About
The High Performance Academy is an invitation-only section of the Academy programme designated for rising athletes in the Great Britain National Teams programmes. With the goal of creating more and better home-grown talent in the United Kingdom, the High Performance Academy runs during the outdoor playing offseason, with elite coaches providing instruction and support from the BaseballSoftballUK Performance department.
Purpose
Vision
- To create a world-class performance environment where players and teams can excel and inspire success at all levels.
- Develop an inspired performance community delivering unprecedented success.
- To build a culture, a system, and a sense of team, working together to provide players with outstanding experiences.
Our Purpose
- To enable athletes to achieve excellence and ultimately win Continental, World, Olympic and Paralympic Medals.
- To enable athletes to be the best prepared, technically, tactically mentally and physically that they can be.
Every person in our system matters
- We will build a culture that is athlete-centred and offers support to all our people based upon their individual needs.
- We understand that an athlete’s development and performance will depend upon their mental, physical, and emotional well-being and that medals are an outcome of a system that prioritises looking after athletes as people first.
Striving for excellence
- We will set and expect high standards of athletes, coaches, and practitioners as they strive towards success on the world stage. We will focus on continual growth and improvement, creating a desire for continual improvement and learning through the sharing of knowledge, expertise, and philosophies.
Always with Integrity
- Our culture will be built on the foundations of mutual trust, respect, honesty, and transparency.
Stronger together
- There will be a strong sense of team and community, where volunteers, clubs, coaches, and support staff work together in an inclusive, open and collaborative partnership, aligned behind a long-term strategic vision for the sports.
These Values define how we go about our business throughout the performance department at BSUK, applying equally to athletes, coaches, staff, committee members and volunteers.
We want to inspire individuals to be the best they can be, and this starts by putting our athlete’s right at the heart of everything we do.
Academy Accreditation System
A broad vision for youth development centred on the ambition to create home-grown National Team players is at the core of the High Performance Academy. BaseballSoftballUK has created an Academy pathway to promote this long-term strategy with the aim of developing more and better homegrown players and engaging with clubs in the UK to develop this system.
The Academy Accreditation System is a long-term plan which promotes the development of young athletes. It aims to deliver an environment that promotes excellence, nurtures talent and systematically converts this talent into players capable of playing at an International level.
In addition to player development, the Academy System will develop and support coaches, and performance personnel Club Academies will provide a pathway to the BSUK High Performance Academy with progression through to GBR squads, North American Collegiate Programmes or Pro-Leagues. Long-term sustainability of athlete supply for both sports is the objective.
Athlete Criteria
- The athlete must be in the player pool for selection for a Great Britain National Team in men's baseball or women's fastpitch softball.
- Have the aspiration to trial for an age-level national team selection.
- Players must have a Great Britain passport or be eligible to get one.
- Athletes must be enrolled in BaseballSoftballUK Performance System or Program (or equivalent if not currently based in England)
Apply to Join
The High Performance Academy is by invitation only, and is available for players in the two IOC-recognised formats of the sport: Men's Baseball and Women's Fastpitch Softball. Please register your interest by selecting one of the formats below.
