from 1947 to 2005, the age limit for players was set at children who turned 13 on august 1 of that year or later. in 2006, the age limit was loosened to include players who turn 13 after april 30. as the series takes place in august, this led to many of the players having already turned 13 before the series started. in 2014 little league voted to change the age cutoff from april 30 to december 31. however, this caused outrage by parents because the players born between may 1 and august 31, 2005 would have lost their 12-year-old season because they would be considered to be 13 years old even though they have not reached their 13th birthday. effective november 2015, a new implementation plan was established, which "grandfathered" players born between may 1 and august 31, 2005 as 12-year-olds for the 2018 season, using april 30 age determination date for the 2018 season. beginning in 2019, a new determination date of august 31 will be used, which will effectively ban 13-year-old players from participating in the series.