Baseball Queensland, in this unprecedented and unique situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, is taking a lead from international and national sporting codes to postpone all Queensland Baseball activity from Wednesday, 18 March 2020 until Wednesday, 8 April 2020.
Decisions in relation to the health and safety of our baseball community have been given careful consideration. Following consultations with the federal and state government, Sport Australia and Baseball Australia and our state and territory baseball counterparts, we are postponing our non-essential static gatherings as a precautionary action to assist in stopping the spread of this virus to the most vulnerable members of our communities.
Baseball Queensland and all our member clubs and associations will cease, for 21 days, all training, club activities and team meetings, as well as events, tournaments and competitions.
In addition to our regular baseball, this will affect the postponement of the following major events:
- 2020 Australian Women’s Championships – scheduled for 10-17 April 2020, this has been postponed until further notice
- 2020 State Athlete Development Program – has been postponed until further notice
- 2020 Little League, Junior, Senior, Rookie Ball and Tee-ball League State Titles – scheduled for 16th-19th April, this has been postponed until further notice
Participants for the 2020 Australian Women’s Championships and 2020 State Championships that are being postponed will receive a refund. Please note that any payment made will be processed directly to the players nominated account from Baseball Queensland.
“This is unchartered territory for Queensland baseball, but we are committed to translating these ever-changing circumstances while protecting our community and following the best practice guidelines set forth by the government and our partner organisations,” Baseball Queensland Commissioner Jeremy Cade said.
This is a quickly evolving situation that changes every day, and that means a decision made today may be updated tomorrow. By clearly postponing events in our immediate future, we have the opportunity to make strong plans for the future that will ensure we can recommence baseball activities as soon as it is appropriate to do so.
The 2020 Australian Women’s Championships will be rescheduled in consultation with Baseball Australia (read Baseball Australia’s full statement HERE). Prior to the recommencement of that program players will be consulted on their availability and we may need to make changes to the teams in order to replace any players whom are not available.
The 2020 State Development Programs, which was to be over the next two weeks, will recommence immediately prior to the rescheduled 2020 to be confirmed. This ensures that when we are able to return to play, participants will have the opportunity to train prior.
The 2020 David Nilsson Little League State Championships lead to the National Little League Championships and subsequently the International Little League Championships. At this stage, we will continue to review how the state championships can be restructured and rescheduled later in April and May to allow participation in the national and then international event(s).
All of these championship arrangements are fluid and further decisions will be made on the reschedule of state events based on the timelines provided by Baseball Australia regarding their national championships. Baseball Australia’s timelines for review of its national events are contained HERE in their full statement.
Baseball Australia is in an ongoing dialogue with Little League International with respect to eligibility, and the rules for timelines around participation in events, which all parties have conceded will need to be flexible as event timing continues to shift.
Currently the 2020 winter season with our member Winter Associations is scheduled to commence after Easter, and at this stage, these competitions will go ahead as planned. Consultation with the Winter Associations will be ongoing regarding the start of their season, the effect of rescheduled state and national events, and the Winter Championships. We expect that training for the winter season will be affected by this 21-day hiatus, and as soon as it practical we will confirm the start time for the season, considering the need for training to recommence prior.
Please note that as of Friday the 20th of March, the Baseball Queensland office has enacted its ‘Work From Home Plan’. The Baseball Queensland landline telephone will be diverted accordingly, and you can still call this number at any time. Limited staff will be available directly via mobile and email. Please click Contact for full contact details.
You can find information on how to keep yourself and your family safe and healthy QLD HEALTH from the Queensland Department of Health.
All further updates from Baseball Queensland will be found here on the Baseball Queensland website and will also be communicated by the Baseball Queensland social media channels.
Further information, including symptoms, may be found https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/guidelines-procedures/diseases-infection/diseases/coronavirus/public-info-novel-coronavirus/fact-sheet-coronavirus