Abbey Kelly, Bronwyn Gell, Leslie Anglin, and Shae Lillywhite have booked their tickets to South Korea in pursuit of a little piece of baseball history, chasing Australia’s first ever Women’s World Cup gold medal after podium finishes in two of the past three tournaments.
Earlier this month, the four girls were named as a part of the Australian Emeralds following a week-long training camp on the Gold Coast under the watchful eye of National Team Coach Simone Wearne.
Since the announcement the girls have increased their training workload by adding extra sessions with the Women’s Aces Academy under the watchful eyes of Sam Hamilton (north), Simone Wearne (south) and Dean Anglin (west).
23-year-old Bronwyn Gell who started in the sport as a nine-year-old with Essendon’s T-Ball program will make her fourth World Cup appearance and says the team is in good shape to again challenge for medals.
“The group of girls we have has bonded really well together.
“We’ve got eleven girls making their debut for Australia but most of them have been around the squad and the National program for a while so it’s a really good mix of rookies and veterans.”
Among the debutants is 17-year-old Abbey Kelly (Essendon/Melbourne University/Westgarth) and 31-year-old Leslie Anglin (Newport/East Belmont/Essendon), while Shae Lillywhite (Springvale/Berwick) who has played in every World Cup since the tournament’s inception will make her sixth appearance.
Japan will start as the team to beat having won the previous four World Cups while the Emeralds, currently ranked third in the world, have drawn the USA (2), Chinese Taipei (6) and Hong Kong (9) in the opening pool rounds.
The Australian team will arrive in Seoul on the 26th of August where they will play a series of practice games before the tournament officially starts on the 3rd of September.
Australian Coach Simone Wearne says she’s hopeful the Emeralds can build on their 2014 success.
“2016 is going to become a year to remember for women’s baseball in this country.
“With the growth of the sport this year as well as the new partnership with Boral, we’re excited to get over to Korea and continue the success.”
READ: FULL TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT via Baseball Australia
Tournament Details
Gijang, South Korea
Saturday 3 September – Sunday 11 September