The GB Cubs, the Under-13 Girls’ Fastpitch National Team, flew to Croatia on Wednesday morning, 9 August, for a two-tournament 
tour that will begin with an invitational tournament hosted by the Croatian club Princ Zagreb and end with the European Massimo Romeo Youth Trophy (EMRYT) tournament in Italy.
The tournament in Croatia will begin on Friday evening, 11 August and run over the weekend, while the EMRYT tournament in Collecchio, near Parma, will begin on Wednesday 16 August and finish on Saturday 19 August.
The GB Under-13s have competed in the annual EMRYT tournament for more than a decade, and won a silver medal in 2019. The hope is that the warm-up tournament in Croatia will help prepare the team for Italy, where we have entered the more competitive Sport Division, and allow the coaches to assess the athletes’ capabilities in a game environment.
Croatia
The timing of the GB Cubs’ flight to Croatia was designed to give the team a couple of days to bond and get to know each other on and off the field, and a training session was held on Thursday afternoon.
The tournament in Croatia will be a five-team round-robin followed by placing games in which the GB Cubs will face the host team Princ Zagreb, plus the Lady Pirates, the Panthers, and the T- Girls.
Once the tournament has ended, the team will leave for Italy by coach, arriving early Monday morning.
Monday will be a day to settle and adjust after a long coach journey before a training session and pre-tournament meetings on Tuesday.
Team Manager Julie Spittle said, “The advantages to the programme are that after all our training sessions in Britain, the athletes get more game experience and get an opportunity to learn how to work together as a team and apply those skills in a meaningful way. They will also be in a game environment for longer, and this helps to change their mindset and get them more game-ready.”
Italy
At the EMRYT tournament in Italy, the GB Cubs will face just three other teams in the Sport Division: Team Israel, Joudrs Prague from Czechia, and Italy.
Meanwhile, nine teams from five different countries have entered the Futures Division at the tournament.
In the Sport Division, the competition will be played as a double round-robin over the first three days, with gold and bronze medal games on Saturday, so the Cubs will have two games a day on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and a final game on Saturday.
The team will kick off the tournament on Wednesday 16 August with games against Joudrs Prague and Team Israel.
Players and staff
The players competing for the GB Under-13s in Croatia and Italy are:
Lily Bateman
Sapphire Lyon Carroll
Kora Douglass
Clara Fontana
Grace Gaines
Erin Hart
Ella Heath
Ava Lelos
Ryo Lord
Jessica Rice
Alex Pointon
Olivia Riddle
Sydney Schmidt
The coaching staff for the tournaments are:
Head Coach: Jodie Rushin
Assistant Coach: Holly Ireland
Assistant Coach: Dani Briggs (Italy only)
Pitching Coach: Dawne Edwards
Team Operations Manager: Julie Spittle