School Sport Australia

School Sport Australia (SSA) is responsible for the development and promotion of school sport in Australia.

SSA and its State Member bodies offer competition opportunities at both primary and secondary level. These events offer not only sporting benefits, but also immense educational, cultural and social benefits for the participants. For more information, visit http://www.schoolsport.edu.au/.

Junior carnivals

A number of junior carnivals are run annually around the country, including the following:

Australia Day Carnival

One of the largest junior softball tournaments in Australia, Softball ACT host the Australia Day Carnival in Canberra. The tournament provides an important development opportunity to young players in Australia and traditionally attracts a large number of junior boys and girls from the U13 to U23 age group. The competition is played over four days at the north and south softball venues.

Waverley Easter Carnival

Waverley Softball Association host a junior age tournament annually over the Easter holiday period that attracts between 30-45 teams from the surrounding states and regions. The tournament plays a valuable role in providing teams an opportunity to gain match play and develop young players for the future. Age categories include U13, U15, U17 and U19.

Masters

There are many national and international masters events, all of which offer physical activity in a social environment and festival atmosphere. The first official World Masters Games was held in 1985 in Canada. It offered 16 summer sports, including softball. Since then softball has become one of the highest participant sports in masters games.

Event opportunities include:

• Softball NSW Masters events – various
• Softball Queensland Masters – held annually
• Softball Victoria Masters – held annually
• Australian Masters Games – held biennially
• World Masters Games – held every four years
• Alice Springs Masters Games – held biennially
• Pan Pacific Masters Games – held biennially

University

Australian University Sport (AUS) is the peak governing body of university sport in Australia, offering a range of events.

Any student who is currently enrolled in a degree, diploma, certificate or higher award at an educational institution that is affiliated with AUS is eligible to compete in the sporting program.

AUS events provide a friendly but competitive environment, complimented by a social program to enhance the event experience for participants.

Softball features at the following AUS events:

• Australian University Games – held annually
• Unibattle – held annually

For more information, visit http://www.unisport.com.au/Pages/Home.aspx.