The annual Softball World Series will have its 15th edition this September, and the tournament, designed for real or ex-pat “national teams”, is proving more popular than ever.
With only 18 places available due to constraints on the number of pitches available at the competition's long-time venue at the British Airways Concorde Club near Heathrow Airport, 25 enquiries have been received so far, with a record 12 of them coming from teams based in Ireland, the Channel Islands and mainland Europe.
The previous record for the number of teams flying in for the competition is seven.
Tournament background
The Softball World Series, the brainchild of Canadian Todd Macklin, one of the first people to broadcast Major League Baseball games in Britain on Channel 5, is a competition involving "national or regional teams" – even though many of the teams are made up of players living in the UK.
There are usually English, Scottish and Welsh teams made up of players who come from or live in those countries. Over the past few years, teams have flown in to represent Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and the islands of Jersey and Guernsey. And then there are "ex-pat teams" made up of players living in Britain but originally from somewhere else, representing the United States, Canada, Africa, Japan/Asia, Latin America and Australia/New Zealand.
The tournament is usually rounded out by GB Development and Masters teams and sometimes includes a university team and a team of players who are “local” to the tournament venue. But the competition for places may mean that some traditional World Series participants miss out this year.
Since its inception in 1999, the tournament has been organised by Bob Fromer (since 2000, on behalf of BSUK). This year, however, the BSF is taking over part of the responsibility for the tournament and will help decide which teams are awarded places.
The BSF's stake in the tournament stems from its value in encouraging the development of slowpitch in Europe, as well as providing one of the favourite late-season tournaments for British teams and players.
The most successful team over the history of the World Series is Africa, which has won four titles (but none since 2004), followed by Australia/New Zealand with three and the United States, England and Lakenheath with two each. The Anzacs were champions in 2012.
No overseas-based team has ever won the competition, though Jersey and Munster have both reached the final playoff round.
Increased entries
The increase in entries for 2013 comes mainly from overseas, with two Belgian and three Swiss teams looking for places, along with the usual three teams from Ireland and teams from Germany, Holland, the Czech Republic and Jersey.
If the interest from teams in Holland and the Czech Republic holds up, it will be the first time that teams from those countries have entered the competition.