The Elinor McKenzie Shield is a trophy symbolizing the Under 18 Women's Championship of

Softball Australia Australia's softball history began in 1939 when Gordon Young, Director of Physical Education in NSW, began to promote the game in schools and colleges. In 1942, during World War II, US army sergeant William Duvernet organised softball as a recr ...

History

In 1971 Victoria put forward the suggestion to the Australia Federation to stage an invitational tournament for the 18 and under age group to fill the gap between the under 16 and senior championships. The proposal was put forward as a Notice of Motion at the 1972 Assembly meeting. The first 18 and under, conducted as an equivalent event to the open and under 16 events was staged in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, in 1974. The age group of the championships officially became the under 19 in 1976. Edna Nash, the then President of the New South Wales Softball Association, traveled to Melbourne to donate the trophy in honour of Elinor McKenzie. Elinor never got to present the trophy, dying from the effects of cancer on the eve of its first presentation on 19 May 1974. These championships are a befitting tribute to a great softball player who proudly wore the green and gold of Australia. The age group was changed to Under 18 in 2020, to reflect the change made by the

World Baseball Softball Confederation World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC; french: Confédération internationale de baseball et softball) is the world governing body for the sports of baseball, softball, and Baseball5. It was established in 2013 by the merger of the Inter ...

to the Junior Women’s World Cup age group.

Elinor McKenzie

Joan Elinor McKenzie (14 September 1937 – 19 May 1974) was a captain of the Australian Women's Softball Team. Elinor had a long and proud history in

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, playing more than 25 times for Australia in an International career that spanned some 12 years. She was a member of the Australian team for the first world championship staged in Melbourne in 1965; the competition was then known as the Diamond International Trophy. According to Dr. Lynn Embrey in her account of softball history 'Batter Up!’, in the final against USA, it was Elinor who scored the vital run on a

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third str ...

from American

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Donna Lopiano Donna Lopiano (born September 11, 1946) is the President and founder of Sports Management Resources, a consulting firm that focuses on bringing the knowledge of experienced, expert former athletics directors to assist scholastic and collegiate athle ...

after hitting a double to centre field as leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth innings. Her prowess on the softball diamond was well respected throughout the world. The niece of Australian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

great

Keith Miller Keith Ross Miller (28 November 1919 – 11 October 2004) was an Australian Test cricketer and a Royal Australian Air Force pilot during World War II. Miller is widely regarded as Australia's greatest ever all-rounder. His ability, irreverent m ...

, Elinor was a well-respected first base player who not only excelled in softball but also played at representative level in both

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and cricket. Elinor was a member of the Victorian and Australian Women's Cricket Teams.Millar, p. 127 As a coach, Elinor showed her ability and the never-give-up attitude that she displayed as a player which was instilled in the young Victorian charges she led to the first under 16 championship hosted by Perth in 1970.

Previous individual award winners

*2006 **Most Valuable Player: **Pitching Award: **Batting Award:

References

Citations

Sources

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External links

Softball AustraliaHistory of basketball
Softball competitions in Australia {{Softball-competition-stub