By Bob Fromer
Ostrava, Czech Republic: August 1 – The Czech town of Ostrava, near the Polish border in the north-east of the country, is probably no one's idea of a holiday destination. In the past, Ostrava was an industrial wasteland of a kind peculiar to Eastern Europe, or maybe parts of China today: spewing mills, mountainous slag heaps, fetid water running in the streets and darkness in the air by day as well as by night.
Thankfully, those days are largely gone for Ostrava – and in any case, the GB Under-16 Girls' Fastpitch Team is not coming here for a holiday. Instead, a strong GB Under-16 squad is coming with hopes of a high finish at the 2013 European Cadette Championships that will start next Monday, with the final scheduled for 4.30 pm on Saturday, August 10.
Twelve-team format
Twelve countries have entered the competition, and the European Softball Federation, in its wisdom, has chosen a format that begins with four groups of three teams, with two teams from each group going forward to playoffs.
GB has been grouped with the Netherlands and Romania in Pool C in the opening round-robin phase, and one win will take GB through to the first playoff round.
The eight teams that go forward will separate into two four-team groups, and three teams from each of those groups will move forward again to further playoff rounds, culminating in a Page Playoff on Friday and Saturday.
The GB Team will play the Netherlands at 4.00 pm on Monday on the second field at the tournament venue, the Arrows Baseball and Softball Club in Ostrava, and will then play Romania at 9.00 am Tuesday on the main field.
After that, GB's fate – and schedule – will depend on where the team has finished in the pool, but whatever happens, GB will have a playoff game of some sort on Tuesday afternoon, and probably two more games on Wednesday and Thursday.
Temperatures in Ostrava during the week will be between 30 and 40 degrees!
Strong team
New GB Under-16 Head Coach Jeremy Thomas is taking a tight 12-player squad to the tournament, with 10 of the players based in Britain and two from overseas.
The team will include three pitchers, and the pitching staff will be led by 15-year-old Amie Hutchison from Fakenham in Norfolk, who also played with the GB Under-19 Women's Team at the World Championships in Canada earlier this summer.
The team's other pitchers will be the two overseas players: 14-year-old Alana Snow, daughter of GB Men's Fastpitch Team Head Coach Russ Snow, and 15-year-old Lorin Cook from New Zealand, whose older sister Hannah was a member of the GB Under-19 Team in Canada.
The home-based GB Under-16 players were able to play together as a team earlier this summer in the Great Britain Fastpitch League, and did unexpectedly well against Under-19 and adult teams, including winning promotion at one stage from Division 2 to Division 1.
“It was a terrific experience for the team,” Head Coach Jeremy Thomas said, “and the best preparation they could have had.”
The full squad
All GB games from the European Cadette Championships will be covered on a daily basis on the BSF website (www.britishsoftball.org).
Meanwhile, the full GB Team that will play in Ostrava, plus each player's age, home town and club team is as follows:
Lorin Cook
15
Blenheim, New Zealand
Nelson Stoke Eagles, New Zealand
Eleanor Dowd
15
Birmingham
Nottingham Fastpitch
Matilda Dowd
15
Birmingham
Nottingham Fastpitch
Ella Henson
14
London
London Mets Baseball
Laura Hirai
14
London
London Mets Baseball
Amie Hutchison
15
Fakenham, Norfolk
Norfolk Softball
Gemma Mackinnon
15
Marden, Kent
Richings Park Softball Club
Chelsie Robison
14
Newbury, Berks
Richings Park and Chalfont Softball Clubs
Jasmine Rushin
14
Horsham
Richings Park Softball Club
Alana Snow
14
California, USA
Immy Thomas
15
Maidenhead
Wildcats and Richings Park Softball Clubs
Sian Wigington
16
Ascot, Berks
Richings Park Softball Club
Team staff
Team staff are:
Head Coach
Jeremy Thomas
Assistant Coach
Joss Thompson
Team Manager
Karen Field