International Women's Baseball Championships

Deb’s second chaperoning experience occurred during the winter of 2002 when she traveled with Team WBL to Geelong, Australia for a tournament. Team WBL consisted of women of different ages, fourteen and older, from the United States and Canada. The team even gained two Australian players after they arrived for the tournament. There were nine members under the age of 21 for whom Deb was responsible.

While in Australia, the team participated in a tournament, which included teams from the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia. The tournament was not necessarily intended to be a competition between countries, but more like a cultural exchange where the countries could come together and learn more about one another and have fun playing baseball at the same time.

The event was definitely enlightening for Deb, who learned of a few differences between baseball in the United States and other countries. For instance, she learned how Japan has a different pre-game custom of lining up between first and third base and bowing to thank the crowd. She also noticed how differently women’s baseball is viewed in Australia than in the United States. She was surprised at the greater amount of support that the teams received from Australian crowds. She said, “When I went to Australia for a women’s tournament the number of supporters there was amazing! I had never seen that many people at an organized women’s baseball event before.”

One of Deb’s favorite parts about this trip was that she also got to be a tourist and enjoy the beautiful sights of Australia. She visited different locations, such as the Twelve Apostles, and got a closer look at Australian wildlife when she came within a few feet of a field full of kangaroos.

Deb said her trip to Australia was probably her favorite one she has been on so far. A lot of her friends also went on the trip, so she enjoyed getting to be with them, as well as the amazing scenery of the country.