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Junior Black Sox assistant coach Jarrad Martin says a senior European Cup tournament in Prague will test the national under-19 boys' softball squad.
A New Zealand men's softball team will be playing in Europe for the first time next week.
The Junior Black Sox national under-19 squad will take part in the European Men's Super Cup tournament in Prague in the Czech Republic, from Tuesday.
They will be up against top European club teams and could face star Black Sox slugger Brad Rona, who is guesting for the Stenlose Bulls team from Denmark.
Rona will, potentially, be playing against his son, Kaleb, who is in the 18-man Junior Black Sox touring party.
Junior Black Sox assistant coach Jarrad Martin believes the Prague tournament will be tough for the team, but is a necessary learning experience. "There will be lots of international players that have recently been playing in the ISF world champs and the ISC [International Softball Congress tournament in Indiana], but it will be good character building for the boys.
"This will provide us the opportunity to find our leaders and leadership groups within the team. We want to give these players as much opportunity as possible to enable them to be considered for selection."
Martin and head coach Thomas Makea will also select team for an under-23 tournament being held by the Auckland Ramblers club in late September.Â
The final team for the 2016 under-19 world championships will be named at the end of the U19 National tournament in January.
The Junior Black Sox squad is: Seth Bourgeois, Jarome McKenzie, Joseph Kohlhase, Marshall Layt-Maynard (Auckland), Bailey Hamilton, Jackson Watt, Callum Bishop (Canterbury), Joshua Merritt, Dante Matakatea, Reilly Makea, Alex Lundon, Jayden Stratford (Wellington), Phillip Manning, Kaleb Rona (North Harbour), Mardi McBride (Nelson), Callum Lewis-Carson (Hawke's Bay), Murphy Albright, Jason Tanirau (Hutt Valley).
 - Stuff
