The GB Men's Fastpitch Team will take a 17-strong squad,
including 12 UK-based players, to the European Men's Fastpitch Championships, to be played from July 23-28 in Amstelveen in the Netherlands.
The GB Team will be looking to qualify for World Championships for the third straight time, and if they do, the reward will be a trip to New Zealand in March 2013.
The GB Team is currently ranked third in Europe and eighth in the world. 
The Players
The GB Men's Team in Amstelveen will consist of the following players:
Geoff Clayton
London Meteors (UK)
OF
James Darby
Dolphins & New South Wales
P, IF
Mark Elson
Richings Park (UK)
P, OF
Stephen Fullan
London Meteors (UK)
OF, IF
Steven Hazard
London Meteors (UK)
SS
Darryl Hermann
London Meteors (UK)
C, IF
Michael Lee
London Meteors (UK)
1B, OF
Ryan Martin
Richings Park (UK) & Hawkes Bay
2B, IF
Morgan Ottridge
Vancouver
1B
Josh Peat
Richings Park
IF, OF
Luke Peters
Tempo (Czech Republic) & Watakere Bears
3B, OF
Steven Rice
Richings Park (UK)
OF, IF
Robbie Robison
Nottingham (UK)
3B, IF
Carl Sharpe
Richings Park (UK)
OF
Kevin Stockford
Amager Vikings (Denmark) & Mt Albert Ramblers
C, 1B
Curt Taylor
London Meteors (UK)
P, 3B
Michael Williams
London Meteors (UK)
OF, IF
Rich Haldane
Kamaloops (Canada)
P, 1B
Staff
The team staff will consist of:
Head Coach: Russ Snow
Assistant Coaches: Stan Doney, Barry Doney, Kenny Pregnell
Team Manager: Steve Fullan
Assistant Managers: Ross Smith, Beth Darby
Recent history
The last official competition for the GB Men's Team was the 2010 European Men's Championships in the Czech Republic, where Great Britain finished third and won the Bronze Medal, as they had in 2008.
At the 11th ISF World Championships, played in Saskatoon, Canada in July 2009, the GB Team made the playoffs and finished eighth out of 16 teams, our highest-ever ranking, thanks to a surprise win over highly-ranked Japan.
Great Britain took part in World Championships for the first time in 2004 in Christchurch, New Zealand and finished ninth.
Team goal
Everyone except for three overseas-based players will assemble in London from Thursday, July 19 for three days of training. On Sunday, July 22, the team will travel to Amsterdam, some by car and others by plane, with one training session planned on Monday, July 23.
The team’s major goal for the 2012 European Championships is to achieve a top-two finish in the round robin in order to gain automatic qualification for the World Championships without having to win a playoff game to do so.
Team Manager Steve Fullan said, “With the new additions to the team, we feel we are more experienced and stronger than in 2010, where we finished third with only 11 players on the roster.
“Most of the teams in the pool are well known,” Steve added, “and it will be a free-for-all between GB, the Czechs, Denmark and the Netherlands, with Belgium capable of upsetting someone. We’re going out to win all our games to avoid any doubt about qualification for the Worlds, but we realise this will be a difficult task as all the teams have the same goal and are looking good this year.”
Key players
James Darby is regarded as a key player because of his pitching ability, but backing him up in the pitching department are Mark Elson and Curt Taylor.
Another key player will be Kevin Stockford, who will handle most of the catching duties and his strong bat should feature as well.
GB stalwart Curt Taylor leads the way among the local British talent, which includes Under-19 players Carl Sharpe and Josh Peat. Steve Hazard, Michael Lee and Michael Williams are players who have come from the slowpitch community.
Of the 17 players on the roster, seven have World championship experience and only three have never played in a GB Senior European Championship before.