The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) has announced game schedules for the three Women’s World Cup Group Stage Tournaments that will be played in Europe this summer, including Group A in Ireland where the GB Women’s Team will be facing stiff 
opposition.
Eighteen teams from around the world that qualified through Regional Championships last year or early this year will be playing in three six-team tournaments in July in Ireland, Spain and Italy, with the top two teams from each tournament qualifying for the WBSC Women’s World Cup Finals in Italy in 2024.
There may also be one or two wild card places available in the Finals for the best third-place teams from this summer’s tournaments.
The GB Senior Women’s Team qualified for the World Cup Group Stage by winning the silver medal at last summer’s European Women’s Championship in Sant Boi, near Barcelona. The Netherlands and Italy also qualified from Europe through their placings at the tournament, while Ireland and Spain have qualified as Group Stage Tournament hosts.
Tournament line-ups
The WBSC Pool A Group Stage tournament, to be played in Balbriggan, County Dublin, Ireland from 11-15 July, will feature Australia, Botswana, Chinese Taipei, Great Britain, Ireland and the USA.
The WBSC Pool B Group Stage tournament, to be played in Valencia, Spain from 18-22 July, will include China, Cuba, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Spain and South Africa.
The WBSC Pool C Group Stage tournament, to be played in Castions de Strada and Buttrio, Italy from 22-26 July, will have Canada, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines and Venezuela.
A total of 57 games will be staged across the three tournaments, which will each begin with a full round-robin played over the first four days, followed, on the final day, by a Page Playoff for the top four teams from the round-robin standings plus a fifth-place playoff game.
Schedule
Great Britain will open the Pool A Tournament in Ireland at 11.00 am on Tuesday 11 June with a game against the ninth-place team in the WBSC Women’s Softball world rankings, Australia.
That afternoon, the United States, ranked Number 1 in world softball, will take on third-ranked Chinese Taipei, and, following an Opening Ceremony at 5.00 pm, the host team, 17th-ranked Ireland, will play Botswana, ranked 43rd in the world.
On Wednesday 12 July, Great Britain will again play the first game of the day, with a 10.00 am start against Chinese Taipei.
The GB Women will then have a break until the last game of the day on Thursday 13 July, against Ireland at 6.30 pm.
Finally, on Friday 14 July, the GB Team will finish up the round-robin phase with back-to-back games against Botswana at 1.00 pm, and the USA at 3.00 pm.
To reach the Page Playoff on Saturday 15 July, with a chance of finishing in the top two and qualifying for the 2024 Finals, GB will have to finish no lower than fourth in the round-robin standings.
Schedules for all the teams playing in Pools A, B and C can be found here.
GB plans
The 2023 GB Senior Women’s Team will be selected following trials to be held in Stillwater, Oklahoma from 10 June following the end 
of the College Softball World Series in Oklahoma City. Around 25 players have been invited to the trials by Head Coach Tara Henry and her staff.
The GB Team will then convene at the Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre near Marlow on 1 July for an eight-day training camp, split between Bisham Abbey and Farnham Park, before travelling to Ireland for the Group Stage competition.
GB Softball Performance Director Gary Anderson said, “A year ago we set out a roadmap for Great Britain Softball. We have the potential here to achieve something very special but when that will be is yet to be determined. We have a very young group of players who have been benchmarked and mapped to reach their peak in 2028, and we need now to deploy our strategy to ensure these individual players develop appropriately and decide how we can utilise them in current competition opportunities and accelerate continuous improvement to ensure we maintain our upward trajectory.
“I am delighted with the work that Coach Tara Henry has undertaken and the performance staff she has recruited,” Gary added. “We are on track to meet our objectives of being the best prepared -- physically, technically, tactically and mentally -- that we can be for the World Cup Group Stage Tournament.”
Information on how tickets for the tournament in Ireland can be obtained and how games can be watched via WBSC broadcasts will be published on the BSF website soon.
