref name=WW/>