It may surprise you to know that baseball is not one of the most popular sports in Australia.
It is not broadcast at all on free-to-air television.
It is certainly not the big deal that it is in USA.
However, my uncle (dad's brother) played baseball for many years. Dad's first cousin also played baseball, as did his sons, and at least one of his son's sons.
My sister's son, my only nephew, started playing tee-ball when he was much younger.
From tee-ball he graduated to baseball.
So, in summer he'd play cricket (one of our most popular national sports) and in winter - yes, that's right, winter - he'd play baseball.
This is a photo of him after the Grand Final of the B-grade earlier this year. He also played in the A-grade grand final.
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| photo copied and cropped from Cougars Baseball Club Facebook page |
This summer he will not be playing cricket.
Instead, he has been named in the 2012 Under-18's NSW Country Baseball Team as a pitcher. So he will spend the early part of the summer travelling around the state for training and then compete in the national championships in Geelong, Victoria, in January.
This is very exciting news in our family. He has made a state representative team and may, if he plays really well, make it to the national team.
That is great news in itself.
But my nephew is still six weeks short of his sixteenth birthday!
