Courtesy of: The Morning News
Arubans are known for their passion for baseball. There are a few baseball players who have shown the potential and realized their dream by becoming professional layers. And now you can feel the enthusiasm prevailing among islanders. From July 20 to 28 Aruba will be host – for the very first time – to the Junior Latin American Baseball League. Junior League World Series is a baseball tournament for children 13, 14 and 15 years and takes place annually at Heritage Park, Taylor, Michigan. Countries participating are: Aruba, Costa Rica, Colombia, Curacao, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Republic of El Salvador, Virgin Islands and Venezuela. The tournament is modeled after the Little League World Series and is one of the 11 tournaments patronized by Little League International.
This tournament goes way back in 1981. Junior League World Series has only 10 regions compared to Little League World Series which has 16 regions; 8 regions in the USA and 8 international regions. The 10 region champions are divided into 2 pools (USA and International).The best teams of the 2 ools will go to the semi finals to decide on a USA winning team and an international winning team.
In the beginning only the American teams were playing, but over the course of the years international teams began participating.
In 2001, the regional Latin American tournament was formed. Today the American pool consists of regional champions from Central, East, South East, South West and Western regions. The international pool consists of 5 regions: Puerto Rico or Mexico, Latin America, Canada, Asia-Pacific and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).
Arubans are sure to enjoy some exciting professional baseball games. The championship attracts many fans that will come to support their favorite team and Aruba does not stay behind; we are ready to support our team and show the world the potential and passion of our baseball players.
Aruba has 2 teams; Aruba 1 and Aruba 2. Each team trained extensively; this tournament demands lots of discipline and dedication. The youngsters are from different neighborhoods and both teams have very determined players. Their mood is very positive and they say they will do their utmost to win this championship.
The majority of the games will be played on the Nadi Croes/Crismo Angela Ball park in Santa Cruz. These games are going to be fantastic and the general public is most welcome to witness this here for the very first time on Aruba. What an honor!
