Pony League Announcements

As we announced via our website and social media platforms, Baseball WA has been engaging with PONY League on gaining access to tournament pathways for our players who would not otherwise be able to do so under our Little League program.

Specifically, we have focused on the following:

1. Shall have played in a Little League tournament team that has not progressed passed the state tournament.
2. Shall have been unsuccessful in being selected for a Little League tournament team.
3. Shall be part of a program affiliated with Baseball WA that does not meet Little League rules for fielding a tournament team.
4. Shall be younger than League Age 10 or older than League Age 16 (ie not of a Little League age division).

By providing tournament opportunities to this cohort of our players, it is expected that we increase our retention, grow participation and incentivise players to stay within their existing charter program.

​In 2020, we will be offering three PONY programs to our members with players needing to be qualified under one of the four rules above.

These programs are as follows:

• PONY GIRLS – selected out of the PONY Girls League.
• PALOMINO – selected out of the Big League competition.
• BRONCO – selected from the teams that do not progress past the LLSC including Tiger Academy – players in Development Shield will not be considered.

We would expect over the coming years to adopt more of the PONY aged programs to complement our Little League divisions. Additionally, where required we will be outsourcing the running of PONY age divisions to ensure we remain compliant with the Little League requirements as they apply to Australia.

We have previously advertised for head coaches of all three teams and announcement on all will be made shortly.

Announcements on how each team will be picked will also be announced shortly, however what you can tell your players is that if they have a desire to be involved then they need to be involved in the competitions or tournaments mentioned above.

The key with PONY is that it is not a choice for players to make instead of Little League. Little League is and will remain the primary program and so players intending to play on a tournament pathway will firstly try out for their Little League team or under the outlined circumstances fall back into the PONY options.

We are also aware that across the country, PONY is being promoted as being offered by organisations not affiliated with their state body. We can confirm that there are no programs within Western Australia other than Baseball WA currently affiliated with PONY and any promotion of PONY
by these organisations should, for the foreseeable future, be ignored.

As outlined, further information on coaching appointments and selection processes will be rolled out in the next week or so where all remaining questions will be addressed.

Lachlan Dale
Chief Executive Officer
​Baseball WA