On Thursday 30 April, GB Slowpitch Head Coach Steve Patterson announced the Great Britain team that will compete in European Slowpitch Championships in Dupnitsa, Bulgaria this summer.
A total of 18 players have been selected to represent Great Britain Softball, and the team will be striving for a 10th consecutive European Championship when the tournament is played from 28 July-1 August. The 18 players have been selected from a total of 44 players in the GB Slowpitch Main and Development Squads.
Trials
Following off-season training sessions and a series of intensive indoor trials, all players in the GB programme were invited to compete in the recent GB Challenge Tournament, held on 18 April at Farnham Park. Although the GB Challenge is not the only event through which players are selected, it offers a great opportunity to see how players have applied what has been coached throughout the winter training sessions.
This summer’s team includes an equal number of men and women, nine apiece. And though there are some familiar faces on the roster, over a third of the team was not in the squad two years ago.
Steve Patterson said, “This is an exciting time for Great Britain Slowpitch, where the turnover in players continues to bring a freshness to the squad. These men and women have worked hard over the winter and are keen to play our brand of softball. We now need to create a cohesiveness that will translate into quality performances on the European stage.
“I believe we have a strong blend of speed and power in both the men and the women,” Steve added, “and I think this is going to be an exciting team to watch.”
The players
The 2015 GB Slowpitch Team that will compete in the European Championships is:
WOMEN
Jenny Ball
Vicky Chapman
Emily Clifford
Areej Elmaazi
Katherine Golik
Kim Hendry
Liz Keaveney
Ruth Macintosh
Claudine Snape
MEN
Brad Gilmour
Danny Gunn
Steve Hazard
Ian Kulka
Dan Spinks
Ben Taylor
Aaron Thomas
Ed Watkinson
Chris Yoxall
This year’s team is much changed from the team that won GB’s ninth European Championship in 2013 in Pardubice, and five members of the team that played in the final of that tournament are not in this year’s selection.
The European squad named on 30 April contains seven players who will be playing in a European Championship for the first time. Two of those players, Liz Keaveney and Aaron Thomas, entered the GB programme through the open trial process this past February and March. The other newcomers to the European Championships will be Chris Yoxall, Ed Watkinson, Brad Gilmour, Katherine Golik and Kim Hendry – though all of those players except Kim Hendry competed in the ISF Slowpitch World Cup in January 2014.
Congratulations
GB Assistant Coach Mike Ashley offered congratulations to the new squad, saying, “The make-up [of this team] bears witness to the fact that the GB programme is alive and kicking. This great group consists of both European regulars and newcomers, some of whom had their baptism in the ISF World Cup last year while others were late gate-crashers who stated their case in the GB Challenge only two weeks ago and made it impossible to omit them. Well done all!”
Team Manager Sara Vertigan said, ''For me, going to the Europeans with GB Slowpitch is always a great experience and I'm as excited as ever about working with this talented team in Bulgaria this summer. I'd also like to commend the entire squad for their hard work, commitment and support in the build-up to these difficult selections.''
Team GB is planning to travel out to the European Championships on Sunday 26 July and will returning on 2 August.