GB Under-13 Girls’ Fastpitch Team Head Coach Jodie Rushin has now announced selections for the 2022 GB Cubs squad that will compete in the annual 
European Massimo Romeo Youth Tournament (EMRYT) from 10-13 August in Collecchio, Italy.
Because of the pandemic, this will be the first time that Softball Europe has staged this competition since 2019, and on that occasion, the GB Cubs won the silver medal in the more competitive Sport Division.
This year, eight teams have entered the tournament, well down from pre-pandemic levels: there were 18 entries in 2018 and 17 entries in 2019.
Four teams will play in the Sport Division, which is a female-only competition: Italy 1 (winners in 2019), GB Cubs, Joudrs Orange from the Czech Republic and the Israel Sabras.
The Futures Division, where teams can include a mixture of girls and boys, will also have four entries: Joudrs Navy, Italy 2, Seleccion Navarra from Spain and Softball Club Princ from Croatia.
In both divisions, teams will play a double round-robin from Wednesday through Friday, with bronze medal and gold medal games in each division on Saturday.
2022 GB Cubs
Given that it’s been three years since the EMRYT was last played it’s not surprising that only one player who took part in the tournament in 2019 – Megan Rollins – is still on this year’s team.
The full squad that will travel to Italy is:
Lily Bateman
Amelie Caesar
Lily Daniels
Clara Fontana
Erin Hart
Anna Kingston
Emma Lanza
Rebecca Longman
Sapphire Lyon-Carroll
Alex Pointon
Megan Rollins
Lola Thomas
Two players have been selected as non-travelling reserves for the team:
Becky Davies
Tess Gibbons
The staff that will take the team to the tournament will be:
Head Coach and Sports Therapist: Jodie Rushin
Assistant Coaches: Elysee Laporte and Hannah Edwards
Pitching Coach: Dawne Edwards
Team Operations Manager: Julie Spittle