By Neto Baptiste
Antigua and Barbuda is set to host 10th Annual Caribbean Little League Championships slated for July 2-9 at the baseball field in Potters village.
Six teams, including defending champions Curacao, will compete in championships which cater for players within the 11-13 age category. The other teams expected to take part are Venezuela, Aruba, USVI, the Dominican Republic and hosts Antigua and Barbuda.
One member of the local coaching staff and senior national player, Jarred Francis, said that close to 50 players have been in preparation for the pending championships.
“At this point there [are] about 40 kids in the little league where they have three full teams, so it has grown a lot and we will be fielding a team to play in that tournament. They do play games amongst themselves and it’s a lot more active compared to times gone,” he said.
Matches in the tournament, according to Francis, will be played the at sport’s new home in potters where they have transformed an area of the Potters playing field.
“Not a whole baseball stadium but a baseball field with a proper in-field and bats up and everything, so it’s really something to see, to have a real baseball field here in Antigua. I just got back into the sport around Easter [this year] and I was introduced to the field in terms of having practice there,” he said.
The former little leaguer highlighted the importance of the championships.
“The first one was in 2013 and that was the first tournament we played in, Pablo and myself, so we’re alumni of that tournament and for the 10th one now, we get to host it here in Antigua. You can go from playing in a tournament to actually hosting it. It also helps in terms of the development of the sport as well because sinceCovid a lot has happened in terms of pushing the sport forward as well,” Francis said.
Antigua and Barbuda previously hosted the tournament in 2017. The winner of the tournament will qualify for the Little League World Cup scheduled to take place from August 16 to August 27 at the Little League headquarters complex in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
