Sport
23 April, 2024
World Cup selection
Caboolture soft baller Indy Munro is getting ready to play for the Australian ‘Junior Spirit’ team in the World Baseball Soft ball Confederation (WBSC) U18 Women’s World Cup.
Indy and her teammates will encounter the USA, Canada, Mexico, Ireland and Philippines in Group C, scheduled from August 29 to September 2 in the American city of Dallas.
With Group A playing in Sao Paulo, and Group B playing in Pingtan, the top-two teams from each group will qualify for the World Championship finals, scheduled for Dallas next year.
Australian selection was based on performances in the U18 national championships in Perth back in January, as well as a subsequent development camp in Sydney.
Indy said she was “quite excited and very stoked” when she received the phone call with the news of her selection for the Junior Spirit.
“This is such an amazing experience and I am so grateful for this opportunity,” she said.
“This would definitely be considered a trip of a lifetime and hopefully there are more to come like this.”
Indy, whose preferred fielding position is third base, said she was familiar with her teammates due to the development camp and U18 national championships.
Although she hasn’t been to the USA before, Indy represented the Aussie Diamonds U14s in New Zealand in 2019, and was in the title-winning team.
“From a young age I’ve always strived to make Australian teams, and being able to continue on from Aussie Diamonds into the Junior Spirit team is quite exciting,” she said.
Between now and August, Indy will play for club teams Cavaliers (Caboolture) and Sharks (Redlands).
She will also participate in the U21 club classic. In July, the Junior Spirit team will compete as an invitational team in the Soft ball NSW International Cup.
“To make sure I am ready and best prepared for the World Cup, I am sticking to my weekly schedules of gym, running and skills training, and just making sure I get a lot of conditioning in before the tournament,” Indy said.
