Elinor McKenzie Shield - Misplaced Pages

Australian U18 softball championship

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Elinor McKenzie Shield

Champions
1974	New South Wales
1975	Australian Capital Territory
1976	Queensland
1977	Australian Capital Territory
1978	New South Wales
1979	Victoria
1980	Queensland
1981	New South Wales
1982	Queensland
1983	Queensland
1984	South Australia
1985	Victoria
1986	New South Wales
1987	New South Wales
1988	New South Wales
1989	Queensland
1990	Queensland
1991	New South Wales
1992	New South Wales
1993	Queensland
1994	Victoria
1995	New South Wales
1996	New South Wales
1997	Queensland
1998	New South Wales
1999	New South Wales
2000	Queensland
2001	New South Wales
2002	Queensland
2003	New South Wales
2004	New South Wales
2005	Victoria
2006	South Australia
2007	New South Wales
2008	New South Wales
2009	New South Wales
2010	New South Wales
2011	New South Wales
2012	New South Wales
2013	New South Wales
2014	Queensland
2015	South Australia
2016	New South Wales
2017	New South Wales
2018	Queensland
2019	New South Wales
2020	New South Wales
2021	Not played (Covid-19)
2022	Queensland
2023	New South Wales

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

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, 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 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, 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 from American pitcher Donna Lopiano 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 great Keith Miller, Elinor was a well-respected first base player who not only excelled in softball but also played at representative level in both basketball and cricket. Elinor was a member of the Victorian and Australian Women's Cricket Teams.

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

Perry, p. 450.
"U18 Women - Elinor McKenzie Shield". Retrieved 25 February 2022.
Millar, pp. 122,125
Embrey, ch. 3.
Perry, p. 449.
Sun-herald 24Jan1954, p. 47
Millar, p. 127

Sources

"U18 Girls - Elinor McKenzie Shield Winners". Elinor McKenzie Shield Australian U18 Women’s Championship. Softball Australia. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
Embrey, Lynn (1995). Batter up! : the history of softball in Australia. Bayswater, Vic.: Australian Softball Federation. ISBN 0646264850.
Perry, Roland (2006). Miller's Luck: the life and loves of Keith Miller, Australia's greatest all-rounder. Sydney: Random House. ISBN 978-1-74166-222-1.
Millar, Alexander Crosbie (2009). The Tale of Two Millers (2nd ed.). Canterbury, Vic. ISBN 9780646514048.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
"Women's Cricket Teams Selected". The Sun-Herald. New South Wales, Australia. 24 January 1954. p. 47. Retrieved 3 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.

External links

v t e Softball Australia
State associations	Australian Capital Territory New South Wales Northern Territory Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia
National Champs	Under 16 Girl's Under 16 Boy's Under 19 Women's Under 19 Men's Under 23 Women's Under 23 Men's Open Women's Open Men's
Softball by state	Softball in the Australian Capital Territory Softball in New South Wales Softball in the Northern Territory Softball in Queensland Softball in South Australia Softball in Tasmania Softball in Victoria
National teams	Australia women's national softball team Australia men's national softball team Australia women's junior national softball team Australia men's junior national softball team

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