The GB Men's Fastpitch Team, which narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2015 World Championships last summer, has now been granted a wild card place in the tournament by the International Softball Federation.
The 2015 Men's World Championships will be played in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada from 26 June to 5 July. Teams taking part in the competition will be Argentina, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Great Britain, Guatemala, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, USA and Venezuela.
Great Britain had qualified for and played in the last three ISF Men's World Championships, finishing ninth, eighth and ninth, but finished in fourth place in last summer's European Championships, losing to the Dutch by a single run in the game to determine who would take the final qualification place.
Reactions
Reactions from GB players and staff to news of the wild card place reflected the frustration felt by the team at not being able to qualify outright last summer.
GB Head Coach Norman Ames said: "We're very happy to be given the wild card opportunity for the World Championships. We feel that after being so unlucky in the European Qualifier, our team really deserves to compete at the Worlds.”
Team Manager Steve Fullan added: “From my point of you this is a chance to prove that we are a better team then our result at the Europeans. We felt we had a team capable of winning the tournament and when your pitching is second to only the Czechs, including pitching a no-hitter, you think you would at least make the finals. Sadly, that didn't happen, and we've been left to rue our missed opportunities – until now.”
Two of the team's GB-based players also expressed delight at the outcome, after the BSF had written to the ISF last autumn requesting a wild card place should one of the 16 qualifying countries drop out.
Kenny Pregnell said: "I'm elated! Finishing fourth at the European Championships with the quality of players we had felt like a failure. Now we get a second chance to rectify that!"
Michael Lee added: "It's been tough seeing other teams prepare for the Worlds knowing that we had a heap of opportunities to book our trip to Saskatoon last summer and thinking back to key plays at the Euros. But it doesn't seem so bad now we have a spot. Hopefully, we can push on and convert the numerous chances we carve out during tournaments and improve on previous performances."
Preparation
News of the wild card place was only confirmed around the middle of February, and team staff will now begin the hard work of putting logistics and arrangements in place, with the tournament just over four months away.
Training for players based in the UK has been ongoing during the winter, and a key preparation event will be the London Meteors' annual trip to the Zeisterslot Tournament in Holland at the end of May.