Our Aussie (Austin Gooden) has been selected in the Under 23 Australian World Cup Men’s Team to play in Colombia this year.

Unlike many national teams, this team receives no government funding, meaning the cost of being able to take part in this once in a lifetime opportunity comes at a significant expense to Aussie and his Mum.

In addition to the other team members in the lead up to the World Cup, Aussie will have to travel weekly to Sydney and Brisbane from Wagga for training, which there is no funding for him so as you can imagine adds up in travel costs and relying on the wonderful Softball community to accommodate him.

Following Colombia, Aussie will live and play in British Columbia, Canada for 3 months. He also has 3 colleges currently wanting him to stay in America following this as a student manager, to play and study.

At the young age of 18, Aussie has shown his determination and dedication to the sport since he started playing softball at 8 years old. He has always had a passion for the sport and a natural progression into softball was something that was always going to happen. He has shown his skills on a national level and now is his time to showcase his skills internationally. Anyone who knows Aussie knows how hard he has worked on and off the field for this chance.

We are very proud of him and are asking for any donations to help him get to live his dream. Any amount is greatly appreciated and if you cannot afford to donate, please share it with your network so we can reach as many people as possible and get Austin where he needs to be.

Thanks so much