For the last 12 years the world’s best 13 and 14-year-old softball have converged on Kirkland in August to discover just who is the best on the planet.

The Little League Junior Softball World Series was created in 1999 and has been played in Kirkland at Everest Park since its inception after John Chadwick’s bid won the vote of the Little League’s Board of Directors.

Chadwick, the tournament director, said his committee works year round on the event, which starts this year on Aug. 15. Finding the right hotels, banquet rooms and figuring out what worked and didn’t work the previous year is what it is all about, until tournament time when the teams start arriving.

Ten teams in total play for a shot at being crowned the world’s best. Nine teams from around the globe and the host team. This year’s host team is the combined all-star team from Mercer Island, Bellevue West and the Bellevue Thunderbirds, who won the state championship to become the host team. Other teams hail from Canada, the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Latin America, Asia-Pacific and the five U.S. regions.

For the last four years the Latin American team has dominated, with Puerto Rico winning in 2009 and 2007. Chadwick said that team has 10 girls from last year’s squad returning.

“The local committee suspects they will do pretty well,” he said.

Over 1,000 people are expected to attend the opening day events, and the championship, which will be broadcast live on ESPN2 for the first time this year.

“Usually it’s on ESPNU, but not very many people have that, and then delayed and rebroadcast on ESPN2 later, but this is the first year it will be live,” said Chadwick. The championship will be held on Aug. 21 at 6 p.m.

“If you like really good softball you have to come see these girls,” he said. “They bring the ball and they play hard. It’s exciting to watch.”

For many of the teams and girls it’s also a social experience, Chadwick said, as you wander through the ball park and hear various languages being spoken. Just how large a specific country and team’s contingent depends a lot on the culture of the place, the director said.

“It depends on the culture and where they are from,” he said. Often many of the more affluent places have bigger traveling groups, while others are simply represented by the team playing.

“It’s truly a World Series,” he said. “It’s not your backyard, see if you can hit it kind of game. They put everything they’ve got into this. If you have a daughter who likes softball, she has to see how hard they plan.”

The event is free and starts off with pool play from Aug. 15 through Aug. 19 and moves into the semifinals on Friday and the championship on Saturday.

The host team’s first game will be played on Sunday, Aug. 15 at 5:45 p.m. against Latin America and will play Canada on Monday, Aug. 16 at 4:45 p.m.

All games will be available via Web cast online at the tournament’s Web site, www.jrsoftballworldseries.com.