The Great Britain Fastpitch League (GBFL) .png)
will start its third season of play on Sunday 5 May at Richings Park Sports Club, with a new line-up of four senior teams in Division 1 and four in Division 2, but with promotion and relegation between the divisions after each day's play.
The league will also include a three-team Under-13 Division.
Movement
Each of the senior teams will play two seven-inning games on match days in a semi-finals and final format plus a third place game, and the team that finishes bottom of Division 1 on the day will start the next GBFL date in Division 2, while the team that wins in Division 2 will move up to Division 1 for the next league date.
GBFL Director Stan Doney, who devised the scheme, said: “This system will allow fluent movement between the divisions to ensure the best competition, and will allow clubs to build each week as opposed to year by year. It will also allow teams to play some different clubs and will make the games more intense, with more meaning and purpose.”
Dates
After the GBFL kicks off on Sunday 5 May (because of a fastpitch umpire course being held the day before), play will then mostly take place on Saturdays, with the GBFL teams convening at Richings Park on May 18 and 25, June 1 and August 17.
There will then be a Finals Weekend on September 7-8, also at Richings Park.
Senior teams
Both senior divisions are likely to have male, female and mixed teams, but only teams that are purely single-sex can qualify through the league to play in European Cup competitions in 2014.
Division 1 will start on 5 May with one men's team (London Meteors), two women's teams (London Angels and Oxford Fastpitch) and a GB Under-19 Team made up of players from both the women's and men's Under-19 national teams.
Including a GB Under-19 team in the league is designed to give the players at least some competition experience before the GB Under-19 Women go to World Championships in Canada at the end of June and the GB Under-19 Men go to European Championships in Denmark in July.
Division 2 will start with a team representing Sussex Fastpitch, two local teams from Bucks Fastpitch, plus the GB Under-16 Girls' Team, who are preparing for European Championships in August in the Czech Republic.
Games will get under way at 11.00 am on each GBFL day to allow time for travel and warm-up, and the last game of the day will start at 5.00 pm.
Under-13 Division
Meanwhile, in the Under-13 Division, players from the GB Under-13 Team and its Development Squad, the London Cubs, will be divided into three teams called Red, White and Blue and these teams will play a round-robin on each of the GBFL dates.
Both teams – the Under-13s and the Cubs – will be competing in the ESF Massimo Romeo Youth Trophy in Collechio, Italy in August.
Sharing the work
Umpiring and scoring at the GBFL will be a shared activity this year.
Some games will be called by BASU umpires, crew-chiefed by BASU Fastpitch Officer David Hurley, but other games will be officiated by players from teams in other divisions, and all games will be scored by players from teams that aren't playing at the time.
With all games having an “official scorer” it should be possible to compile statistics for the league over the course of the season.
Get involved
New players are always welcome to join the GBFL at any time during the season, and places are available on most senior teams apart from the GB Under-19 and Under-16 squads.
Anyone who wants to play should email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or ring him on 07528-865375.