NEW YORK -- When the Harlem Little League was founded 13 years ago, the several dozen kids on teams had to make do with rocky, trash-littered fields.

Now the league features fields with scoreboards, fences and bleachers, nearly 700 youngsters -- and a team of all-stars in the Little League World Series.

Despite accusations that Harlem's all-stars don't belong in the tournament because of residency violations, enthusiasm for a league that blossomed over the last decade is as strong as ever at home.

Little League officials ruled Thursday the team can play in the World Series after it provided documents showing players met residency requirements.

''Harlem's never had anything like this before,'' said Carla Lyles, a neighborhood bartender. ''We don't have homecoming and different things like that for the kids to get involved in.''

The Harlem league was founded by Dwight Raiford, now chairman of Little League's International Board of Directors, as a place for his son to play. That league was developed as part of the Little League Urban Initiative, which creates baseball and softball programs in city neighborhoods.

As the Harlem league grew, so did its reputation.

''Harlem Little League is and has been a great example of Little League's urban initiative and why it works,'' said Lance Van Auken, a Little League spokesman. ''It started out as a few teams on a dirt lot. Now they have six, seven, 800 kids playing in there now. It's a well-run league with good people in leadership positions.''

Now that the Harlem team is one of 16 competing in the World Series this weekend, hordes of fans say they're captivated by the team's success. They've been watching games on television, checking scores in the papers, memorizing the names of the players and the positions they play. Hundreds of fans have already accompanied the team to South Williamsport, Pa., by bus, and more are on their way for the first game Saturday.

''It gives a sense of pride and hope that not only kids in privileged communities can make it to the major leagues,'' Harlem resident Kevin Kasper said. ''And even those who don't play baseball, it still gives them something to look forward to because they see kids coming out of the same environment going places.''

Another Harlem resident, Arthur Sands, said: ''Going to Williamsport? Are you kidding? Nothing like it. These kids don't have fancy uniforms, but they're playing and having fun.''

The team's success has fueled interest in baseball in the neighborhood. Lifelong residents say basketball, not baseball, had long been the sport of choice in Harlem, home to the famed Globetrotters and tournaments featuring Julius Erving.

''You'd see a rock fight or a bottle fight before you'd see a good baseball game,'' said Thomas Bracey, recalling his days as a youth ballplayer in the early 1980s.

Given the success of the program, Harlem residents said they were determined to shrug off the controversy this week, which surfaced Wednesday with claims that three of the team's star players live outside the neighborhood's boundaries.

Last year, a team of Bronx All-Stars finished third in the World Series, only to be disqualified when their star pitcher, Danny Almonte, was discovered to be 14, instead of the limit of 12.

Harlem residents, though, said there's a difference between the controversy last year and this one. The players aren't known to be older, don't seem to be bigger and should be left alone, many here said.

''As long as they're not a year older, let them play,'' Sands said.