Players and coaches on the GB Under-18 Women’s Fastpitch Team will gather in Prague on Saturday 29 July and immediately plunge 
into competition on Sunday in the 20-team European Under-18 Women’s Championship.
Because of the pandemic, the last time a GB Team took part in this Championship was in 2018, when it was played in Italy as an Under-19 competition and GB was the defending champion. In 2018, the GB Team came sixth, with some frustratingly close losses to teams that finished above us.
Shortly afterwards, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) changed the age categories in softball competition, and the Under-19 category became Under-18.
This year’s GB Under-18 Team, led by Head Coach Tara Tembey, will be hoping to do as well or better than their predecessors back in 2018, but to some extent this tournament will be unknown terrain given the team’s long absence from European competition.
Format
Because a record total of 20 teams have entered the Under-18 Championship, the tournament will get under way on Sunday rather than Monday to get in all the games this number of teams requires.
The initial round-robin will be played on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in four seeded groups of either five teams, and GB will be in Group D, along with Spain, Germany, Ireland, and Hungary. The GB Under-18s have been seeded fourth in this group and 13th overall, mainly because we were unable to compete in the last European Under-18 Women’s Championship in 2021 due to Covid restrictions imposed on the UK, which reduced our European ranking.
Only two teams from each group will make it through to the Championship playoff rounds.
The GB Team will open the tournament on Sunday with a game against Germany at 1.30 pm Czech time.
Two more games will follow on Monday, against Hungary at 1.30 pm and Ireland at 6.30 pm, and the GB Under-18 Women will conclude the opening round-robin on Tuesday with a single game against Spain at 1.00 pm.
After that, GB’s schedule will depend on where we have finished in the round-robin standings.
Fortunately, Prague next week will not be experiencing the heat wave that has plagued Southern Europe recently: temperatures are expected to be in the low 20s with the possibility of rain.
Players and staff
The players selected for this year’s European Under-18 Women’s Championship are:
Hannah Bingaman (Utility/P)
Molly Blackwood (IF)
Jessica Chan (INF/OF)
Aliyah Clarke (C)
Elena Clark-Wilson (P)
Lily Daniels (Utility)
Cara Edwards (C)
Shinju Kimura-Phalon (IF)
Kaitlyn Parisi (OF)
Saige Sampson (P)
Emma Smith (OF)
Sydney Teague (IF)
Jenna Thompson (IF)
Georgia Wilson (P)
A further player, Amy Morris, will attend the tournament for development and training but will not be part of the competition squad.
The staff will consist of:
Head Coach: Tara Tembey
Assistant Coach/Hitting: Brandi Macias
Assistant Coach/Pitching: Mary Karen Wheat
Assistant Coach: Laura Hirai
Team Manager: David Morris
Sports Therapist: Jake Solomons
Reports from all GB games in the competition will be posted during the tournament on the BSF website.