Selections for the GB Women's Fastpitch Team and the GB Junior (Under-19) Women's Team have been announced for 2013 summer competitions by Women's Team Head Coach Hayley Scott and Under-19 Head Coach Rachael Watkeys.
The GB Women's Team will play in European Championships in Prague from 7-13 July – a tournament that will also serve as a qualifier for the 2014 World Championships, scheduled to be held in the Netherlands, marking the first time this competition will have been played in Europe.
The GB Under-19s will play in the ISF Junior World Championships in Brampton, Ontario, Canada from 1-7 July.
GB JUNIORS
The GB Junior Women's Team finished sixth in European Championships last summer, their highest-ever European ranking, and is able to compete in the Junior World Championships because the ISF have made this an open tournament for the first time, with no qualification required. All ISF World Championships will be open tournaments by 2016.
The competition
The 16 competing countries in the 2013 Junior World Championships are the defending champions USA, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, the Czech Republic, China, Puerto Rico, Botswana, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Korea, Singapore, Venezuela and Mexico.
Great Britain has been seeded sixth in Pool A, where they will compete against the USA, Canada, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Puerto Rico, Korea and Venezuela. The top four teams from each pool will qualify for the medal playoffs, but unlike in previous World Championships, there will be a knockout competition for the teams that don't make the playoffs to determine final placings.
Team selection
The following 14 players have been chosen for the GB squad that will compete in Canada:
Emma Bridge (P)
Hannah Cook (OF, C)
Lauren Evans (1B, 3B)
Amie Hutchison (P, IF)
Amanda Marshall (3B, C)
Tahli Moore (IF)
Ellie Pamenter (P, IB)
Nicole Ratel (C)
Jodie Rushin (OF, 2B)
Amy Trask (3B, 1B)
Keeli Waugh (P, IF)
Amy Wells (SS, 2B)
Charlotte Wells (1B, 2B)
Chloe Wigington (OF, 3B)
Nine of the 14 players have previously played for GB, while five, including pitchers Emma Bridges from Australia and Keeli Waugh from the United States, are newcomers.
Four more players have been named as reserves who may be called upon to travel if any of those selected drop out because of injury or for other reasons:
Grace Dickinson (OF, 2B)
Maisie Dowd (IF)
Christine Findlay (OF)
Lucy Hall (OF, 1B)
Staff
The staff will be:
Head Coach:
Rachael Watkeys
Assistant Coach:
Liz Knight
Team Manager:
Simon Mortimer
Assistant Manager:
Chris MacLeod
Physiotherapist:
To be named
Team prospects
The World Championships will be the toughest competition that the GB Under-19 Women's Team, which first played in European Championships in 2000, has ever faced. But on paper, this should be the strongest-ever GB Junior Team. Playing against teams from around the world will be a new experience for GB, and the team goal will be to make the playoffs.
GB WOMEN
The GB Women's Team has finished second and third in the last two European Championships in 2009 and 2011 and qualified to play in World Championships in 2010 and 2012, where the team finished 11th on both occasions. These are tremendous results for an unfunded programme and a country with a very small fastpitch player pool.
The competition
Twenty teams have entered the European Championships, and four will qualify for the World Championships next year in Haarlem – but this includes the defending European Champions Netherlands, who will qualify automatically as the host regardless of where they finish in the tournament.
GB has been seeded first in Pool C, which also includes Russia, Germany, Israel and Denmark. This is by far the most difficult of the four pools, from which two of five teams will go forward to the playoffs.
Team selection
GB Head Coach Hayley Scott has currently selected 13 players for the squad, but up to four more players will be added from a reserve list over the next month or so. The players selected are:
Jenny Ball (IF)
Sarah Craig (IF)
Carling Hare (P)
Karlene Headley-Cooper (OF)
Naomi Jones (OF, Utility)
Sarah Jones (2B)
Amy Moore (C, 1B)
Steph Pearce (C, OF)
Laura Thompson (OF)
Keeli Waugh (P)
Kori Waugh (OF, IF, P)
Amy Wells (IF)
Kristi Yoshizawa (3B, C)
Ten of the 13 players have previously played for GB, while three – including American pitcher Keeli Waugh – are newcomers.
Two of the players selected so far – Keeli Waugh and Amy Wells – will also be playing for the GB Under-19s in the Junior World Championships in Canada and will have to make a quick flight back to Europe to join the Women's Team, since the Junior World Championships end on July 7, the day the European Championships begin.
Additional players will be selected for the squad over the coming weeks from the following list:
Lauren Evans (1B, 3B)
Steph Gillard (OF)
Susie Hall (OF, C)
Lauren Mazucca (IF)
Tahli Moore (IF)
Ellie Pamenter (P)
Ali Parkerson (Utility)
Kelly Randall (OF)
Linda Randall (OF)
Nicole Ratel (C)
Sara Robb (IF, OF)
Amy Trask (3B, IB)
Chloe Wigington (OF)
Felicity West (OF, IF)
Alicja Wolny (1B)
This list includes six more players who will be with the GB Under-19 Women in Canada.
Staff
The staff will be:
Head Coach:
Hayley Scott
Assistant Coach:
Robbie Robison
Pitching Coach:
Megan Brown
Team Manager/Logistics
Liz Keaveney
Team Manager at the Tournament:
Maya Traykova
Physiotherapist:
Cian O'Doherty
Team prospects
Several veterans who have been key players for the GB Women's Team since as far back as 2005 retired after the 2012 World Championships, though nine players are likely to return from the team that played in Whitehorse last summer.
Most keenly felt will be the loss of pitcher Stacie Townsend, who was selected to the All-World Team after the last World Championships. Stacie's pitching has made GB competitive in every competition the team has played in since 2009, and how far the GB Women can go this summer, and whether the team can qualify for the 2014 World Championships, will depend to a large extent on how young pitchers Carling Hare (20) and Keeli Waugh (17) will fare, and how well new players can blend with those returning.