Middle East-Africa Region (Little League World Series)

The Middle East-Africa Region (MEA) is a region that competes in the Little League World Series. The MEA region was first given an automatic berth in 2008. The Arabian-American Little League in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia won each of the three MEA championships until 2011 when the Reverend John Foundation Little League from Kampala, Uganda won the tournament, however the team from Uganda was not able to participate after their visa applications to enter the United States were denied,^[1] and Dhahran was invited to participate in their place.^[2]

Prior to 2008, Middle Eastern and African teams competed in either the Europe/Middle East/Africa region (EMEA) or the Transatlantic region. The Transatlantic and EMEA regions were geographically identical. Leagues from the Transatlantic region generally consisted of children and other dependents of American expatriates, typically Armed Forces personnel, international organization members, and oil company workers (such as the team representing the Saudi Aramco Residential Camp in Dhahran). The leagues within the EMEA region consisted of players native to the league's own country. In practice, however, only European teams competed in the EMEA region, as no teams from the Middle East or Africa ever competed for the regional championship.

Regional championship

The list below lists each country's participant in the MEA Little League Region Tournament. That year's winner is indicated in green.

Year	Saudi Arabia	Uganda	United Arab Emirates	Kuwait	South Africa
2008	Arabian American LL Dhahran	Rev. John Foundation LL Kampala	Dubai LL Dubai	Kuwait LL Kuwait	No Representative
2009	Arabian American LL Dhahran	No Representative	Dubai LL Dubai	Kuwait LL Kuwait	No Representative
2010	Arabian American LL Dhahran	Rev. John Foundation LL Kampala	Dubai LL Dubai	Kuwait LL Kuwait	Cape Town LL Cape Town
2011	Arabian American LL Dhahran	Rev. John Foundation LL Kampala[a]	Dubai LL Dubai	Kuwait LL Kuwait	Kwa Zulu Natal BB Association LL Durban

LLWS Results

Year	Champion	City	LLWS	Record
2008	Arabian American LL	Dhahran	First Round	0–3
2009	Arabian American LL	Dhahran	First Round	1–2
2010	Arabian American LL	Dhahran	Pool C Fourth Place	0–3
2011	Arabian American LL[a]	Dhahran	Round 2	1–2

Notes

• ^a Kampala, Uganda won the regional championship in 2011, but did not participate in the Little League World Series when their visas to enter the United States were denied. Dhahran, Saudi Arabia was invited to participate in their place.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Communications Division (July 22, 2011). "Visa Applications Denied for Little League Team from Uganda". Little League. http://www.littleleague.org/Page58513.aspx. Retrieved July 30, 2011. 
2. ^ Communications Division. "Arabian-American Little League of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, to Receive Berth in Little League Baseball World Series". Little League. http://www.littleleague.org/media/newsarchive/2011/May-Aug/ArabianAmericanLLFromSaudiArabiaReceivesBerthLLBWS11.htm. Retrieved August 2, 2011. 

External Links

EMEA Homepage