The league started play in 1949 and has run uninterrupted since 1963. It has been organized under four different names, the most recent change from Junior Legion to Youth Legion. It is for boys & girls ages 13 through 16 with the cutoff date being  December 31st . A player turning 16 on January 1st or later is eligible for that season and then the next year graduates to the Senior Legion program.

Here is a breakdown of the championships:

Jonestown-------------------------16

Myerstown------------------------14

Fredericksburg------------------11

Newmanstown-------------------4

Conrad Weiser-------------------4

Palmyra---------------------------2

North Cornwall-------------------0

Teams no longer in the league:

Bethel/Tulpehocken--4

Lebanon--------------3

Cornwall--------------2

Schaefferstown-------1

Annville---------------0

Pine Grove------------0

Richland---------------0

West Lebanon--------0

Womelsdorf-----------0

This years league members will play a fifteen game league schedule. The post-season will be a double elimination affair for the 2nd through 5th place teams. The overall championship series will be a best of three playoff between the regular season champion and the team that emerges from the playoffs. The overall championship team will advance to Eastern Regionals at one of four sites. First place team will compete at South Scranton and the second place team will compete at West Lawn. The winners at Eastern Regionals will advance to the State Finals at Homer City.

The umpires for the league are registered with the American Legion Baseball Program and are members of the Lebanon Valley Umpires' Association; game assignments coordinated by Bruce Kilmoyer.

The President of the league is Edward Spittle from Jonestown. Current managers for the member teams are as follows:

Bethel- Dan Rentschler 1st season

Fredericksburg- Del Voight 3rd season

Jonestown- Chuck Fager 14th season

Myerstown- George Miller 2nd season

Newmanstown- Roger Hehnley 4th season

Palmyra- Bob Daley 1st season

Major differences between this league and other similar leagues in Lebanon County for this age group are as follows:

1. Only wood bats are used, as a concern for the players' safety is paramount.

2. No all-star team advance play/ The emphasis is on, intact team, advancement in post-season play over all-star competition. Championship teams advance, intact to play champions from other leagues in Statewide Youth Legion program. Develop your own community's team and see how far you can take them in regional and state competition against other successful intact teams.

3. Youth Legion is reportedly the largest baseball organization in Pennsylvania for this age group. There are 18 leagues spread out across the entire state in 35 different counties.

4. Managers and coaches must wear baseball uniforms on the field and in the dugout, no civilian clothes.

5. The teams in the league have clearly defined boundaries from which to draw their players. Teams are not permitted to recruit or draw players from another team's area. The entire county of Lebanon is covered by one of the member teams. There is no overlap of multiple team boundaries. Every resident of Lebanon County resides within one of the team's territories to draw players from within. In other words teams cannot be stacked with ringers.

6. Teams recite a sportsmanship code on the base paths before every game. The league has clearly defined penalties in the by-laws for misbehavior or poor sportsmanship.

7. The league with teams, representing towns or areas, has had continuity and lasting power of team franchises through 8 decades. The league is proud of its history and celebrates all the outstanding players, managers, and coaches in its long history.

8. Age span of players is more concentrated. The possible age difference between competing players is smaller.

9. In 1963 this league was reformed, after a seven year absence, by teams who broke away from the other two area leagues of the same age group, over differences in opinion and philosophies about post-season play.

Following is a list of the 35 counties out of Pennsylvanian's 67 counties that have Youth Legion teams:

Adams, Allegheny, Berks, Bucks, Cambria, Centre, Chester, Clinton, Columbia, Crawford, Delaware, Erie, Fayette, Indiana, Jefferson, Lackawanna, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Philadelphia, Somerset, Snyder, Susquehanna, Union, Venango, Warren, Wayne, Westmoreland, Wyoming, and York.

Following is a list of the leagues in Pennsylvania and number of teams in the league in parentheses:

Berks County League (14), Bucks County League (13), Twin County League (7), Lehigh County League (18), Chester County League (10), Montco League (8), Mainline League (10), Lebanon County League (6), York County League (9), District 11 League (10), Susquehanna Valley League (7), West Branch League (8), Wyoming Valley League (9), Lackawanna League + District 15 (12), Somerset County League (9), Indiana County League (11), Westmoreland County League (10), and Northwest League (14).