Little Leaguers poised for centre stage
Kingsley Collins
26 May 2015
Excitement is building for the eighth Australian Little League Championship series that will be held in Lismore from 3-9 June.
Drawing twenty committed and well-drilled squads from across Australia, this prestigious tournament will provide players, families and supporters with a memorable sporting experience while offering an opportunity for advancement to the Little League World Series in Williamsport United States during August.
This is truly a remarkable event that honours and upholds the principles of Little League baseball – which each year boasts nearly three million participants across seventy-five countries.
Introduced by Baseball Australia in 2007, Little League follows a logical and measured pathway by which youngsters can progress from a neighbourhood sporting programme through to regional, state and national competition that offers wonderful opportunities for playing improvement, intensive coaching, travel and collective success that can lead all the way to the home of baseball.
While reaching that destination will be a unique and richly-deserved bonus for one squad, all players, coaches, managers and officials – regardless of playing results - will again be winners in embracing a fundamental Little League objective defined way back in 1939:
“To give children of the world a game that provides fundamental principles they can use later in life to become good citizens”.
Hosted at the Albert Park baseball facility in Lismore, the Little League Championship will open with a day of celebration and festivities before competition proper begins on Thursday 4 June.
Sponsored by Bendigo Bank, the series will be delivered with the support of Far North Coast Baseball, Lismore City Council, New South Wales State Government and Baseball Australia.
Competition has been scheduled in four pools of five teams. Teams in each group will play each other once, with the first and second-placed subsequently seeded 1-8 and third and fourth seeded 9-16 for playoff action. Teams placed fifth after the Round Robin will play against each other to determine placings 17-20.
Final play-offs and the medals round are scheduled for Tuesday 9 June.
Held on the Gold Coast in June of last year, the Australian Little League Championship saw Perth Northern Metros win through for a shot at the Little League World Series, where the side had one strong win from three games played.
The Perth outfit will be returning to the Little League Championship this time, as one of five teams representing Western Australia. Six sides have qualified from New South Wales, three from Victoria, two each from South Australia and Queensland, along with one each from Australian Capital Territory and Northern territory.
With organisers, officials, coaches, players and their supportive families now more readily attuned to the underpinning principles, to the purposes and the opportunities offered by Little League baseball, we are assured of spirited, high quality competition when around three hundred of our young players lock horns in Lismore for what should be another outstanding event.
Australian Baseball Alumni wishes all participating squads the very best for an exciting and a successful week of Little League baseball.
For the very many people following this series with interest, there is a range of information and options being provided by Baseball Australia, which will be posting daily updates on its website and social media. Any Alumni members involved with the tournament are of course invited to post updates on our Facebook page or on the Aussie Baseball Forum.
AUSTRALIAN LITTLE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE