The Canberra Cavalry is set to join the capital's women's sport boom after being granted one of four provisional licences for a new national baseball competition.
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Baseball Australia has selected the Cavalry, the Adelaide Giants, Baseball Victoria and the Brisbane Bandits as the four teams to compete in the inaugural women's competition from 2021.
Cavalry director Dan Amodio is excited for the future of women's baseball and expects the Canberra fan base to grow after the announcement.
"There is a lot of amazing baseball players in Canberra and it's really exciting for them to be able to show off their skills on a national stage," Amodio said.
"To have a really high profile national league signals to people outside the baseball community that this sport is not just for men.
"There is a handful of long time Cavalry members that have been encouraging us to be involved for years... the love for women's sport in Canberra is humongous and this will put the Cavalry in the same conversation."
The clubs will play exhibition games and trial rules over the next year before the competition is officially launched.
The good news for the Cavalry comes a day after the launch of the women's summer of sport, with the Canberra Capitals, Canberra United, ACT Meteors and Canberra Chill joining forces.
Amodio plans to work in collaboration with other Canberra women's sides in the hopes of broadening and strengthening the relationships between the franchises.
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"We already have great relationships with the other Canberra teams and we plan on only reinforcing them," Amodio said.
"You look at what the Capitals have done, they're one of the leaders in the entire country in women's sport."
"They have done such a great job for Canberra and we have every interest in not only partnering up with them but also learning from them on how to both promote and run women's sport."
The timing of a women's baseball season is still to be determined, with Baseball Australia likely to unveil more details after the national championships in Canberra from April 10-17.
"There has been an outpouring of support from the baseball community and for that we're extremely grateful," said Baseball Australia boss Cam Vale said.
"Behind the scenes we've been able to use this support to push our case with sponsors, government agencies and broadcasters, not to mention teams, to ensure we're launching a viable and sustainable league."
The Canberra women's competition was cancelled last year due to a lack of players and teams, forcing females to play in mixed teams in the men's division.
The competition has been revitalised for this year, giving the Cavalry a perfect boost for its Baseball Australia submission.
Baseball Australia says the name of the competition will be determined by fans, with Auckland, Geelong-Korea, Perth and Sydney interested in future expansion.
"Next April's Australian women's championships in Canberra loom as the most important in recent history," Vale said.
"Players will have the opportunity not only to push for selection on the Australian Emeralds' World Cup roster but of one of the four women's league teams.
"It's a very exciting time for women's baseball in our country."
Women in the new competition will be paid and there will be a minimum wage and the season will be run either before or after the men's ABL.
Officials decided to delay the start of the competition until 2021 to give teams time to build financial support.
