Field Preparation

Thank you for volunteering to support your team and league.  Field preparation is a great way to support your coaches and managers. This allows the coaches to focus on other pre game duties like lineups, warmups and any strategic planning that they need to finish prior to game time.  The first thing to know about field preparation is that water is your friend! You don't want to create a mud run instead of a baseball game so it's good to water at least an hour before the game. A good damp, saturated ground also works best for chalking. Not just a 5 minute "spritz" but a good amount of water. Additionally watering the ground is very therapeutic! Please watch the short three minute on field preparation below. It covers raking and watering the field prior to any chalk.  After a good water and rake, it's time to "draw" the field. Most field specifications for chalking are very similar.  Most differences are around the distance to the pitching mound/circle, width of the space between the batter's boxes and the edge of home plate, also called the "river" and coaches boxes.  Minimum requirements for field chalking are:

• Foul lines to the outfield grass
• Batter's boxes
• Coach's boxes
• Runner's lane (Majors and above)

All field specifications for every division of Little League can be found HERE After the game, the field should be dragged one last time. It may be a good idea to divide responsibility of pregame and postgame field work between another volunteer partner.

Little League Game Day Field Preparation