Team Australia general manager Glenn Williams says this week’s Under-15 World Cup Camp in Sydney is crucial in helping propel Australia up the WBSC rankings.
More than 30 of Australia’s brightest young talents have converged on Blacktown ahead of next week’s roster announcement for the Under-15 World Cup in Panama.
Williams said the six-day camp was vital in selecting a 20-man roster capable of success in Panama from August 10-19.
“It’s important we get the team right going in there,” he said.
“They’re playing for world ranking points which go towards Premier12 and the opportunities our senior national team get.”
Australia – which is currently ranked eighth in the world – will be vying for up to 460 points in Panama.
“It’s huge for us, with a lot of the tournaments we get entry into they’re based on world rankings and where we sit,” Williams said.
“This team here is contributing to that so the better performance this team has the more opportunity our senior national team gets.
“In turn that helps grow the game here.”
Williams said the opportunity to help Australia’s plight in the rankings had been a talking point at this week’s camp.
“What they’re doing here is helping some of their heroes on Team Australia out,” he said.
“It’s not just about individual teams going away and having a two-week event, this is more about a national team family.”
Williams was confident the Under-15 team could improve their performance from two years ago in Japan as Australian baseball continues to reap the benefits of a strong pathway.
“With the Little League, Junior and Senior League tournaments we’re seeing the opportunity for a lot of players to be able to play,” he said.
“There’s more volume of players sticking around in the game longer … it assists with the development of the players and standard across the country.
“There’s 35 quality players here and probably another 20 who fought for spots for being here who can probably consider themselves unlucky.”
Australian under-15 manager Andrew Kyle said the camp had been fantastic.
“It’s huge for us, to get 35 of the best kids in the country all together at the same time,” Kyle said.
“These kids can play, they’re getting better and better each year.”
The roster for the Under-15 World Cup will be announced next week.
Australia will compete in Pool B alongside Japan, Cuba, Netherlands, Dominican Republic and South Africa.