Aug 3, 2016 3 min read

The Pony League World Series that opens Friday at Lew Hays Field in Washington Park has always been a truly international championship event, unlike Major League Baseball’s World Series, in which only teams from the United States and Canada can compete.

In Friday’s 5:30 p.m. series opener, for example, Peters Township faces a team from Simaloa, Mexico. The Washington County host team, made up of boys from Washington and Canonsburg, will play Paterborn, Germany, Saturday afternoon. The team from Taiwan will play that evening.

The effort and expense to bring these 13- and 14-year-old players to Washington for the series is extraordinary, and those who make it possible – from the officials and volunteers of PONY Inc. to the parents, friends and supporters of the young athletes – do not receive the recognition and appreciation they so much deserve.

The difficulties foreign teams encounter traveling to Western Pennsylvania are illustrated by the withdrawal from the series Tuesday by the team from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Those boys won their Caribbean Zone championship in early July but were forced to pull out after half of them could not obtain visas to enter the United States.

It has never been easy for people from many foreign countries to gain entry to this country, and in recent years, under the threat of terrorism, the State Department tightened its rules on acquiring visas.

It is not unusual for foreigners to wait months for an appointment to apply for a visa, and being granted one is anything but assured.

“We worked with the U.S. Embassy, the people in the Dominican Republic, even some major league teams to try to get this done,” said Abe Key president of PONY Baseball Inc. “We talked to the Houston Astros, who were willing to give us some of their appointments for visas, but we just weren’t able to get it done in time.”

Pony League officials contacted runners-up from other zone championships within the United States, but the short notice made it impossible for them to make travel arrangements. Peters Township, of course, will have no trouble driving a few miles down Route 19 to Washington, and so they are replacing the team from Santo Domingo.

Although the lack of a participant from the Caribbean Zone is a cloud over this year’s series, there is a silver lining to it. Peters Township’s presence will attract the attention of more people in northern Washington County and the Pittsburgh area to the series.

It’s long been a local complaint that Pittsburgh media pay much more attention to the Little League World Series 200 miles away in Williamsport than to the Pony series in their own backyard. A little more local interest might change that.

Pony League Baseball was started here in Washington in 1952, and this will be the 53rd time the city has hosted the championship event. Even though the series is ingrained in local culture, we came close to losing it a few years ago because of poor attendance at some of the games and a lack of local support.

Interest in the series has since been renewed, and we hope it grows.

The series is a wonderful opportunity for people from around the nation and the world to meet us and learn what life is like here.

Let us all welcome the players, parents, coaches and friends who have traveled from afar to be here, and let’s make their stay here a truly rewarding experience.