BSUK PLANS DEVELOPMENT WORK AROUND EUROPEAN SLOWPITCH CHAMPIONSHIPS

BaseballSoftballUK will take advantage of the fact that the 2008 European Slowpitch Championships are being held in Britain by carrying out a programme of youth development work related to the tournament in the Southampton area.

Response from local schools to the programme that BSUK offered has been very enthusiastic, with some schools having to be turned away for lack of capacity. The programme will include softball sessions in primary and secondary schools prior to the tournament, and classes from participating schools will then be bussed to Southampton University to watch European Championship games in action from Wednesday to Friday during the tournament, with a coach to explain the games as they unfold. The children will also receive additional clinics at the ground from BSUK coaches. Players from the GB Slowpitch Team and from other national teams taking part in the tournament will meet the children and will help with clinic sessions if their playing schedule allows.

Schools taking part in the programme are:

Chamberlayne Park High School (2 classes)
Woolston High School (2 classes)
Thornhill Primary (2 classes)
Weston Shore Primary (1 class)
Bassett Green Primary (2 classes)
Cherbourg Primary (4 classes, for three weeks each)
Redbridge Secondary (2 classes)
Portswood Primary (classes tbc)

BSUK also hopes to run taster sessions in the schools that had to be turned down from taking part in the full programme, to at least give them a taste of the sport.

Softball sessions in the schools will all be delivered between June 2 and July 4 by Import Coach and GB Women’s Team player Karlene Headley-Cooper, who is in her second summer of development work for BSUK. During the Europeans, additional coaching will be delivered to children who come to the tournament by BSUK Coaches-in-Residence Liam Carroll and Stan Doney, along with BSUK’s London and South East Regional Development Officer Emma Ley, Softball National Development Manager Hayley Scott and Import Coach Celine Lassaigne.

Depending on pitch space being available at the university, BSUK coaches hope to run a competition for the primary schools taking part in the programme on Friday morning, July 11, and then a competition for secondary schools that afternoon.

And at 4.00 pm on Saturday afternoon, July 12, before the European Championship Grand Final, a fastpitch exhibition game will be staged for the schoolchildren and tournament spectators featuring players from the GB Under-16 and Under-19 Girls’ Fastpitch Teams.

The aim of this development work is to create a demand for youth softball in the Southampton and Solent areas, which can be taken up and sustained by the Solent Softball League, with further support from BSUK.

And giving area schoolchildren a look at the highest level of slowpitch softball in Europe can hopefully inspire some of them to become GB players in the future!