Europe first participated in the Little League World Series in 1960. Teams from Europe were given a berth in the LLWS each year between 1960 and 2000 (with the exception of the temporary ban of international teams in 1975). In 2001, the region was split into two co-terminus regions: Europe (later EMEA) Region and Transatlantic Region. The Europe Region comprised mostly native European teams while the Transatlantic Region comprised mostly American expatriates. This distinction was eliminated in 2008; from 2008 to 2012, teams made up of either native Europeans or American expatriates were eligible to qualify from the Europe Region.
Contents
- EuropeEurope Middle East Africa Region 20012007
- Transatlantic Region 20012007
- Regional championship
- Europe Region 20082012
- Europe and Africa Region 2013
- By country
- References
Starting with the 2013 LLWS, the region was renamed the Europe and Africa Region. African countries were added as a result of a major reorganization of the international (non–U.S.) regions. This move was triggered by Little League's announcement that Australia would receive its own LLWS berth starting in 2013. Two Middle Eastern countries, Israel and Turkey, have been part of European regions since they instituted Little League programs, as they are members of the European zone of the International Baseball Federation; they remained in the renamed Europe and Africa Region.
No team from the European region has ever reached the final of the Little League World Series. The best finishes for a European team occurred in 1979, 1993 and 1994, when European teams reached the semifinals. Aviano, Italy, made it that far — in the 8-team format — in 1979. Kaiserslautern, Germany and Dhahran, Saudi Arabia made the International final in back-to-back years in 1993 and 1994.
Europe/Europe, Middle East & Africa Region (2001–2007)
In 2001, with the LLWS expanding to sixteen teams, the European region split into two co-terminous regions. The Europe region consisted of teams that were primarily made up of players native to each country; no team could have more than three players from the United States, Canada, or Japan. The Europe region was named the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region between 2004 and 2007; however, no Middle Eastern or African team participated in qualifiers for the EMEA Series berth (although Kenya sent a team to the European qualifier in 2001 and South Africa did the same in 2003). In 2008, Little League removed the native players rule and split the EMEA and Transatlantic region into the Europe and Middle East-Africa regions. The following teams represented the European region after 2000:
Transatlantic Region (2001–2007)
The Transatlantic region encompassed the same territory as the Europe/EMEA region, but consisted of teams that were made up of at least 51% American, Canadian, or Japanese citizens.
Regional championship
Below are the champions of the Transatlantic region, along with participants for each year. The year's winner is indicated in green.
Europe Region (2008–2012)
From 2008 to 2012, Europe had its own region.
Europe and Africa Region (2013–)
As noted above, the Europe Region was expanded to include Africa in 2013. Results are as of the 2016 Little League World Series.
By country
Table includes results from Europe, EMEA, Transatlantic and Europe and Africa regions through the 2015 Little League World Series. Italics indicates team is no longer a part of European region.