I’ve seen the signs, but I never thought they applied to me. Ballard Little League. Sign up now.

My daughter is in college now and ,after just one semester, drinking coffee for the first time in her obviously misspent Seattle youth.

It was just the two of us from the time that she was less than 3 years old.

Before he died, her father taught her how to pitch a tent and together they assembled her first tricycle.

He gave instructions on future house maintenance, but he didn’t leave me directions on how to provide a sports education for Emily. Did I fail?

Little did I know she could have been playing hard ball in Ballard starting at the age of 8.

Ballet with Miss Louise, Little Feet soccer with Wallingford Boys & Girls Club, modern dance and one season of basketball, but she could have played either hard ball or soft ball all the way through the majors, juniors and seniors.

Still, she had a grandfather who loved sports. As a child he played sandlot ball in Fort Wayne, Ind., was ground crew for the Women’s League Team Fort Wayne Daisies and was even a sportswriter.

He could have intervened before she took the path toward Ballard Youth Soccer. As he says, “Nobody played soccer in Indiana.”

Ballard Little League was the path not taken for my daughter, but that doesn’t have to be the case for any boy or girl who will be at least 8 years old as of April 30, 2010 (Dec. 31st for softball).

With a completely revamped Web site and first-time-ever online registration, Ballard Little League registration for 2010 plans to register more than 200 players during January.

Skill assessment will take place in February while teams are finalized; practices start in March.

The season officially starts in April going through championship playoffs in the first week of June.

There are several businesses in Ballard that have sponsoring teams for more than 40 years, including longtime sponsors Ballard Oil, Broomfield Marine Diesel and Loyal Realty.

In fact, there is a waiting list of potential sponsors; all that’s needed are more players to field more additional teams.

Little League has more competition in the spring than it did 40 years ago – namely soccer.

Bill Falk has been involved with first softball and now baseball in Ballard for at least eight years with a brief break between his daughter’s softball days and two sons in Ballard Little League.

He tried to explain why he has always liked baseball, citing the combination of personal challenge in hitting and catching a ball with the camaraderie of other players.

Along with John Vadino and Leo Jaeger, he coaches the Ballard Oil Vikings. He realized that if I wanted to learn why kids love baseball, I needed to speak with his younger son Elijah, who’s “very passionate” on the subject.

Elijah Falk is 11 years old. Last season, he skipped over the minors and went to the majors, explaining confidently that baseball is a sport “I’m really pretty good at.”

When he was much younger, he wanted to be a professional ball player, but he’s realized that isn’t realistic because he would have to dedicate his life to the game. (He also plays soccer and basketball).

Elijah describes himself as naturally competitive, so he likes the sense of competing against himself to improve his skills and then competing against other teams in the league as part of the Vikings.

Especially because he was the youngest person on his team last year, he preferred defense. The pitching in the majors was very different from what’s called the “89ers.”

However, playing in the field was not that altered and he felt more comfortable playing second base and the outfield.

Ballard Little League President Patty Lott came to baseball through marriage and then two children. Although her brothers played Little League in Colorado, she was more of an ice-skater. Her husband Lee was more interested in football.

The sport that became theirs in common was baseball. Both their daughter and son played in Ballard Little League; Lee Lott umpires and Patty Lott has been a volunteer and board member for years.

Living near Ballard Community Center for 20 years, I came to recognize the sound of the bat connecting with the ball and the distinctive frenzy of championships.

I just never connected those signs of America’s pastime with the old black-and-white photo hanging on the wall: Emily’s dad during a season with the Sacramento Bees.

Ballard Little League would love to have more girls register for the teams. They can play girls softball or be part of any co-ed hard ball team.

But, Ballard Little League would also like to have just plain lots of kids register in the next month because baseball isn’t just “America’s pastime,” it’s a great skill builder for hand-eye coordination, for overall fitness and teamwork, lots of “reps.”

According to Elijah Falk, the truth about Little League is that it’s what you do with your friends – and it’s just really, really fun.

The Ballard Little League boundaries are from Eighth Avenue Northwest to the water and from the Ship Canal to Northwest 85th Street. Specifics and registration are available at www.ballardll.net.