Jim's right, it wasn't a head first slide or even close. It was a hook slide with a tag by his hand as he went by. Some people complain about no proabition on a return. 99.9% of the time it's a return from a few feet or in a pickle where the runner isn't running full out.
As far as Cal Ripken baseball it's the same as LL. 46 ft mound, 60 ft bases, no leading off. Frankly I'm not sure of an advantage of one system over the other even in the older kids.
PONY at the same level is 70 ft bases,48 ft mound, 225 ft fences, and lead-offs allowed. The option of leading off or not is in the 9/10(Mustangs.)
They have three options:
A) full lead-off
B) lead-off of 1st and 2nd only
C) no lead-off same as LL