Little League finally had to make the hard decision that most every other sports league or association has faced in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020 Little League World Series and its Region Tournaments have been canceled, Little League International on Thursday announced.
This is the first time the tournament has been canceled in organization history, and Little League has decided to commit about $1.2 million to support its local leagues during this time.
“This is a heartbreaking decision for everyone at Little League International, but more so for those millions of Little Leaguers who have dreamt of one day playing in one of our seven World Series events,” Stephen D. Keener, Little League President and CEO, said via the organization’s statement.
“After exhausting all possible options, we came to the conclusion that because of the significant public health uncertainty that will still exist several months from now, and with direction from Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, as well as senior public health officials and government leaders from locations where our other six World Series are held, as well as the their qualifying regional tournaments, it will not be possible to proceed with our tournaments as we’ve hosted them for nearly 75 years.”
Little League has 6,500 community-based programs in 84 countries, all of which have been impacted in some way by the virus.
Next year was supposed to be the 75th anniversary of the Little League Baseball World Series, but it will now have to wait until 2022.
