Three friends have been chosen in the 2018 Australian U17 Boys’ softball squad.
They are Byron Humble 16 of Victoria Point, Kynan Molander 14 of Alexandra Hills and Caleb Vandergriendt 15 of Ormiston.
The squad will attend the 2018 International Friendship series training camp and competition, to be held at Redlands Softball Association, at Ormiston. The camp will be held from July 6-8 and competition from July 9-13.
The boys who have formed a strong friendship through playing softball were selected from the Queensland team which played at the national championship in Sydney in January. Byron plays catcher, Caleb pitcher and Kynan short stop.
“It’s nice to see them enjoying the sport. Caleb has been playing since he first took up t-ball at age five,” his mother Nikki Vandergriendt said.
Last month, the World Baseball Softball confederation announced that the Under 19 Men’s Softball World Cup would launch in 2021, with no Junior Men’s World Championship in 2020. The Under 19 Men’s Softball World Cup will be played thereafter every two years.
Softball Australia has still named this year’s under 17 boys’ squad. Nineteen of the 31 players selected will be eligible for the 2021 World Cup.
For those players not eligible in 2021, the Friendship series provides an opportunity for them to continue their development in the player pathway. As the future of the sport, they will be vying for selection in future Australian Steelers teams.
