Four South Coast baseball stars will miss out on the chance to compete on the Australian Baseball League stage this summer, after the competition committee this week decided to abandon this season's campaign, due to the ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19 global pandemic.
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Baseball Australia chief executive Glenn Williams said the decision, which impacts Greenwell Point's Tim Atherton (Brisbane Bandits), former Shoalhaven Mariners' Cam Warner and Jack Middleton as well as Berkeley Eagles' Steven Kent (all Canberra Cavalry), was incredibly difficult to make but made with the league's long-term success and sustainability in mind.
"There is still too much uncertainty around Australia's ongoing COVID restrictions for us to be able to operate a successful ABL season," Williams said to ABL Media.
"We know how much the ABL means to our fans, players, coaches, officials and the wider baseball community and we exhausted all options to try and find a way to conduct a sustainable season, but we couldn't find a way through.
"This is understandably disappointing but we are confident this is the right decision and in the best long-term interests of the ABL and its teams."
In September, the Baseball Australia pushed back opening day to mid-to-late December but with an early February deadline to wrap up the season and a large number of unknowns due to COVID, the challenge of completing a season was becoming increasingly complex.
Instead the ABL's attention will turn to the longer term and making the 2022/23 season its best ever.
"Our goal over the coming years is to build a thriving and sustainable ABL to ensure it regains a strong position in the Australian sporting landscape and remains as one of the best baseball leagues in the world," Williams said.
"For this to happen we need financially strong teams.
"We thank everyone for their continued support during what have been challenging times for all sports, including baseball, and we are determined to rebound bigger and better in 2022."
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