15U World Champs no go for NZ team

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Published on Wednesday, 23 May 2012 12:00

Written by Baseball New Zealand

The Baseball New Zealand Board of Directors have voted unanimously against sending the 15U National Baseball Team to the IBAF 15U World Championships in Chihuahua, Mexico in August of this year.

This was a difficult decision for the Board, as the Mexico tournament was to be the first ever IBAF World Championship event for the sport of baseball in New Zealand at any age grade. However, the safety of the nation's top young players, coaches, and officials is paramount, and the warning from the New Zealand government is clear.

Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's travel advisory is as follows:

There is high risk to your security in the city of Ciudad Juarez in the state of Chihuahua due to the high level of drug-related violence and we advise against all tourist and other non-essential travel.

There has been a significant increase in drug-related violence in Mexico in recent years. The worst affected areas are the northern states of Mexico bordering the United States (Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas), including the cities of Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Tijuana, Mexicali, Matamoros, Nogales, Monterrey, Piedras Negras, Tampico and Reynosa.

See full NZ government travel advisory to Mexico

Baseball New Zealand is currently looking at alternatives for the 15U National Team or an alternate 15U National Development Squad, and will make a decision on whether or not a team will travel this year at this age grade over the course of the next four weeks.

The Board would like to thank you for your patience while this difficult decision was made, and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Baseball New Zealand CEO This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - 021 665 339