Elinor McKenzie Shield
Champions
1974New South Wales
1975Australian Capital Territory
1976Queensland
1977Australian Capital Territory
1978New South Wales
1979Victoria
1980Queensland
1981New South Wales
1982Queensland
1983Queensland
1984South Australia
1985Victoria
1986New South Wales
1987New South Wales
1988New South Wales
1989Queensland
1990Queensland
1991New South Wales
1992New South Wales
1993Queensland
1994Victoria
1995New South Wales
1996New South Wales
1997Queensland
1998New South Wales
1999New South Wales
2000Queensland
2001New South Wales
2002Queensland
2003New South Wales
2004New South Wales
2005Victoria
2006South Australia
2007New South Wales
2008New South Wales
2009New South Wales
2010New South Wales
2011New South Wales
2012New South Wales
2013New South Wales
2014Queensland
2015South Australia
2016New South Wales
2017New South Wales
2018Queensland
2019New South Wales
2020New South Wales
2021Not played (Covid-19)
2022Queensland
2023New 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.[1]

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.[2]

Elinor McKenzie

Joan Elinor McKenzie (14 September 1937 – 19 May 1974) was a captain of the Australian Women's Softball Team.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5][6] Elinor was a member of the Victorian and Australian Women's Cricket Teams.[7]

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:

See also

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Perry, p. 450.
  2. ↑ "U18 Women - Elinor McKenzie Shield". Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  3. ↑ Millar, pp. 122,125
  4. ↑ Embrey, ch. 3.
  5. ↑ Perry, p. 449.
  6. ↑ Sun-herald 24Jan1954, p. 47
  7. ↑ 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.


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