Friday 4 August -- Two British teams – H20 and the Travelling Dodgers – will be making their way to Sofia, Bulgaria this weekend to compete in the 2023 European Co-ed Slowpitch Super Cup that starts on Monday – the first time British teams have played in the 
tournament since 2018.
Back in 2018, with a record number of 16 teams taking part, British teams finished in the top three places, with Pioneers taking gold, H20 silver and the Chromies bronze.
But then came the pandemic, and the competition scheduled for 2020 was moved to 2021. That didn’t help us, as Covid restrictions imposed on Great Britain at the time meant our teams couldn’t travel. Nine teams entered from the Continent, and Waynes Pardubice from the Czech Republic won the tournament, with UCE Travellers from Germany second and the Dutch team Eastpro third.
This year, the 2021 National Champions Travelling Dodgers and 2022 National Champions H20 will be the British representatives, but there will be no third British team in the slot reserved for defending champions.
Great Britain will also be well represented at the tournament in terms of officials.
Mike Jennings will chair the Technical Commission, which will also include BSF Interim President Lesley Morisetti. Pete Saunders will be the Head Umpire-in-Chief, and three BASU umpires are included in the crew of 12: Chris Lunn, Jason Smith, Stephen Coyle, plus Hans Daanen, a former BASU umpire who is now representing the Netherlands.
The tournament will be played at three different fields in Sofia: Oktomvri Field, the Diana Baseball Field and the National Sports Academy.
Format
Thirteen teams – a scheduler’s nightmare – have entered the European Co-ed Slowpitch Super Cup this year, representing eight different countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands.
All three teams that won medals in 2021 have returned, and the British teams will have to get past them if they hope to be in the winners’ circle when the tournament ends on Saturday 12 August.
The teams have been divided into one group of seven and one group of six for an initial round-robin, which will be played from Monday morning through Wednesday lunchtime.
Group A will consist of Waynes Pardubice (Czechia), Beveren Reapers (Belgium), BSC Buffaloes (Bulgaria), Travelling Dodgers (Great Britain), Hangarounds (Germany), Dodder Dynamoes (Ireland) and Tex Town Tigers-Eastpro (the Netherlands).
Group B will have the Linz Bandits and Witches (Austria), Poperinge Frontliners (Belgium), Akademiks Sofia (Bulgaria), H20 (Great Britain), UCE Travellers (Germany) and BatPak (Ireland).
After the first round-robin has been played, the top three teams from each group will go forward to Championship playoffs, in the form of a full six-team round-robin, while the remaining seven teams will have their own round-robin, and these will run from Wednesday afternoon through Friday.
On Saturday, based on the standings from the Championship round-robin, the top two teams will play for the gold medal, the third and fourth-placed teams will play for the bronze medal, and the fifth and sixth-placed teams will play for fifth place.
There will also be placing games on Saturday for seventh, ninth and eleventh place.
H20
The majority of the H20 team will travel to Bulgaria on Saturday, with a batting practice session planned on Sunday on the main field. A handful of team members will join the group on Sunday, and the Butcher family, who are flying back from an African Safari on Monday morning, will then catch a flight to Sofia on Monday afternoon!
The team will consist of Manager Roger Grooms plus Mike McDowell, Josh Smith, Robbie Studholme, Joe Grantham, Stewart Butcher, Matt Tomlin, Megan Beard, Chelsie Robison, Cheyenne Vogel, Kirstie Leach, Kat Golik, Josie Cherson and Barbara Killer.
Roger Grooms said, "The whole team is super excited about going into one of the most fun weeks on the calendar. We have a truly special team going out: youth mixed with experience, but a great bunch of people, and I think that sets up really well for the whole week and the different situations we will find ourselves in. We love playing new teams and new people from all over Europe, but though we are hopeful of competing in the latter stages of the competition, we will take nothing for granted at any point. It will be special if we could make it second time lucky in our fourth venture into this competition, especially as it’s tournament Number 100 for H2O.
"We would also like to give special thanks to the Bulgarian Softball Federation for hosting this tournament,” Roger added, “and the various Federations around Europe, including the BSF, that have made donations to help with the cost of running the competition. It's genuinely appreciated by everyone on the H2O team."
Travelling Dodgers
The majority of the Travelling Dodgers will travel to Sofia on Sunday from various airports across the UK, from Heathrow to Glasgow. But the Dodgers have sent GB players Sherry Kenyon and Katie Jessop early to do some scouting ahead of the tournament – mainly for a nice bakery for breakfast!
The Dodgers will stay in the Hotel Europe in Sofia, near the Diane sports complex where one of the tournament fields is located, which has its own pool for players to enjoy away from the softball.
With the Travelling Dodgers being very much an American-based team, WBSC Europe regulations on the number of non-Europeans meant the team was unable to take some of its usual players, but the Dodgers have been able to pick up players that over the years have become close to the team.
As a result, the Dodgers may have one of the smallest squads in the tournament, but as Captain Jonathan Huck said, “This isn’t always a bad thing as it allows players to get plenty of at-bats and develop some form over the week.”
Along with Jonathan Huck, the Travelling Dodgers’ roster will consist of Tyler McGoveran, Nick Wingate, Dan Downes, Sam Steele, Matthew Burnett, Rachael Shkurko, Sherry Kenyon, Katie Jessop, Jenny Helget, Macy Cortez, and Areej Elmaazi.
Jonathan Huck said, “It has been a big learning curve ahead of the tournament, but I must thank the BSF, all the umpires going from the UK, and Roger Grooms of H20 for all reaching out to me at various times to help, guide and support me through the complexities of participating in this competition.
“What I think is really amazing about this whole journey is that myself, Rachael, Tyler, Sherry, Dan and Sam have all been playing for Travelling Dodgers since 2016, when we were essentially a B-grade softball team. I think this is often under-appreciated.
“The team is buzzing with excitement,” Jonathan added, “and the group chat has been non-stop all week in the lead-up to the tournament. My main job whilst there is to serve the players and take care of everything so that they can focus on their softball and on having a good time in Bulgaria.
“It took us six years to qualify for the European Cup, so we know just how hard it is to do that. And there is simply no point being there unless your aim is to win it!”