Photo: WBSC
The Great Britain Senior Women’s National Fastpitch Team and the USA Softball today announced a two-game exhibition series to be played on 29-30 June at OGE Energy Field at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. The exhibition series will take place following the second annual Royal Spark Challenge between the Oklahoma City Spark and Great Britain, set for 27-28 June, also at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium.
“We are always looking for opportunities to test ourselves against the best possible competition; Playing the Spark and USA in back-to-back exhibition series gives our players the chance to test themselves against great competition as well as our coaching staff a great opportunity to evaluate and assess our team in live situations,” said Great Britain Olympic Head Coach Tara Henry. “I want to thank the USA coaching staff, and the staff at the Hall of Fame Stadium, for making this opportunity a reality this summer.”
Great Britain and the United States last faced off during the Softball World Cup Pool A playoffs in Balbriggan, Ireland last summer, with a spot in the World Cup Final on the line. Despite weather conditions playing havoc on the schedule, and a challenging rain delay lasting several hours, the US were able to emerge victorious, punching their ticket to this summer’s World Cup Final in Castions di Strada, Italy.
The exhibitions will serve as a warmup for the World Cup Finals for the United States, while Great Britain will use the tournament to prepare for the European Softball Championships in Utrecht from 1-7 September. Great Britain will host a training camp in the leadup to the series in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on the campus of Oklahoma State University.
Great Britain Softball Head of Performance Gary Anderson said, “Together with Head Coach Tara Henry we have set out a strategy that requires us to match up against the very best in the world, and there are not many better than the USA. For the US to identify Great Britain as a suitable opponent to face in their preparations for the World Cup Final shows where we are on our trajectory.”
“We will utilise these games to see and assess players' performance against world-class opposition and it also allows us to evaluate certain strategies in real-time game situations,” Anderson added. “We are really looking forward to this series and seeing GBR players at the Hall of Fame Stadium against Team USA.”
More information, including game times and tickets, will be announced closer to the games.
Follow the Great Britain Women’s Team on social media @GBWomenSoftball on X, Instagram, and TikTok, at facebook.com/GBWomenSoftball, and on the British Softball Federation website, britishsoftball.org.