Baseball team for Taiwan

invitation to send an Under-12 team to Taiwan to participate in the first Baseball World Champion-ships.
The tournament is being held from of July 8-17 to mark Taiwan’s century anniversary.
There will be 10 days of competitive matches with 15 other countries from around the world will take part.
The Zimbabweans will be the only African representatives. ZBA Mtasa Mandishona said normally countries are chosen by world rankings but they were given the nod ahead of other African countries like South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique and Kenya as recognition for the association’s efforts in developing the sport.
“When we exhibited our developmental programmes it was seen that we have more players on the ground and hence needed the opportunity to showcase our talent at junior level. We are delighted that our team has more children from the rural areas and it is an opportunity for them to be uplifted from their background. However it is also a first for Zimbabwe.” However, Mandishona said the children’s dream to rub shoulders with other youngsters from across the globe might be dealt a heavy blow as they have to find US$70 000 needed to prepare and send the team to Taiwan.
“Most of the children we have are of a rural background and they need items like passports, sporting attire, air tickets among other things and coupled with the officials, our financial needs are between US$65 000 and US$70 000.
“As an association we are appealing to the corporate world and well-wishers for any help that they can render us, be it in cash or kind, bearing in mind also that the deadline for registration is next week Wednesday.
“It is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for the association but more so for the children and we hope for all the support we can get,” he said. Countries that have already confirmed their participation include Brazil, South Korea, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Indonesia.