As part of Little League’s Child Protection Program, local leagues must conduct background checks on all volunteers and hired workers who provide regular service to the league and/or have repetitive access to, or contact with, players or teams.

From the start of the season through Fall Ball and beyond, Little League requires all volunteers to complete a background check.   All leagues must conduct a national criminal background check for each volunteer or hired worker that also includes the Department of Justice National Sex Offender Registry check. Effective with the 2021 Little League season, Regulation 1 (c) 9 requires: A background check must include the review of the U.S. Center for SafeSport’s Centralized Disciplinary Database and Little League Ineligible list.

All managers, coaches, Board of Directors members, umpires, concession stand workers, Team Moms, scorekeepers, and other volunteers who have regular service to the league or repetitive access to children must complete the background check process. If a volunteer is spending time in the dugout or helping out at practices, that individual must submit a volunteer application and go through the background check process. It’s important to remember that volunteer appointments are for one year only and that every year, all individuals volunteering at the local level must go through the background check process again.

For leagues that participate with Sports Connect, they have integrated their ability to conduct national background checks on local and district volunteers through the Sports Connect platform. An integration between Sports Connect and JDP is available for a seamless process for both the league volunteer and the league admin.

While Little League does its part to keep children in our program safe, all members of the Little League family, from parents to grandparents to spectators, should assist in this important effort. Little League encourages everyone to pay close attention to those who have regular, repetitive access to children. For instance, if a person consistently volunteers at practices that person must complete a background check. If there is a question as to whether that person has gone through the proper background check procedure, it must be brought to the attention of the league’s Board of Directors.

Little League Baseball and Softball requires each league to sign an agreement on the charter application that commits the league to comply with Regulation 1 (b) and 1 (c) 8 & 9. Through Sports Connect and JDP, the background check process is easier than ever, and protects personal information through JDP’s QuickApp process.  When you register as a Volunteer via Sports Connect, your information is sent to JDP to complete the background check process. 

Use of the Sports Connect Volunteer Registration:

• The process allows potential volunteers to complete their Little League Volunteer Application and background check in one step.

• If using this process, a paper volunteer application is no longer necessary. The information is stored through JDP, eliminating the need for leagues to keep paper volunteer applications with personal identifying information.

• The only information that is necessary for this process is a potential volunteer’s first and last name and email address.

Background checks are to be completed annually for following volunteers:

• District Administrators 
• District Staff
• Local League Board Members 
• Coaches 
• Managers
• Umpires
• Practice Coaches/Volunteers
• Scorekeepers
• Team Parents 
• Anyone that has repetitive access to the players

• What is repetitive access?
Any role or position that provides an adult with multiple opportunities to create a relationship with a player. If your league can not determine if a position falls into the above category, it is always best to run a background check.