3 November saw the first-ever BaseballSoftballUK Performance Combine take place at The 108 in London. Under the watchful eyes of BSUK's Performance and Medical Staff, 15 athletes from the Fastpitch Softball Academy were put through their paces, testing 12 key performance metrics using VALD Performance equipment.

The Performance Combine is a key element of BSUK's IOC Solidarity project, made possible by generous funding from the IOC Solidarity Fund. The Solidarity Fund assists National Olympic Committees (NOCs) for athlete development programmes, focusing on those with the greatest need. This assistance is achieved through multi-faceted programmes prioritising athlete development, training coaches and sports administrators, and promoting the Olympic values as laid out in the Olympic Charter.

The athletes arrived at 9 AM, ready to go, and after a brief warm-up, started the testing process with the long jump. 20-metre sprints followed, using the Vald SmartSpeed + speed gates for the most accurate time possible, before proceeding to grip and muscle strength testing with the Vald Dynamo Handheld. A battery of further strength tests followed, with the Dynamo used extensively, before the athletes wrapped up with a force test on the Dynamo Max, and an arm-strength exercise using a Pocket Radar. Each of the athletes will receive a special certificate as an inaugural Combine participant, to go with a complete Athlete Performance Report created by the Medical and Performance Staff.

The Performance Combine was supervised by members of BSUK's Performance and Medical Staff, including Anderson, Dean, Great Britain Softball pitcher Amie Hutchison, Sports Therapist Chris Waller from Hartpury University and Hartpury College,  Anti-Doping Lead David Inman, Soft Tissue Therapist Katy Gould, British Softball Federation Fastpitch Development Manager Laura Hirai, and BSUK Club and Coach Officer Will Zucker. 

Future Performance Combines will be announced at The 108 and other locations around Great Britain, including the National Baseball & Softball Complex at Farnham Park, in the coming months. For more information, click here.