The Middle East–Africa Region was one of the eight "international" (non-

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) regions that participated in the

Little League World Series The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the Wor ...

from

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

to . The Arabian-American Little League in

Dhahran Dhahran ( ar, الظهران, ''Al-Dhahran'') is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 240,742 as of 2021, it is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby cit ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

won each of the three MEA championships until 2011 when the Reverend John Foundation Little League from

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

won the tournament, however the team from Uganda was not able to participate after their visa applications to enter the United States were denied, and Dhahran was invited to participate in their place. In 2012, a team from

Lugazi Lugazi is a town in the Buikwe District of the Central Region, Uganda, Central Region of Uganda. The town is also called "Kawolo", and the two names are interchangeably used by the local inhabitants. Location The town is on the Kampala-Jinja Hig ...

, won the tournament. Prior to 2008, Middle Eastern and African teams competed in either the Europe/Middle East/Africa region (EMEA) or the

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region. The Transatlantic and EMEA regions were geographically identical. Leagues from the Transatlantic region generally consisted of children and other dependents of American expatriates, typically Armed Forces personnel, international organization members, and oil company workers (such as the team representing the Saudi Aramco Residential Camp in Dhahran). The leagues within the EMEA region consisted of players native to the league's own country. In practice, however, only European teams competed in the EMEA region, as no teams from the Middle East or Africa ever competed for the regional championship. The region was disbanded following the 2012 LLWS due to a major reorganization triggered by Little League's announcement that

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would receive an automatic berth beginning with the 2013 LLWS. As a result of this announcement: * African countries will now be placed in the Europe Region, which will be renamed the Europe and Africa Region. * Middle Eastern countries will become part of the former Asia-Pacific Region, which will be renamed the Asia–Pacific and Middle East Region.

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

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, traditionally considered part of the Middle East, were not part of the MEA Region; they were in the former Europe Region because of their membership in the European zone of the

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. Those two countries will remain in the renamed Europe and Africa Region.

Regional championship

The list below lists each country's participant in the MEA Little League Region Tournament. That year's winner is indicated in green.

LLWS results

''As of the 2012 Little League World Series.''

Notes

, won the regional championship in 2012 and became the first African team to compete in the Little League World Series. Not all the players were able to make the trip, due to costs. Traditionally, the team practices barefoot, but Little League World Series supporters provided the team with baseball cleats. Justine Makisimu had the first African base hit. As popular as this team became, they were not one of the top contenders in the Little League World Series. Uganda lost to Panama 9–3, and Mexico 12–0, eliminating them in two games. However, they beat Oregon, 3–2, in a consolation game.

References

External links

EMEA Homepage
{{LLWS Middle East-Africa