USSSA, the United States Specialty Sports Association is an organization that sanctions and holds events for a wide range of sports including youth baseball, fastpitch softball, and more.  In the past few years, a popular trend has emerged in the world of youth sports, and that trend is Trading Pins! USSSA trading pins are gaining in popularity, and for good reason. They’re awesome!

USSSA Trading Pins are usually designed by the team who’s logo is displayed on the trading pins, and each player can give their input as to the design of the pin. Team moms and dads, even coaches, band together to come up with a final design for their teams’ pins for that year (the teams usually design a new pin for each season) and have them made by a custom manufacturer. This creates a very unique pin, and to the kids it’s all about tradeability. The cooler the design, the better the pins will trade at the pin trading events, which are held all over the country at baseball and softball fields.

Just from my experience, I’ll include a few pointers if your team is looking to make custom made trading pins.

1. Include your team’s logo or image
2. Include the age group of your team
3. Consider including the year, so that other teams can put a designation on the pins, older pins seem to become very collectible because of their age.
4. Stay consistent with your team colors, but if they’re not bright and vibrant, consider sprucing them up.
5. Include some sport-related images, for example maybe a baseball player if a baseball team, or a girl throwing a softball for a fastpitch team.

If you’d like some more information about USSSA Trading Pins or Pin Trading in general, check out some of the resources I’ve included below.

USSSA Official Website: www.usssa.com

USSSA Baseball Website: www.usssabaseball.org

Louisiana USSSA Website: www.lausssabaseball.com