COLLEGE TOWN, FL (WTXL) — A Tallahassee Little League team is making history. The Chaires 12U All-Stars are the first from the city to represent Florida at the Southeast Regional Tournament.
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The Chaires Little League 12U All-Stars are making history as the first team from Tallahassee to represent Florida at the Little League Southeast Regional Tournament in Warner Robins, Georgia.
The team earned their spot through months of practices, tournaments, and championship wins — and now they have a shot at reaching the Little League World Series in Williamsport.
"It's really exciting; we've been putting in a lot of work, having a bunch of practices," Jordan Murray, a Chaires 12U All-Star, said.
For the players, the moment is one they have long imagined.
"I've dreamt of this moment for such a long time, and it's so cool to experience it with all my buddies, as Coach Matt said we've been playing with all of them so you're very little. Just a great experience to go out there and play with your best friends," Everett Fiore, a Chaires 12U All-Star, said.
The camaraderie on this team runs deep. Several players have been competing together for at least five years.
"Not only do we get to represent Tallahassee. It's just hanging out with the boys cause like I said, we've been friends. We've been playing with each other for at least five years," Kenny Chen, a Chaires 12U All-Star, said.
"This is really amazing. It's gonna be really cool to be on ESPN and just playing with all my friends; it's really cool," Hayden Butler, a Chaires 12U All-Star, said.
The Southeast Regional brings together the best Little League teams from across the Southeast. A win there sends the team to the Little League World Series in Williamsport.
As the team prepares to leave next week, they are asking the Tallahassee community to help support travel costs, including hotel rooms, food, and transportation.
Coach Matt Prowant said the support from the community has already made an impact on the players.
"There's a lot of financial ask, you know ,of families and stuff like that with hotel rooms and travel and food but just the support that's been there the whole time from the community it's really felt, the money is nice and it helps things out but once again we feel it all angles from just a social media post to the videos to the text messages and phone calls we get so the boys feel it really helps them out and drives them even more," Prowant said.
Prowant said the bond between these players is what has driven their success.
"That's the cool part about this group: the camaraderie that they have is boys to play together since T-ball for the most part, so their camaraderie is there, and that's pretty much been the cornerstone of success, as the trust they have in each other," Prowant said.
The team leaves for Georgia next week.
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