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espite limited funding and prep time, Indonesia’s national U12 squad left on Wednesday for the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA)’s Single A Championship in Kurashiki, Japan.    

Indonesian Baseball and Softball Association (PERBASASI) chairman Gugun Yudinar said that the parents of the team members contributed the most for the team’s participation at the championship.

“Due to limited funding, our association could only support a tiny portion of the team’s expenses. Their departure was possible mostly due to parents’ financial support,” Gugun said.  

In the biennial championships two years ago in Hong Kong, Indonesian youngsters ranked fifth, trailing fourth-ranked China. Japan, Taiwan and South Korea dominated the top three.

“Fifth place also meant that our U12 squad was number one among other Southeast Asian squads. Thus, we are targeting to do better this year by reaching fourth place,” national U12 squad manager Arief Hardono said.      

The 10- to 12-year-old youngsters were selected by PERBASASI from baseball clubs in Jakarta, Banten, Bandung, and Surabaya. After selection, the athletes had three months of intensive training.    

Arief said that Indonesia would face hefty challenges from the Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese squads in advancing to its goal. “Baseball has become a way of life and is taught in elementary schools in those countries,” Arief said.  

The national baseball team, on a streak, extended its satisfactory performance at the Double A division or the age group of 13-15 by placing fourth at the BFA’s Double A Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, this April.

The achievement went no further since Indonesia had no players in the higher Triple A division or the 16-18 age group.

“Sadly, we are still facing the classical problem within that age group, when most players have to choose between continuing to play or higher education,” Arief said.

It has been a murky year for the national senior baseball squad, as it failed to qualify for the Asian Games in Guangzhou. They finished out of the top six at last year’s main division of Asian Championships in Sapporo, Japan, despite being champions in the lower-level division I.