The Australian Baseball League (ABL) has today announced the cancellation of the upcoming 2021/22 ABL season, due to border restrictions and the ongoing impacts of COVID-19.
The decision comes despite gallant efforts by the ABL to reschedule and rejig the structure of the competition to overcome these challenges.
New Canberra Cavalry licence owner and CEO, Illya Mastoris acknowledged the difficulties of playing in the current climate.
“This has been a difficult time in Australia, not just for baseball and the Cavalry, but our entire community,” Mastoris said.
“The decision to not proceed with the upcoming season is not an easy one. We were looking forward to welcoming fans back to the ballpark after two consecutive seasons impacted by the bushfires and then COVID.
“As new owners, we were excited with the progress we had made with our preparations, and had some great, talented players looking to make Canberra their home for the summer.”
Preparations were well underway in the Cavalry’s push to a second Claxton Shield, having already locked in local and domestic contingent.
They have also secured top line players from some of the American Independent Leagues as well as young upcoming talent from some of the Major League’s best player development systems.
Cavalry licence owner and COO, Brendon Major, believes the break in regular fixtures provides the club with a rare opportunity to build off the additional time.
“Yes it hurts to not play this season, but we now have a full 12 months to prepare and come back bigger and stronger than ever.” Major said.
“We already had a few surprises in store for our fans at the ballpark for this season, and now with an additional year, we can take the experience to a whole new level.”
Cavalry General Manager Sunny Singh believes that there will still be opportunities for the Canberra public to get its fix of baseball this Summer.
“This is hard for our fans, who have been so wonderful throughout the adversity of the last 2 years,” Singh said.
“They deserve the absolute best and with the work that we have put in so far, our return to MIT Ballpark is going to be that much sweeter when we’re back out there doing what we love.
“We have already started talking with other ABL teams about finding opportunities to have some baseball at the Fort @ MIT Ballpark this summer, and with Covid-19 restrictions allowing, we’ll be making every effort to make sure it happens.”
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