Eli Hardey-Abdy has just returned from Sydney and has had extra baggage to bring home. He was selected in the Queensland 10 -12 year boys softball team and competed at the School Sport Australia Softball Championships where his team won the silver medal.

Eli was very excited to be selected in this team and competed against teams from NSW, Victoria, ACT and South Australia. The teams played eight games over the week of competition playing each team twice. The Queensland team won every game by at least seven runs except games against New South Wales. They were hard-fought games with NSW beating the Queensland team in both games, 3-5 and 3-8. This gave the Queensland team the silver medal.

The experience of playing with and against the best 10-12 year old players in the nation was a highlight for Eli.

The trip included a touring day when all the teams got to go for a fun day out.

Eli plays baseball for the Redcliffe Padres and tried his hand at softball at Interschool Sport at Glasshouse Christian College. From this experience he gained selection into the Glasshouse District team and played at the Sunshine Coast Regional Championships. He was then selected in the Sunshine Coast team and his team placed third in the state. His ability at short stop and also in batting gained him selection into the QLD team.

Eli’s skills and game play have developed so much from the high level coaching received playing in these teams. He made some fantastic friends and enjoyed the challenge of playing tough games against quality opposition. Eli was selected in the Sunshine Coast 12 -15 years baseball team last month so is now looking forward to competing at the Regionals in his original sport baseball. He is also very excited about playing in New Zealand against New Zealand teams during the summer holidays. We look forward to following Eli on his softball and baseball journey and are sure he will continue to shine in this sport.

Wendy Stott, Primary HPE