A Venezuelan artisan and cheese products shop based in London, founded by Erika Urvina and called Liqui Liqui, will sponsor the Latinoamérica team in the 2015 Softball World Series tournament, to be played on the weekend of 12-13 September at Imperial College’s Heston Venue in Cranford, formerly the British Airways Corcorde Club.
“Liqui liqui” is a term for a traditional Venezuelan suit.
New approach
The Latinoamérica team has played before in the Softball World Series as “Latin America”, with a team consisting of a number of players from Latin America but also players from other countries. This year, the aim was to put a team together made up entirely of players with a connection to their Latin roots.
A campaign was launched early in the summer to find as many players as possible who could fulfil this criteria.
New players
Luis Arrevillagas from Venezuela, who is BSUK’s Regional Development Manager in the North West and who is managing Latinoamérica this year, said: “I was asked by Adaly Perez, a member of last year's Latin American team, whether I fancied getting a team together and managing it at the tournament. This sounded like a lot of fun, so I agreed. Thankfully, everything has gone smoothly so far -- we have plenty of players from many different countries and we have just received our brand new T-shirts sponsored by Liqui Liqui. I really hope to start a trend of teams being sponsored to play -- this is something our sports could really benefit from.”
This year’s Latinoamérica team will have players from Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. “And we made one exception,” Luis added – “we also welcome Anabel from Spain!”
The team has a number of men on a waiting list, as there was real interest in the project, but will bring a team of nine men and nine women to the tournament.
“It is a high number for a weekend tournament,” Luis said, “but I don’t really know all of the players and their abilities, since many players are based in London, others in Scotland and all over the UK, so we will try a few things this year and more importantly have fun.”
Love of the sport
Erika Urvina, founder of Liqui Liqui and a very proud Venezuelan who has lived in London for over five years, said: “I owe my love for the sport to my dad, Santiago Urvina, and many of the best moments I spent with him always had the sound of ‘Play Ball' engraved in my memory. So it is really important for me to be able to have the opportunity to be part of this project, in which we are not only promoting the sport but also our culture, which is full of great traditions. As we unite as Latin Americans here in the UK, sharing our passion for baseball and softball motivated me to support this initiative. I wish the players the best luck for the tournament.
“Liqui Liqui started as just a dream in my heart,” Erika added, and was made reality in 2013. I have come to realise just how important little tastes from home are to me -- I can close my eyes and be transported back home. Liqui Liqui aims to supply all of those tastes and bring a little piece of South America to people in the UK.”
International crossroads
The 2015 Softball World Series, the 17th edition of a tournament that began in 1999, will be contested by 18 teams representing 13 different countries or regions of the world. Seven teams are flying in from Europe for the tournament, and many of the UK-based teams, like Latinoamérica, will be made up of ex-pats living in Britain.
Luis Arrevillagas said: “I believe that the increase in participation in baseball and softball has led to players from all over the world meeting in these different environments. I have come across many more Latin American players this year than ever before. Just between Liverpool and Cartmel Valley baseball clubs in the North West, I can count about nearly 10 players with Latin American backgrounds. When I play or umpire the British Softball Federation tournaments that take place all over the UK, I notice a good number of Latin American players involved. I think that social media and the promotion of the sports via the British Softball Federation together with BSUK has helped reach out to those men and women who might not have known our sports were played in Britain.”