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Applications are invited now from any players who want to try out for selection for the GB Senior Women, GB Under-19 Women and GB Under-16 Girls’ Fastpitch Teams for the 2017 competition season.
These are the official international competitions that the three teams will be entering in 2017:
- The GB Women’s Team will be competing at the EUROPEAN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP, to be held in Bollate, Italy from 25 June-1 July 2017.
- The GB Under-19 Women’s Team will be competing at the JUNIOR WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, to be held in Clearwater, Florida, USA from the 24-30 July 2017.
- The GB Under-16 (Cadette) Girls’ Team will be competing at the EUROPEAN CADETTE CHAMPIONSHIP, to be held in Ostrava, Czech Republic from the 10-15 July 2017.
If you wish to try out for selection for any of these teams for 2017, please click on the link below and complete the application form to ensure that you are on the GB player list:
CLICK HERE: New Player Application Form
Please note that, depending on your age, you can choose to make yourself eligible for selection for more than one team – for example, both the Under-16s and Under-19s, or both the Under-19s and the Women’s Team. Should you be selected for two teams but are only able to play in one tournament, we will normally ask you to give priority to the lower age-group team.
Please complete and return the form by 30 November 2016. You will then receive further information about selection procedures and expectations.
Exciting future
Here is a message from the GB Management Committee, the group that supports and oversees our national teams:
The great performances in 2016 by our Seniors at the Women’s World Championship in Canada and the Juniors in winning the European Championship in Spain have given a tremendous boost to GB Softball as we look towards Olympic qualification in 2019 and the Olympic Games in 2020.
We have already begun the search for government funding, sponsorship etc so that we can put an improved programme in place over the next four years. We have recently submitted a funding application to UK Sport, the agency that funds Olympic sport in Britain, and we should get an answer by the end of the year. We have also resumed formal relations with the British Olympic Association, who can support our programmes in a number of ways.
There will be two big goals next summer that will help us towards our Olympic dream and help convince potential funders that we are on the right track. The GB Women’s Team will need to qualify for the 2018 World Championship in Japan by finishing in one of the top three places at the European Championship. The goal for the Under-19 Women will be to move into the top eight at the Junior World Championship in Florida. Meanwhile, our GB Under-16 programme will be working hard to provide young players in Britain with the skills and attitude that will allow them to compete successfully on the international stage.
Given the talent we have in our programmes, all of these goals are attainable if we all work together.
This is an exciting time for GB Softball as we look towards Tokyo 2020. We will keep all our players up to date as things develop.