A pair of young Launceston softballers have earned a Victorian opportunity at the under-14 national championships.
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Riff Kemp, 13, and Kaeden Marshall, 10, will represent our mainland neighbours in the championships during April in the ACT.
With the Victorian side being short of players, coach Belinda Ainslie put the feelers out and the Northern Tasmanian Softball Association answered, putting the boys forward.
From there, unbeknownst to mothers Kaylene Kemp and Tammy Marshall, the association began sending playing videos of their sons to Ainslie.
So when she visited Launceston earlier this month for the Masters carnival, she put the boys through their paces.
"When she got here, Riff was umpiring, so she watched him umpire, worked out his character a little bit and whether he was coachable," Kemp said.
Marshall added: "She did a little bit of a hit, had a bit of a chat about coachability, personality, skills."
Before 2020, the under-14 championships were originally an under-15 regional competition, making April's event only the second time the national carnival has been held.
Tasmania didn't have a team in 2020, but were set to compete at the Waverley Easter Carnival, which is a competition in regional Victoria that's more suited to the state's standard, before this year's national event overruled it.
Kemp remains hopeful that the state can keep the pre-prepared side together for next year, while still adding more.
"I've been here for 21 years and there's been a few kids that have gone over and supported other states but there hasn't been a Tassie state team [for a while]," she said.
"Kaeden's played in WA and that's a whole different ball-game as well, whereas Riff's opportunity is now but he's got older siblings who have been over."
One of his older brothers was a call-up from the Launceston Masters event, just like Riff, making the opportunity even more special.
Both Kaeden and Riff have grown up in softball families with siblings and parents having played the sport, with their mothers grateful for the NTSA's assistance.
"Putting the boys' names forward was an amazing opportunity for them and while we've been notified by Victoria that they may not get as much game-time as the Victorian players, the experience they come away with is worth every second," Marshall said.
Strong performances in the national carnivals could see the duo invited to Softball Australia camps and play against other countries in the Oceania region.
If that's not the case, they could stay around the Victorian program for the next few years.