There’s not many 12 year old boys that can say they’ve played for their country.
The Cronulla Sutherland Sharks Junior Baseball team will do just that in August’s Little League World Series and they couldn’t be more excited.
“It’s out of this world, it’s just the best feeling ever. “ Keanu Cowley told SBS online. His dad is Samoan his mother is Serbian.
The team’s achievement in reaching the World Series will come to fruition just four months before the 10th anniversary of the Cronulla riots. And while the team are too young to remember, their coach Darren Fullerton does:
“We’ve all moved on from that now thankfully, but this team has come together one and all” He told SBS.
“They’re all very accepting of each other”.
Winning the National title secured an all-expenses paid trip to Pennsylvania where equipment including a green and gold uniform will be provided by America’s Little League Baseball and given to the players as a reward for their achievement.
The tournament will be shown on TV in the US and around the world. Some are looking forward to all the fuss but others such as Luke Krkovski, who has Macedonian roots, admit to being a little nervous:
“I might get a couple of goosebumps, as I’ve never been on TV before”
Fair enough. But given how far they’ve travelled already, it probably won’t be the last time the Little League team from Cronulla are in the media spotlight.
The World Series runs from August 20th-30th.
