GB Women’s Fastpitch Team Head Coach Hayley Scott has stepped down after 11 years with the programme and eight years as Head Coach, and a new coaching and management staff has been appointed by the GB Management Committee, on behalf of the BSF, to take over the programme.
Former GB player Rachael Watkeys, who has been Head Coach of the GB Under-19 Women’s Team for the past three years and a coach at BSUK’s High Performance Academy, has been appointed as the new Women’s Team Head Coach. GB Under-19 Manager Simon Mortimer and Assistant Coach Liz Knight will also move up to the Women’s Team programme, and the GB Management Committee is currently considering new coaching and management staff for the Under-19 Women.
In the meantime, until new Under-19 staff are appointed, Rachael, Liz and Simon will retain a caretaker function over the Under-19 programme, which in any case will be merged more closely with the Senior Women’s Team programme in future.
The appointment of Rachael Watkeys as Head Coach for the Senior Women’s Team reflects a policy on the part of the GB Management Committee to have National Team Head Coaches resident in the UK and able to contribute to all aspects of GB Softball programmes.
Hayley Scott
Hayley Scott joined the GB Women’s Team staff as an Assistant Coach under Craig Montvidas in 2005, and took over as Head Coach in 2008, after the programme’s funding from UK Sport had ended because softball was no longer to be an Olympic sport.
Despite the lack of financial resources, the programme flourished in Hayley’s charge, with the team finishing second in European Championships in 2009 and third in 2011, qualifying on both occasions for World Championships, where the team achieved 11th place finishes. In 2013, the GB Women finished fifth at European Championships and just failed to qualify for the 2014 World Championships by the slimmest of margins – two runs conceded – but received a wild card entry to the World Championships nonetheless.
In 2015, at European Championships, the team again finished fifth, after which Hayley Scott told the players of her intention to step down. After many years of residence in Britain, Hayley had returned to live in her native South Africa in 2013, and was finding it difficult, both financially and logistically, to remain with the programme.
However, during Hayley’s eight years as Head Coach, GB became established as one of the top teams in European softball, and as a programme that could also make an impact on the world stage.
Rachael Watkeys
Rachael Watkeys was a player for the GB Women’s Team from 2009 through 2011, and was appointed Head Coach of the GB Under-19 Women in time to take the team to its first-ever World Championship in the summer of 2013, in Canada, where the GB Juniors surprised many people by finishing in ninth place, just outside the playoffs.
In 2014, the GB Juniors achieved a highest-ever placing of fourth at European Championships, including a dramatic victory over defending champions Holland.
In 2015, Rachael led the team back to Junior World Championships in Oklahoma, where the team played extremely well and was unlucky to be placed 13th in the final standings. At the Junior World Championships, GB was one of only four teams not to suffer a mercy rule defeat during the tournament, despite playing teams such as Japan, Canada and China, and was one of only two teams that had four runs or fewer scored against them in any seven-inning game during the competition (the other team was the eventual champions USA).
Coming up
Rachael Watkeys and her team will be taking charge of the GB Women’s programme at an important time, with a final decision due next year on whether softball and baseball, as most observers think likely, will be restored to the Olympic programme for Tokyo in 2020.
Should that be the case, there will be a Euro/Africa Olympic Qualifying Tournament in 2019, and the goal for the GB Softball programme will be to produce a team over the next few years that can challenge for and gain an Olympic place.
In the meantime, however, the next competition for the GB Women’s Team will be the WBSC Women’s World Championships in July 2016 in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, where the goal will be to finish in the top eight and reach the playoffs.