An open co-ed slowpitch competition called the Czech Slowpitch League, similar in structure to the NSL in Britain, has been running in the Czech Republic for the past three years, and co-founder Tomas Rambousek (aka Wayne of Wayne’s World) would like to invite teams from Britain and other countries to take part in 2015.
The league, which is a private venture run outside the ambit of the Czech Softball Federation, will run over seven weekends in seven different locations in the Czech Republic:
Domazlice – May 2-3
Chocen – May 23-24
Sedlcany – June 13-14
Trutnov – August 8-9
Pardubice -- August 22-23
Hradec Kralove -- September 5-6
Spalene Porici -- September 26-27
Regulations
Teams can choose to play in as many or as few events as they wish. Each tournament is open, with the maximum number of teams set by the number of fields.
No player registrations are needed, and while players can play for different teams on different dates, they cannot play for more than one team during a CSL weekend.
The entry fee per team per weekend is 1600 CZK (about £44), and less if your team provides umpires.
According to Wayne, the best teams in the competition would be equivalent to B-grade teams in Britain, while others would be C-grade or D-grade.
Friendly atmosphere
The emphasis at all the CSL weekends is on friendship, or, as Wayne puts it, "We want to play well and party together."
CSL weekends are usually played at softball and baseball fields with backstop, fences, dugouts, dirt infields and outfield grass. Tournaments organisers provide buffets and there is always a Saturday night party. Most organisers try to prepare something special (a local meal, a live band, special competitions etc).
There is free betting on games -- you can guess the results of pool games, the teams that will reach the final, the score of the final or tournament standings. Prizes are contributed by players and fans.
You can get a great sense of the atmosphere at CSL events from this video.
History
The idea of the CSL was born during the European Slowpitch Cup in the summer of 2011 in Mlade Buky, where Wayne and Johana Doubravova set up the system and basic rules (pick-up players, registration, finances, website and so on) over a couple of beers. Webmaster Ladislav Bares was then asked to create the league website, www.slowpitch.eu.
The league began play in April 2012. The first pitch was a ball (thrown by Wayne) and the first batter was Canadian Steve Belzner (who singled to right field). Although progress was initially slow (two out of six weekends in 2012 had to be cancelled), the league has since gone from strength to strength, and seven tournaments were played in 2014.
The series is usually won either by Rytiri Trutnov or Wayne’s World.
Players and teams from outside the Czech Republic – from Germany and Slovakia -- joined in during 2013.
Contact details
So the Czech Slowpitch League invites teams from Great Britain and the Continent to join the CSL and enjoy during the summer of 2015.
For more information or to register an interest in any of the dates, contact Tomas Rambousek on: info@slowpitch.eu.