BSUK prepares for 2012 London softball events
Tue 17 Apr 2012
BaseballSoftballUK is knee-deep in preparations for its 2012 summer events, which feature a spate of softball tournaments in the London region. BSUK's events programme focuses on three key areas of work:
- To provide playing opportunities to players and teams in formats of the sports that are less catered for in the UK, such as fastpitch, indoor and single-sex slowpitch softball.
- To entice new participants into the sports by creating entry-level (D-grade) or age-specific playing opportunities.
- To support the BBF and BSF with their major competitions as needed, and to lend support to other leagues and organisations that are facilitating quality playing opportunities for the British baseball and softball community.
Single-Sex tournaments
BSUK will again run a three-event single-sex series for all-male and all-female slowpitch teams.
The three single-sex events – the Spring Ball on May 20, Summer Ball on June 24 and Fall Ball on August 19 -- will all be held at Riverside Lands in Chiswick.
The male or female team that wins two or more of the tournaments will receive a special award. in 2011 the Single-Sex Grand Prize for men's teams went to the Godzillas.
London Inter-League Championships and GLSML support
BSUK and the Greater London Softball Mixed League (GLSML) are working together to stage the London Inter-League Championships on Saturday, June 23 at Riverside Lands in Chiswick. This one-day event, open to teams from all BSF-affiliated leagues in the London region, will replace the London Regional Championships, traditionally run by BSUK on behalf of the London Softball Federation.
It has been two years since BaseballSoftballUK staged a two-day London region co-ed tournament (the "BSUK Tournament"), and it is hoped the that the Inter-League Championships will thrive in 2012 and expand to a two-day event the following summer.
BSUK will also support the GLSML's two one-day league tournaments. The GLSML First Ball on May 19 and the Last Ball on August 18 are for GLSML teams only, who will compete in three categories of play: Red, White and Blue. Both tournaments will be at Riverside Lands.
Pitch Up & Play!
BSUK is trying a new format for enticing London-region university students to try out the sport of softball: a one-day single-signup tournament on Saturday, May 12 in Regent's Park.
Participants will register and pay a small entry fee online (£10), but don't already need to be part of an existing softball tea, in order to play on the day. Rather, players of all abilities ("rookies" and "ringers") will be partnered with others from the London university scene to form brand new slowpitch teams that, hopefully, will carry forward into future league and tournament play.
Short tutorial clinics will be provided by BSUK Regional Coaches prior to the day's official games. All participants will receive a tournament T-shirt and all playing equipment will be provided on the day by BSUK.
Great Britain Fastpitch League
Registration is open now for individual youth and adult players who want to play this year in the Great Britain Fastpitch League (GBFL), formerly the London Fastpitch Softball League.
This year, the league will feature two adult divisions plus Under-17 and Under-14 divisions, and there will be mini-tournaments for all divisions on six Saturdays in May, June, July and August – few of which conflict with major slowpitch events.
No previous fastpitch experience is necessary, and last year the league welcomed a growing number of slowpitch players who enjoyed playing both formats.
League play on all six Saturdays – May 19 and 26, June 16 and 23, July 7 and August 4 – will take place at Richings Park Sports Club, Wellesley Avenue, Iver, Buckinghamshire SL0 9BN, not far from Heathrow Airport.
Softball World Series
BSUK will again run the highly-popular late season Softball World Series Tournament in 2012, scheduled for the weekend of September 15-16 at the BA Concorde Club in Cranford, not far from Heathrow Airport.
As always, the tournament will feature “national” or “regional” teams from the UK and around the world, and this year, teams will fly in from Ireland, Switzerland and Belgium, while a Welsh team will rejoin the competition for the first time since 2006. Entries are now full, but UK-based teams representing England, Scotland, Wales, Africa, Japan/Asia, Australia/New Zealand, the US, Canada may still be looking for players.
Support for BBF National Championships
As in 2010 and 2011, BSUK will work closely with the British Baseball Federation to stage the 2012 adult and youth National Baseball Championships.
BSUK staff and equipment have been integral to running the NBCs in recent years, and it's expected that such logistical and planning support will continue when the event is held over the three-day bank holiday weekend of August 25-27, 2012.
Looking forward
Advanced planning for next year has already begun as BSUK prepares for the first-ever London Baseball & Softball Week, scheduled for July 1-7 2013. This is shaping up to be a seminal event for the British baseball and softball community, re-establishing the UK as a host for international baseball and softball competition and showcasing the new facilities currently being developed in Milton Keynes and at Farnham Park in South Bucks.
London Baseball & Softball Week is expected to consist of eight-team adult and youth (Under-18) baseball tournaments, an eight-team women's and a four-team men's (Under-19) fastpitch softball tournament, and a 24-team co-ed slowpitch softball tournament.
Apart from making use of the new top-tier facilities, BSUK is hoping to make use of lighting arrays for nighttime play and live scoring and game-casting across the Internet.
BSUK will be expanding the London Baseball & Softball Week organising committee in the coming weeks, and interested volunteers are asked to send an email to tournaments@bsuk.com.
CALENDAR OF 2012 BSUK EVENTS AND REGISTRATION LINKS
"Pitch Up & Play!" University Co-Ed Softball Tournament
When: Saturday 12 May 2012
Where: Regent's Park, London
Who: Rookies and Ringers, Guys and Gals
Link: https://bsuk.wufoo.com/forms/m7p6r7/
Great Britain Fastpitch League
When: All Saturday: May 19 & 26, June 16 & 23, July 7, August 4
Where: Richings Park Sports Club, Iver, Bucks
Who: Anyone from 11 to 70 who wants to play, regardless of fastpitch experience
Link: http://gbfl.britishsoftball.org
BSUK Single-Sex Spring Ball
When: Sunday 20 May 2012
Where: Riverside Lands, Chiswick
Who: All-male and all-female slowpitch teams
Link: http://bsf.spawtz.com/Competition/Details/76
London Inter-League Championships
When: Saturday 23 June 2012
Where: Riverside Lands, Chiswick
Who: All London league co-ed teams
Link: http://bsf.spawtz.com/Competition/Details/98
BSUK Single-Sex Summer Ball
When: Sunday 24 June 2012
Where: Riverside Lands, Chiswick
Who: All-male and all-female slowpitch teams
Link: http://bsf.spawtz.com/Competition/Details/80
BSUK Single-Sex Fall Ball
When: Sunday 19 August 2012
Where: Riverside Lands, Chiswick
Who: All-male and all-female slowpitch teams
Link: http://bsf.spawtz.com/Competition/Details/81
Softball World Series
When: 15-16 September 2012
Where: BA Concorde Club, Cranford
Who: Domestic and international co-ed slowpitch nation-teams
Contact: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
GLSML teams looking to register for the First Ball (19 May) and Last Ball (18 August) events can follow these hyperlinks to register online.
