RE: 7 year old playing baseball

Question
My 7 year old son has never played baseball or even t-ball before and I have signed him up to play baseball this year. I am so not a sports person (I was a CC runner in HS) so I'm pretty clueless. I just had someone tell me that he should be in t-ball not baseball. I think the kids are going to pitch on his team not the coaches. I don't want to set him up. Is it Ok to have thrown him into baseball like this? all the other kids have at least 1yr experience (ages 7-8.) He's only had 2 practices and he loves it, but have I set him up? Also how do I help prevent him from getting arm injuries pitching (whatever that means exactly.) Thanks

Answer
Having kids pitch in the 7-8 year old division does seem very early to me. In the league that I run our 7-8 year-olds play tee ball and 9-10 year-olds have a pitching machine to hit from. Pitching doesn't start until the 11-12 division. If your son loves it then that is all that matters. It might take him a year or two to get to the level of his teammates but at that age they learn quick and improve even quicker.

Arm injuries for someone your son's age are practically unheard of. Also, chances are that your son's coach wont have him pitching because of his lack of experience. There are a couple simple rules for little leaguers about their arms: Warm up your arm plenty and if your arm hurts for any reason, STOP THROWING. His coach (if he is a good one) can give you even more pointers to help your son improve.

Just make sure that he knows that there will be a learning curve and not to give up if it doesn't come easy for him right away.