2020 Little League World Series Canceled amid Coronavirus Pandemic

August's Little League World Series was officially canceled Thursday, the first time the event won't be held since its inception in 1947.

The organization explained its reasoning:

"After a thorough assessment of the impact the devastating COVID-19 pandemic has had on 6,500 community-based Little League programs in 84 countries and based upon the direction of governmental and public health authorities, and in consultation with medical professionals and our Board of Directors, Little League International has made the difficult and disappointing decision to cancel its seven World Series tournaments and their respective regional qualifying events."

Little League President and CEO Stephen D. Keener stated in an accompanying video that this result was "inevitable" as it would be "impossible" and "irresponsible" to move forward with the event. 

The LLWS was scheduled for Aug. 20-30 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, but there were hints in the spring that the event could be canceled, with sporting leagues in the United States and around the world going into hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keener said in April that the primary focus for the organization, once it had the go-ahead to play, would be to get children around the country playing ball before they worried about the LLWS.

"Our highest priority is that when we get the green light to go ahead, to get all those kids back out and playing and try to salvage whatever we can of a season for them," he said, per Kevin Kernan of the New York Post. "If that allows us—it's a big if—but if we are able to do that, it also allows us to have some semblance of a tournament season, then we'll consider it."

The cancellation doesn't come as a major surprise after Euro 2020 soccer tournament and the Tokyo Olympics, also scheduled for this summer, were postponed for a year. The NCAA men's and women's college basketball tournaments were also canceled in March.

The issue for many of those events was the inability for athletes to train or play ahead of time, with social distancing guidelines in place around the United States. And the fear of lifting those guidelines too early is the threat of a second wave of the coronavirus affecting the country at large.

Those worries were only compounded with the welfare of children for Little League to consider. Ultimately, it simply was deemed infeasible to hold this year's event.