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By Ian Tomlin
Friday 21 July -- The GB Under-19 Men’s Fastpitch Team will fly to Prague today to complete preparations for the 10th European Junior Men’s World Championship that will run from 24-29 July.
The young squad has worked hard over the past year in the run-up to this event, attending two tournaments in Paris in October 2016 and March 2017, taking part in the Academy Softball programme and playing in the Great Britain Fastpitch League.
In addition, the team has competed in two single-sex slowpitch competitions and has had a number of training sessions.
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Bonding​
The GB Under-19 Men’s Team is made up of five players who have had previous European experience and nine players who are making their international debuts.
Head Coach Chris Yoxall has been pleased to see the squad bonding in the lead-up to the tournament, where they will open up on Monday with a game against the current champion and hosts, the Czech Republic.
In particular, Chris has been pleased to see how the team’s two pitchers, Sam Grafton and Oliver Howley, have developed over the summer.
Although opposition in the five-team tournament will be tough, especially the Czech Republic and Denmark, the coaches hope that this will be the start of a journey for the players that will end with the team’s first attempt at a Junior Men’s World Championship in 2018.
The team has also been buoyed by the news that John Brown has joining the staff as the pitching coach.
Schedule
The GB Team, currently ranked fifth in Europe, will have eight games in a double round-robin – so two games each day -- leading up to the playoffs on Friday and Saturday, 28-29 July.
The top four teams from the double round-robin will qualify for Page Playoffs, and that will be GB’s initial aim.
The teams taking part, in a tournament that will be played alongside the first-ever European Under-16 Boys’ Championship, will be:
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Great Britain
Israel
Support for the team will be strong, as a majority of parents are travelling over for the tournament.
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Players and staff
The team will be:
PLAYERS
Nathan Barrett – Manchester
Kai Benaim – Slough
Mason Brockway – Portsmouth
Daniel Downes – Manchester
Jonathan Downes – Manchester
Max Fagan – Manchester
Sam Grafton – Wiltshire
Oliver Howley – Chichester
Thomas Lang – Nottinghamshire
Jack Nielan – Oxfordshire
Jake Roberts –Oxfordshire
Tom Russell – Manchester
Ben Tomlin – Nottinghamshire
George Young – Oxfordshire (Captain)
STAFF
Head Coach - Chris Yoxall
Team Manager – Ian Tomlin
Pitching Coach – John Brown
Assistant Coach – Matt Tomlin
Support Staff -- Clare Tomlin and Moi-Maree Brown
All games played by the GB Under-19 Men's Team at the European Junior Men's Championship will be covered on this website on a daily basis.