There is simply no equivalent in any other youth sports from hockey to soccer to basketball. The legendary baseball Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is the greatest marketing brand in youth sports, with up to 40,000 fans at games and a world television audience that follows the tournament.
The chase begins at the local parks level, and for District 7, the championships are happening this week at Lakehill Little League. The winner will advance to the sa国际传媒 championships July 23-30 in Whalley, with the winner of that going on to the Canadian championships in Calgary Aug. 4-13, from which will emerge the Canadian representative to Williamsport from Aug. 17-28.
If you’re the sa国际传媒 champion, you have to like your chances. Teams from sa国际传媒 have represented sa国际传媒 in the Little League World Series 27 times, including Coquitlam in 2019, the last year in which competition was held in sa国际传媒. Teams from sa国际传媒 have won the Canadian championship every year since 2005, except for 2013, when East Nepean of Ottawa was the national champion. Major-leaguers from sa国际传媒 to have played in the Little League World Series include Michael Saunders from Gordon Head in 1999, Adam Loewen of Kennedy-Surrey in 1996 and Jason Bay of Trail in 1990.
No Canadian team has won the Little League World Series. The only Canadian team to reach the final was Stoney Creek, Ont., in 1965. Layritz, however, was looking to become the first to win from sa国际传媒, and to become the third Island team to get to Williamsport, following Esquimalt-Vic West in 1974 and Gordon Head in 1999, the latter featuring Saunders.
Layritz had built a powerhouse club as it looked to host the 2020 Canadian championship with 3,000 bleachers to ring the diamond and CBC to broadcast. But the pandemic put paid to those plans and also for 2021, when Layritz was again awarded the Canadian hosting rights, only to see the national tournament cancelled for a second consecutive year due to COVID-19. Those players have now aged out without ever getting their chance.
“Layritz is still favoured for this year but the teams are more even now and it should be a dogfight to the end,” said Tak Niketas, the District 7 media officer.
“Little League has rebounded well from the pandemic with numbers up around all the parks.”
The District 7 tournament began over the weekend at Lakehill and features Layritz, Lakehill/Hampton, National, Beacon Hill and Central Saanich playing a round-robin through the week with games at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. through Thursday. The semifinals are at noon and 3 p.m. Saturday with the final at noon Sunday.
Meanwhile, Layritz defeated Beacon Hill 11-7 in the District 7 minors tournament final held Sunday at Hampton Park to advance to the sa国际传媒 championship beginning Saturday in Dunbar.
