The International Baseball League of Australia was a baseball league which existed from 1999 to 2002. The league was created by David Nilsson after he purchased the rights to the

Australian Baseball League The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it ...

in 1999 when it was near financial collapse. The International Baseball League lasted for 3 seasons before Nilsson handed the rights back over to the

Australian Baseball Federation Baseball Australia, formerly the Australian Baseball Federation is the national governing body of Baseball in Australia and owns the Australian Baseball League. Baseball is played in all the mainland states and territories, but it struggles ...

in 2002. Following the collapse there was no professional baseball league until it was announced in 2009 the formation of the new

starting in 2010. The idea behind the International Baseball League of Australia was to be a winter league from November to January as a means to help gain off-season competition for players centered in Asia and the United States."Grand vision on field of dreams – Nilsson’s baseball league in limbo". The Sunday Telegraph (Australia). 17 December 2000. Retrieved 16 November 2009.

Formation

*In January 1999 the Australian Baseball Federation announced the agreement to sell the league's license and rights to Nilcorp (David Nilsson's company). *On 14 February 1999 the Sydney Storm lost the last game of the

against the Gold Coast Cougars in the second of the championship series held at Homebush. *In April 1999 Nilcorp officially signed the license of agreement to run a national baseball league in Australia for the next 100 years. *In December 1999 Nilcorp began the

Claxton Shield The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the summer of 1989–90 until 2001–02, and again since 2010� ...

competition with teams from WA, SA, NSW, Queensland and Victoria. *In November 2000 the International Baseball League of Australia was formed on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

with four teams-the MLB Stars (a team that was made up of USA minor league players), an International team (players from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

, United States, Australia, and Japan),

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, and Australia.

Collapse

*On 5 December 2000 the

was canceled because due to the poor conditions at the Blacktown Olympic complex. Because of the short notice the International Baseball League was unable to find a replacement venue on such short notice. *In January 2001 the International Baseball League All-Star game gets canceled. *In September 2001 the International Baseball League is canceled because of "destabilizing" impact that terrorist attacks on America. *In April 2002 the International Baseball League in Australia collapses and is no more."RISE AND FALL OF THE NILSSON LEAGUE".The Advertiser (Adelaide). 2002-5-1. Retrieved 16 November 2009.

Teams

* Australia Provincial 2002 *

IBLA Australia Ragusa (; scn, Rausa ; la, Ragusia) is a city and '' comune'' in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Ragusa, on the island of Sicily, with 73,288 inhabitants in 2016. It is built on a wide limestone hill between two deep va ...

2001 * IBLA Internationals 2001 * MLB All-Stars 2001 * New South Wales Country 2000 *

New South Wales Patriots New South Wales Patriots compete in the Claxton Shield baseball championship in Australia. The Patriots were one of the founding teams of the Claxton Shield in 1934 and competed as New South Wales until 1988 when the Claxtion Shield was awarde ...

2000, 2002 * Queensland Rams 2000, 2002 * South Australia Bite 2000, 2002 * Taiwan national team 2001 *

Victoria Aces The Victoria Aces are an Australian baseball team who compete in the Claxton Shield Baseball Championship. One of the founding teams of the Claxton Shield in 1934, they competed until 1988. Thereafter the Claxton Shield was awarded to the winn ...

2000, 2002 * Western Heelers 2000, 2002

Seasons

1999-2000

The 1999–2000 season was conducted as a National League with a team based in each of the major Australian mainland cities and a second team based in Country New South Wales. The development league and All-Star game were not held in this season. The Western Heelers defeated the Queensland Rams 2 games to 1 in the Championship series held at Palm Meadows. The ''IBLA Most Valuable Player Award'' for this season was awarded to Chris Snelling, playing for Country NSW.

2000-01

The 2000–01 season saw the National League and All-Star game canceled with the Development League being held on the

at Palm Meadows, The development league was held between 4 teams; IBLA Internationals, IBLA Australia, MLB All-Stars and the Taiwan National Team. The development league was won by IBLA Internationals who defeated IBLA Australia 2–1 in the Championship game.

2001-02

2002 was the final season of the IBLA, The league reverted to the traditional

format and held at a single venue, the

Melbourne Ballpark The Melbourne Ballpark is a baseball park in Laverton, Victoria. It was opened in January 1990, at a cost of 3.9m, 2m was contributed by the State Government of Victoria and the remaining 1.8m contributed by the Australian Federal Government an ...

. It was competed between all the major mainland states of Australia and a new Australian Provincial team. The 2002 league featured no Development League and no All-Star game. The

defeated Western Heelers in the Championship Game 6–5.

References

{{Professional Baseball Defunct baseball leagues in Australia Sports leagues established in 1999 Sports leagues disestablished in 2002 1999 establishments in Australia 2002 disestablishments in Australia