Monday 4 July -- The European Under-23 Men’s Fastpitch Championship will be played this week from 6-9 July in Sezimovo Usti in the Czech Republic, 
and the GB Under-23 Men’s Team players and staff will feel that they have a realistic chance to qualify for the WBSC Under-23 World Cup this autumn in Argentina.
The tournament represents a series of firsts: the first-ever European Championship for this age group in men’s fastpitch, the first competitive outing in Europe for a GB Under-23 Team that was formed just before the pandemic, and the chance to qualify for the first-ever WBSC World Cup for this age group and format.
Only four teams have entered the European Championship: the Czech Republic, Denmark, Israel and Great Britain, and at the end of the tournament two of those teams will have qualified for the World Cup.
The Czech Republic is the perennial European Champion in men’s fastpitch at all age levels and will be expected to qualify for Argentina, but a strong and confident GB Under-23 Men’s Team will feel that they can gain that second qualification place, and the GB Team has made the decision that if they can qualify for Argentina, they will somehow find a way to go.
Schedule
The schedule for the European Under-23 Men’s Championship is straightforward: a double round-robin played over the first three days, Wednesday through Friday, followed by the bronze medal game and gold medal game on Saturday.
GB will open the tournament against the Czech Republic at noon on Wednesday Czech time (11.00 am in the UK) and will then play Israel shortly afterwards at 3.30 pm local time.
On Thursday, GB and Israel will play again at 10.00 am, before GB takes on Denmark at 4.00 pm.
Friday will be a tough day, with games against Denmark at 10.00 am and the Czech Republic at 6.00 pm.
By the end of Friday, if GB has managed to qualify for the gold medal game, then a place in Argentina will already be assured.
Players and staff
The following players who have been selected for the European Under-23 Men’s Championship arrived in the Czxech Republic on Sunday 3 July:
Bruce Candlish
Bryn Davies
Matt Eder
Max Fagan
Olly Howley
Edan Lord
Kai Owens
Lucas PreFontaine
Harvey Robinson
Tom Russell
Jack Scholes
Josh Smith
Josh Stanley
Dom Stephenson
Ben Tomlin
This is the team that, missing only Australian-based pitcher Matt Eder, posted an impressive 16-15 win over the Swedish Senior Men’s Team during the recent Sweden Series weekend at Farnham Park.
The squad will be supported by the following staff:
Head Coach -- Richard Brown
Team Operations Manager – Jill Russell
Assistant Coach – Trent Nash
Pitching Coach – Damon Brown
Sports Therapist -- Kila O'Boyle
Following the action
Reports on GB games at the tournament will be posted daily on the BSF website.
There will also be webstreaming and play-by-play updates on all games on the WBSC Europe website here:
Photos by Ieuan Gale