by British Softball Federation, www.britishsoftball.org
Coaches for the GB Under-22 and GB Under-19 Women’s Teams have announced the players selected to compete this summer at the Canada Cup in Surrey, British Columbia.
Neither team has an official European or WBSC competition this year, but playing in one of the world’s most prestigious invitational tournaments will give the athletes from both teams a chance to compete for GB in 2019 against high-level opposition.
The GB Under-22 Team will compete in the Canada Cup International Division from 8-14 July against the Canadian Senior and Junior National Teams and national teams from Chinese Taipei, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea as well as American All-Star teams.
The GB Under-19s, in a transition year during which the programme will move to an Under-18 configuration, will play in the Canada Cup Futures Gold Division, also from 8-14 July, against top Canadian and American travel ball teams.
GB Under-22s
The final roster of 15 GB Under-22 athletes was selected from a ‘long list’ of 22 players that was announced on International Women’s Day on 8 March. Between then and now, video evidence was provided regarding each athlete’s training programme, and this played a key role in decisions made when the Selection Panel convened in late April to choose the final roster.
The mission of the GB Under-22 Women’s Team, which was founded and played in its first European Championship in 2018, is to help players bridge the gap between junior and senior levels of play.
Because of the high-calibre opposition the team will face in Canada, five of the players selected to the GB Under-22 squad have also been selected for the Senior’s Women Team that will compete in European Women’s Championships from 30 June- 6 July in the Czech Republic and Poland.
These five athletes – pitchers Beth Fleming and Amie Hutchison, outfielders Aubrey Peterson and Alana Snow, and infielder Katie Burge – will fly direct to Vancouver when the Women’s Europeans have ended, and will then return to Europe later in July for the Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifying Tournament if the GB Senior Team has managed to finish in the top six at the Europeans and secure a place.
The GB Under-22 roster is as follows (those marked with asterisks are returning players from the 2018 Under-22 squad):
- Katie Burge*
- Madison Chappell
- Kimberly Crowson
- Beth Fleming
- Alexandra Grein
- Laura Hirai
- Amie Hutchison*
- Andrea Johnson*
- Lauren King*
- Mary Murray
- Megan Parno*
- Aubrey Peterson
- Sydney Robson*
- Morgan Salmon
- Alana Snow*
GB Under-22 Women’s Team Head Coach Johanna Malisani said, “The GB Under-22 staff is excited to work with this group of talented athletes, and we are looking forward to taking the field at the Canada Cup.”
The GB Under-22 staff for the Canada Cup will be:
Head Coach: Jo Malisani
Assistant Coach: Gina Carbonatto
Pitching Coach: Windy Thees
Team Manager: Whitney Hollis
Physiotherapist: Edwin Lam
GB Under-19s
The GB Under-19 programme, as noted above, will become an Under-18 programme over the course of the next year, because World and European age groups are changing and the next European Championship at this level will be for Under-18 Women in 2021.
But at the Canada Cup, the Futures Gold is an Under-19 competition, and so the team selected from a ‘long list’ of 21 players announced in early April, again following the presentation of video evidence over the past few weeks, includes players ranging in age from 15 to 19.
One player on the team – pitcher Hannah Edwards – has also been selected to play for the GB Senior Women’s Team in the European Championship and will fly to Canada as soon as that tournament is over to compete for the Under-19s.
Six of the 16 players on the GB Under-19 roster have also been selected for the GB Under-16 Women’s Team that will be competing in the Canada Cup Showcase Select Tournament and then in the European Under-16 Championship later in the summer in Croatia.
Because the Showcase Select Tournament will be played on 5-8 July, those six players – Ivy Clark, Imogen Gie, Lana Holden, Carys Lynch, Sidney Rose and Claire Xavier – will move across from the GB Under-16s to the Under-19s as soon as the Showcase tournament ends.
The GB Under-19 Women’s Team players in Canada (those marked with asterisks are returning players from the 2018 Under-19 squad) will be:
- Ivy Clark
- Elise Coulthard
- Hannah Edwards*
- Caitlin Frank
- Imogen Gie
- Lana Holden
- Megan Kyte
- Alexis Larrow*
- Carys Lynch
- Diana Nisbett*
- Esme Potter
- Sidney Rose
- Emily Rosindell
- Katherine Ryan
- Michelle Shaw
- Claire Xavier
The coaching staff will be:
Head Coach: Robbie Robison
Assistant Coach: Tara Henry
Pitching Coach: Greg Seeley
Team Manager: David Morris
Physiotherapist: Sarah Cormack