The Chichester Falcons Softball Club from the Solent Softball League have been ‘starting them young’ with a series of teeball programmes in the Chichester area.
Teeball is a variant of softball/baseball for younger players, who have to hit the ball off a rubber tee rather than have the ball pitched to them. Once the ball is hit, the normal rules of softball take over, so players have to learn to field with a glove and work as a team to make outs on the diamond.
Thanks to Patrick Knock, BaseballSoftballUK’s South East Development Manager, the club was able to source the necessary down-sized equipment for future Falcons, and the club’s coaches set up numerous sessions in the area.
.jpg)
Popular sessions
West Dean Primary School became the first in the city to boast a Teeball Club, attended by 17 boys and girls aged 7-11. A weekly get-together after school has brought about a hard-working gang who have been rewarded with their own team shirts, thanks to club sponsors CRJ Lettings and Tennyson Ltd from Chichester.
Bartons Primary School in Bersted was quick to follow, and is also currently working through a programme of teeball sessions run by Falcons’ coach Lucy Morris. And three Brownies groups teamed up to enjoy two weeks of teeball games in Oaklands Park in mid-May.
Coach Morris said, “We started with an idea of taking the game to younger children, and ended up delivering the sport to over 70 players. They loved the game, they enjoyed trying out the unique equipment and played very well too! We hope to see a lot of them in the Falcons Juniors Softball Club when they turn 11 years old.”
Anyone who wants to take up softball and join the Falcons can email chichesterfalcons@gmail.com or visit www.chichesterfalcons.com.