GB Head Coach for the Men’s U18 Programme, Ian Tomlin, has stepped down from the role but will remain in post until a suitable replacement has been found. The British Softball Federation would like to thank Ian for his tireless efforts in moving the Men’s Junior Programme to a position where he leaves it in a good place for the future.
Ian says, “It’s been a very difficult decision, one that I have mulled over for a long time. After being involved in the youth development programme for the past 11 years and having been team manager or the head coach at 5 European Championships, initially for the U19’s and lately for the U18’s. I felt it was time to hand over the reins to someone else. I felt it was necessary to continue for the last 12 months to help develop a junior development programme, with the help of Beccy Adams and Alan Le Marquand and lately with Natalie Fox, to run alongside of the GBFL. The Junior Programme is in a good place now, and this has been demonstrated by the large attendance of Juniors at GBFL weekends, over 40 last month. To put this in perspective, for the 2013 Europeans we had just 12 athletes. Finally, Clare & I are both retired, and are embarking on travels around the World that will keep us away for lengthy periods, and that is unfair on the other coaches and athletes.”
Ian’s role started in 2013 as Team Manager for the European Championships in Copenhagen, which was his entry into fastpitch despite having many years of experience in slowpitch. Since then, he was involved in both managing and coaching the squad through the Great Britain Fastpitch League, tours to France, Israel and Denmark and the 2015 and the 2017 Euros.
Ian stepped up in 2017 when he took on the role of Head coach and has led the team at a world qualifier in Israel in 2019 and the European championships in the Czech Republic in 2023.
Ian reflected on his experiences, “From the outset, I was taken by fastpitch softball. I was amazed at how with very little knowledge of the game I could have an impact on young athletes coming in to the sport. As the role is voluntary my only return was the pure enthusiasm of the athletes, their eagerness to learn and develop and the delight on their faces at achieving any success. This was most rewarding and has been the main reason for my continued involvement. In conclusion I am convinced the programme will go from strength to strength and that more young players will take up softball. I managed to grow the numbers year on year and had over 60 players across the U16,U18 and U23 teams. This last year has been amazing and I wish Beccy, Alan and Natalie every success in the continued growth of our sport Finally, I would like to pay tribute to those who have assisted me during the years;
Coaches, Pat Weightman, Josh Peat, Gareth Jooste, Matt Tomlin, John Brown, Alan Le Marquand and Ben Taylor,
Managers. Beccy Adams, Jill Russell and Clare Tomlin who stepped in to manage the 2015 Euros.
Parents - particularly Eileen Church.
One last thing. It has been an honour to be part of the Junior programme, thank you for the opportunity of leading the U19 and U18 National softball teams. I wish you all every success for the future.”
The BSF thanks Ian for his considerable effort over the years of involvement in the future and we wish him and Clare a very happy retirement! Ian will remain in place until a new Head Coach is appointed for the U18 Men’s team, and this position will be advertised in due course.