Over the last couple of weeks, Baseball WA has been announcing details of the Alternate Pathway Programs (A.P.P.) that will be implemented in 2020 and 2021. The A.P.P. is our formal partnership with Pony League International and comes on the back of a number of years of work with Pony. Most importantly, the A.P.P. is focused on providing a support program to Little League which will always be our priority participation competition and tournament pathway, Pony is not an alternative to Little League but rather Pony provides us with opportunities at older age divisions that Little League does not and provides additional opportunities for younger athletes who miss out on playing for their charter. Players will be ineligible to participate in any Pony activity until their Little League program for the season has been completed (ie by non selection or team elimination).
With Australia recognised by Pony as four separate regions, no national tournament is held. WA will field teams in Pony under the banner of AUSTRALIA WEST. Our final announcement comes in the form of Bronco League. This is a pathway for athletes league aged 10 to 12 years old same as the Little League age division. Players who play in the Tiger Academy or in Little League State Championship charter teams that do not qualify for the Little League Nationals will be eligible for selection on the Bronco team. This program is aimed at players who miss out on selection for their charter, do not play in an area that can form their own team (especially regional WA) or play in a charter program that does not get to experience play at the nationals. 12 year olds that choose to play in the Development Shield will not be eligible. The 2020 Asia Pacific tournament will take place in Yizheng, China (approx one hour from Shanghai) in early July with the tournament winner progressing to the Bronco World Series in Laredo, Texas from July 31 to August 3. Details around appointment of coaches, tryouts and costings will be rolled out in the coming months. With four big announcements already for this season, we feel we need to get these programs established correctly prior to looking at other age groups, especially Pony and Colt age divisions. This is an exciting development for baseball in WA and provides a terrific enhancement to our existing Little League program. Comments are closed.
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