Catcher and second base player Alana Tracey, 14, catcher and outfield player Ineke Keed, 13, and pitcher and first base player Montana Griffith, 13, will be competing for Country NSW in the championship that has attracted teams from several states.

It will be Alana’s second consecutive year at the championships but it’s a whole new ball game for Ineke and Montana.

Orange District Softball Association secretary Lisa Tracey said being selected in the team was a great achievement for the Orange girls who will make up nearly a quarter of the 13-member squad.

She said players from Newcastle, Central Coast and Wagga Wagga made up the rest of the team.

“We have a small association but we are strong and very active in the NSW softball association,” she said.

“They fly out on Friday morning. Their first game is on Saturday. They generally play two, sometimes three games per day. They fly back the following Saturday.”

NSW Country came seventh out of 10 teams in the same championships last year.

Tracey said competing in the event was valuable experience for the girls.

“It’s a completely different level of competition that they are bringing back to the local association,” she said.

“They make a lot of friends there as well. They know people from all of the states through softball.”

But getting picked to play is only half the battle for the players and their families.

Parent Darren Keed said it cost about $3000 per player which the families and the local association had to find.

That covers the girls’ airfares, food, accommodation and uniforms for the tournament.

Keed said funding assistance for the trip had been gained through the Charles Sturt University community grants scheme, the Orange softball association plus the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service.

The ODSA is currently in the middle of its 2018-2019 season.

Tracey said there were 307 members of all ages playing softball in Orange.

“They start from five at tee ball and it goes up to opens,” she said.

The adult teams have players up to about 60 years old.

The ODSA received a boost last year when funding was announced for a new amenities block near the softball diamonds at Sir Jack Brabham Park.

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“Soon we will get our toilet block. I believe it is supposed to be going out to tender,” she said.

A $550,000 state government grant for the facilities was announced in September as part of the Stronger Country Communities Fund.