Two Federal Way Little League organizations are officially becoming one. Federal Way National and Federal Way American little leagues will now operate with one charter.

Sagging participation numbers and a general lack of significant volunteer help over the last several years within the Federal Way American organization led league officials to explore a merger with National. The leagues will officially unite on Oct. 1. The new league will retain the Federal Way National name for the foreseeable future because several grants and other contracts are filed under the National umbrella, officials say.

“There are a lot of reasons that go into this,” said current American vice president Bob Clinton. “We have talked about it for a while. The dwindling population was a part of it. Our numbers are down to approximately 200 kids. It wasn’t too long ago that we had twice that many.”

According to current National President Brian Westberg, American approached him two years ago about the possibility of merging. But the idea was put on hold until this summer.

“American decided at the time to give it a go,” Westberg said. “They felt like it was better to continue the league and see if they could bring the numbers back up and work on it.”

But the participation numbers never returned at Federal Way American, which draws from the central area of the city. At it’s height, American included over 500 players during a season.

This year, however, participation was down to the 200-kid range. The league only had two Major Little League teams. The 10- to 12-year-old division, which is currently playing the Little League World Series in Williamsport, is the most popular league around the world.

On the other hand, Federal Way National has been trending in the opposite direction than its American counterparts, as far as participation over the last few seasons. National had a little over 400 boys and girls play Little League baseball and softball during the spring, which is up about 85 kids from three years ago.

“We felt like we could better support the Federal Way community from a Little League standpoint with the merger,” Westberg said. “I think its beneficial for the leagues and beneficial for the kids. Little League in Federal Way was absolutely huge at one time. We want to get back to that again. We want to start growing it.”

“We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t think it will result in a better league for all the kids,” Clinton said. “Consolidating into one league will make for more vibrant leadership and a better league overall.”

Another large part of the decision to merge came down to National’s volunteer base and the vibrant leadership of its board of directors, Clinton said. During the last few years, Federal Way National has secured numerous grants, including $200,000 to make improvements to its privately-owned fields on SW Campus Drive. Grants paid for the lighting of two fields, constructing batting cages, replacing backstops and new bleachers, among other things. National also completed work on a field house, which sits in the middle of the four fields and includes bathrooms and a concession stand.

“Their volunteer base was a strong motivating factor,” Clinton said. “National is in a strong position now. Their board seems to be doing a good job moving forward.”

The merger will also bring together the stronger aspects of each league. National features a very strong girls softball program and ever-growing T-ball participation. While American has excelled in the older baseball leagues and have always been forward thinking in the way they handle umpiring duties.

The softball program at Federal Way National has been steadily growing over the last few years. The league had three AAA fastpitch teams, one Major team and four machine pitch teams during the spring. Federal Way American doesn’t have a girls softball program.

“We attempted softball six or seven years ago and failed pretty amazingly,” Westberg said. “We didn’t give it the support it needed. When we started up the program again, we did it just like the boys program. We support the girls just like the boys. They get everything they need. The same uniforms and the same fields as the boys.”

National also had very strong participation in T-ball. This year, the league featured a total of seven T-ball teams, while American put together just three teams.

“We actually relied on National this year for scheduling,” Clinton said. “You can only play each other so many times.

“We are really doing this to make a stronger league for the kids. We will have more teams, more coaches, more fields and a bigger volunteer base to move things forward.”