By British Baseball Federation, www.britishbaseball.org
Neither wet weather nor slippery fields could dampen the efforts of the nation’s best young players last weekend, as Great Britain Baseball held tryouts for its national youth teams.
Competing for a place in the U15 and U18 squads, on Saturday April 7th players between the ages of 13 and 18 were put through their paces at Herts Baseball Club. At Farnham Park the following day, it was the turn of the 10 to 12 year-olds to showcase their talents to GB staff, with selection to the U12 team the potential prize.
While much of British Baseball’s Opening Day succumbed to poor weather and field conditions, all GB tryouts were completed. Special thanks to Herts Baseball Club and club volunteers from Brighton, Leicester, London Mets, London Sports and the London Youth Baseball League; their efforts ensured there were no wasted trips, as players ventured to the Home Counties from across the country.
Summer schedule
Preliminary selections will now be made ahead of a busy summer for GB Baseball. The U12 National Team will lead the charge, heading to Hungary for the European Championship Qualifier. They will be followed in consecutive weeks by the U18s European Championship in Italy and the U15s European Championship Qualifier in Belgium.
To round out this year’s international calendar, the U23s will travel to Slovakia in August for another European Championship Qualifier.