World champions Australia's U-23 Men's Softball National Championship starts next week in Brisbane

A total of six teams will compete from 4 to 9 February for the Australia Softball U-23 Men's Softball Laing Harrow Shield National Championship, to be held at Redland Softball Association's eight-diamond complex, located in Redland, Queensland, just outside Brisbane City. 

The tournament, named after Australian legend Laing Harrow, will start with a single round robin, with six games a day during the first five competition days. The top four teams will move to the playoffs, to be played under the page system. The final is slated for Sunday 9 February, at 14:30 (local time). Full schedule and scores here.

The first Australia Softball U-23 Men’s National Championship was held in 2004 in Sydney and won by New South Wales.

The Shield is named to commemorate Harrow, who represented Australia at the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Men’s World Championships and led Australia's national teams to the Men's Softball World Title in 2022, as well as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The tournament was discontinued between 2009 and 2014, but returned to the Australian softball calendar in 2015.

Australian legends and senior world champions like Adam Folkard, Andrew Kirkpatrick, Nick Shailes, Jeff Goolagong, Marshall Kronk among others have participated in this event and received individual awards like MVP, Best Pitcher and/or Best Hitter. 

Australia is the category's reigning World Champion after winning the inaugural WBSC U-23 Men's Softball World Cup in Parana, Argentina, in 2023. Australian superstar Jack Besgrove was the MVP of the tournament.