The Leicester Blue Sox Baseball and Softball Club has been awarded a £3,950 Sport England Small Grant for new initiatives to designed to grow participation in female fastpitch softball during 2014.
During 2013, the club established a successful adult women’s fastpitch team as part of the new East Midlands Fastpitch League. Now, the Blue Sox are looking to form additional teams in new age groups to help build a long-term platform for fastpitch in Leicester.
The new project will target growth in the 14-25 age group and the Blue Sox will look to harness existing relations with local schools, colleges and universities to get more girls and young women playing the sport.
Taster sessions
Starting in February, the club will hold a 10-week programme of indoor taster sessions at the Rushey Mead School in Leicester. The sessions will be split into two age groups – Under-17 and 17+ – and the ambition is to form an additional Blue Sox fastpitch team capable of competing in the East Midlands Fastpitch League next season.
With a flourishing junior baseball section at the club, there is also the potential to expand into a fully-fledged girls' fastpitch programme.
The club ethos for their fastpitch programme is “run by women for women”, and an element of the Sport England grant will be invested in coach education, specifically targeting the recruitment and qualification of two new female coaches to Level 1 standard and the up-skilling of the club's existing female coach to Level 2.
Something for everyone
Leicester Blue Sox Chairman Matt Crawshaw, who drew up the successful funding application, said: “Following the rapid success of our Blue Sox Women's Team this year, we quickly identified a lack of sporting opportunities for girls and younger women in Leicester and we felt that fastpitch had the potential to fill this gap. What we are aiming to achieve at our club is very similar to what happens in the States, where the youngest boys and girls play Tee-ball together before branching off into baseball and fastpitch programmes when they get older.
“In the future,” Matt continued, “we hope to be able to provide a complete package of programmes from age four all the way to adulthood and, most importantly, for both sexes. 2014 looks set to be another season of growth and innovation for us, with fastpitch softball very close to our hearts.”
Adam Rigarlsford, Sport England’s Regional Lead Officer for the East Midlands, said: “The opportunity to try a new sport for the first time is often all a person needs to catch the sporting bug. The Leicester Blue Sox 14-25 fastpitch project is a great way for girls and women to try softball and have a quality sporting experience that will encourage them to stay involved.”