Guilford Area Athletic Association (GAAA) is a non-profit organization that has existed for over 30 years to provide girls and boys ages 5-18 the opportunity to play softball and baseball within the Chambersburg Suburban League (CSL). Guilford has an average participation of 175-200 total players each year for last 6 years. Guilford is one of approximately 15 communities in the local Chambersburg area that furnish teams to participate in the CSL. CSL participates as a member of the PONY organization (www.pony.org), which is different from other youth baseball or softball leagues such as Little League or Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken. CSL baseball teams follow playing rules set forth by the PONY organization, while the girl’s softball teams follow ASA rules. PONY stresses participation at ALL age levels, with minimum playing time requirements for all players. PONY organizes its teams by age-based divisions:
Instructional 5-6 (boys and girls combined, also known as ‘T-Ball’)
Pinto 7-8 (baseball) Under 8 (softball)
Mustang 9-10 (baseball) Under 10 (softball)
Bronco 11-12 (baseball) Under 12 (softball)
Pony 13-14 (baseball) Under 14 (softball)
Colt 15-18 (baseball) Under 18 (softball)
The Bronco divisions and above also allow for teams at ‘A’ and ‘B’ levels within each division, when the range of skill level of the players within an age division can start to widen.
CSL determines the season schedule of 12-16 games that are played from the last week of April through the end of June. Half of the scheduled games will be played at ‘home’ at the Guilford Complex, the other half will be at other community sites. In addition to regular season games, one CSL community will host a week long tournament for all CSL teams during the season, and one CSL community will host an All-Star game at the end of the season. All age divisions participate can participate in this tournament and All-Star game except for the Instructional level. There is also the opportunity for players to try-out for ‘local’ and ‘travel’ tournament teams that play primarily after the regular season is complete. ‘Local’ teams will play in tournaments mainly in the south central Pennsylvania area, while the travel teams will play through the local and regional brackets defined by the PONY organization, with a chance to play in the PONY World Series.
GAAA is operated by a 10-15 member Board of volunteers. We are ALWAYS looking for additional Board Members to help with the planning and operation of the Guilford Area Athletic Association. If you have an interest in ensuring our organization continues to help our children grow through the great experiences offered by youth baseball and softball, please contact us!
Board Meetings are typically held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, 7:00pm at either Guilford Hills ES Library (December - March) or the Guilford Complex Clubhouse (April – November). Everyone is welcome to attend. The current Board Members are: