One of Warner Robins’ biggest annual events will not be happening this year.
That’s according to a news release from Little League on Thursday afternoon in which the organization says it’s canceling its 7 World Series tournaments and regional qualifying events.
“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,” said Stephen D. Keener, Little League President and CEO. “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.”
He says they considered several factors before coming to that conclusion, which includes:
- The inability to play qualifying tournaments in many of our U.S. and International regions, coupled with direction from federal officials regarding the complexity of international travel restrictions and immigration requirements.
- An indication from teams from around the globe that they will be unable to participate or travel to these tournaments.
- The testing and mitigation protocols that would need to be in place at these significant public events should an individual participating or attending an event be diagnosed with COVID-19
As 2021 was originally supposed to be the playing of the 75th Little League Baseball World Series, that celebration will now take place in 2022.
The 2020 MLB Little League Classic presented by GEICO, originally scheduled for August 23 between the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles, has also been canceled.
Right now, it is scheduled to take place in August 2021.
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