Australian Little League is great. The Australian Baseball League is great, but the Little League World Series is unbelievable.
For the host town, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, every single part of the place comes alive when the Little League World Series is in town. Everybody flocks to the ‘Grand Slam Parade’, which is the introduction of all 16 teams participating.
The Little League World Series is the Disneyland of baseball. For those that have never been before, imagine that you’re at your son/daughter’s U13 footy or netball grand final, then imagine all teams are read out and they’re on a float that 1000s of people are cheering for as they trek down the main street of your town.
There are thousands of people watching live and on their local television station. On top of that there are hundreds of thousands of dollars sponsoring it.
The camaraderie between teams is simply infectious. After talking for merely minutes, Park View Little League from Chula Vista, California were mates with the Australian contingent. “Aussie, Aussie?!’ was chanted, and the Park View LL parents embraced the demonstration of Australian pride, and came back with “Oi, oi, oi!.”
They learned about that chant five minutes earlier, which shows first hand the sportsmanship and mindset of the parents with children playing.
“We’re here to meet new people and make friends for life.”
An Australian parent said that earlier today, and it couldn’t ring truer about the attitude of the people involved with the Little League World Series.
Essentially, the Little League World Series is Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket for baseball. These kids are 11 and 12 years old, and they’re the centrepiece in a parade in front of 2000 people of a town that just populates just over 30,000 people.
The Little League World Series is a celebration of the purest form of baseball. Forget contracts, endorsements and signing bonuses. These kids are here to play the game, and that mindset makes the Little League World Series one of the greatest events in the world.