Following final trials on the weekend of 21-22 April at Milton Keynes, selections have now been made for the GB Junior (Under-19) Women's Fastpitch Team that will play in European Championships this July in Holland and the GB Cadette (Under-16) Girls' Fastpitch Team that will travel to the Tuscany Series in Italy in August to gain competition experience.
Two final selections have also been made by GB Women's Team Head Coach Hayley Scott for the senior team that will play in World Championships this summer in Canada.
GB Women selections
GB Women's Team Head Coach Hayley Scott has selected two additional players from the GB Junior (Under-19) Team to join the senior squad for the 13th ISF World Championships this summer in Whitehorse, Canada as well as for competition in the Elite Division at the Canadian Fastpitch Open near Vancouver that will precede the World Championships.
The two final selections, bringing the GB Women's squad to 16 players, are GB Under-19 infielders Amy Wells from London and Sara Robb, whose family is based in Austria.
Amy and Sara both played with distinction last summer with the GB Under-19s at the Canadian Open Futures Gold Tournament near Vancouver and both performed well in trials held at Milton Keynes on the weekend of April 21-22.
Two additional GB Under-19 players – pitchers Carling Hare and Ellie Pamenter – had already been selected for the GB Women's Team for the summer.
The full GB Women's Team is:
Leah English (C)
Carling Hare (P)
Karlene Headley-Cooper (OF)
Naomi Jones (Utility)
Sarah Jones (2B)
Jessica Legendre (IF)
Amy Moore (C)
Ellie Pamenter (P)
Ali Parkerson (OF, IF)
Morgan Parkerson (1B, OF)
Steph Pearce (C, Utility)
Sara Robb (IF)
Laura Thompson (OF)
Stacie Townsend (P)
Amy Wells (IF)
Kristi Yoshizawa (3B, C)
All four Under-19 players in the team – Carling Hare, Ellie Pamenter, Amy Wells and Sara Robb – will need to fly back from Canada before the World Championships end in order to join up with the rest of the Under-19 squad before the team travels to Holland for European Junior Championships that will also serve as a qualifying tournament for World Junior Championships in 2013.
To qualify, the GB Juniors will need to finish in the top three.
GB Junior selections
GB Junior Team Head Coach Liz Knight and Assistant Coach Robbie Robison made a split selection following trials on 21-22 April, with 12 players definitely included in the squad while four others were invited to compete for two additional places through their performances in training sessions, Great Britain Fastpitch League games and finally the London Cup international invitational Tournament at Richings Park on June 2-3.
The twelve players definitely selected are:
Lauren Bromage (C)
Christine Findlay (OF)
Susie Hall (OF)
Carling Hare (P, 1B)
Vicky Keswick (Utility)
Ellie Pamenter (P, 1B)
Sara Robb (IF)
Gabry Sassoli (Utility)
Holly Strachan (IF, OF)
Amy Wells (IF, C)
Charlotte Wells (IF, OF)
Chloe Wigington (OF)
The four players still eligible for selection based on attendance and performance between now and the London Cup are:
Chloe Hodge (IB, OF)
Saskia Johnston (OF)
Jodie Rushin (C, Utility)
Louisa Scott (IF, OF)
Since those selections were made, however, Lauren Bromage has had to decline her selection for family reasons and Gabry Sassoli for financial reasons, a sad but increasingly prevalent fact of life when programmes get no external funding.
GB Cadette selections
GB Cadette (Under-16) Girls' Head Coach Sarah Jones and Assistant Coach Joss Thompson have selected 12 players to travel to Arezzo in Italy from August 2-5 to compete in the Under-16 section at the annual Tuscany Series Tournament. The tournament will provide valuable competition experience for the players leading up to European Cadette Championships in 2013.
Five additional players have been selected as Non-Travelling Reserves:
The players selected are:
Grace Dickinson (2B, OF)
Eleanor Dowd (C, 3B)
Matilda Dowd (1B, OF)
Lucy Hall (OF, 1B)
Amie Hutchinson (P, 3B, Utility)
Gemma Mackinnon (2B, Utility)
Sionna Madden (Utility)
Chelsea Robison (OF, Utility)
Jodie Rushin (C, IF)
Gabry Sassoli (Utility)
Immy Thomas (OF, 2B)
Sian Wigington (SS, OF)
The players selected as Non-Travelling Reserves are:
Lauren Church
Katie Long
Rhea Simister
Erin Simmonds
Megan Strachan
GB Under-13 selections
The GB Minime (Under-13) programme, under Head Coach Caroline Champion, is planning to send two teams to the ESF's Massimo Romeo Youth Cup in Collechio, Italy in August, formerly the European Minime Championships.
Selections for the GB Under-13 and London Cubs teams will be announced later in May.