At the 2025 BBF Congress in Leicester, GB Women’s National Team Head Coach Pietro Sollecito and assistant coach Dani Briggs gave an inspirational presentation on how the WNT achieved their European success earlier that Summer. That success not only included a European Gold medal but also a ticket to the 2026 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers which will be held later this year.
Success aside, the presentation by the coaching staff highlighted something deeper within this team, their dedication to inspiring and developing others within the Great Britain Baseball Community.
Nothing highlights this dedication more than a glance at the Women’s National Team calendar for 2026 which is filled not only with training and friendlies, as they prepare for their first ever appearance in a World Cup Qualifier, but also WNT led development clinics throughout the country.
This past weekend, ahead of a training day at the Alan Higgs Centre in Coventry, members of the the GB WNT led their first development clinic of the year in Birmingham alongside the Birmingham Goats (Birmingham Baseball Club Youth Team).
Coaches Pietro Sollecito and Dani Briggs were joined by WPBL Boston & GB’s Laura Hirai and Birmingham & GB Lhiez Dela Paz as they led a session for the youth players alongside Birmingham coaches including Youth Team Coach Said Bayan.
“We have been very intentional in making sure that the sport is accessible to all and is well represented by girls in the programme.” coach Bayan commented.“This type of collaboration between local and national setups is how we can continue to take the game to the next level and it’s great that there is a coaching staff that recognises that. The players had an amazing time and parent feedback was really positive.”
In February the Women will lead development clinics in Wales and Nottingham with more sessions to be announced.
“It’s clear that the GB WNT have tapped into something very special domestically.” said WNT Head Coach, Pietro Sollecito “We are using the gold medal victory as inspiration to not only up our level of play, but also to set GB up nicely for years and generations to come.”
When not helping to develop future talent, GB women will be focusing on preparations for the World Baseball Qualifiers with a number of trips and events planned.
In March the squad will head to Amsterdam for Spring Training alongside The Netherlands WNT and Quebec Women’s Baseball Academy, for whom new WNT outfield coach, Patricia Landry, is the High-Performance Women’s Programme Director.
Back on British soil GB will host three days of development sessions for girls and women along with a WNT International Tournament at Farnham Park from June 5th to 8th. The weekend will include a special guest, Justine Siegel of Baseball for All, US Women’s Development Teams and co-Founder of the Women’s Professional Baseball League in attendance to bring her experience and expertise to the event.
With the GB Women’s World Cup Baseball Qualifier location set to be announced in the next couple of weeks, 2026 will be the busiest and one of the most exciting years in the team’s history.
GB Women’s Baseball is self funded and relies heavily on the generous donations of individuals and businesses. If you would like to help the team you can donate through our crowd funder with every penny raised going to GB Women Baseball.
“We are always looking for future talent across the country.” said Coach Briggs “Girls 16 and under have a wealth of opportunities to grow their skills this year and we can’t wait to identify more players as our programme continues.”
If you are interested in knowing more about the GB Women’s development squad U16 and future opportunities please contact Dani Briggs dani.briggs@gb-baseball.com
Upcoming dates
21 Feb – GB WNT-led development clinic in Cardiff
21 Feb – GB WNT Training in Cardiff
22 Feb – GB Led development clinic for Nottingham Baseball
1st March – GB Development Team training Leicester
21st March – GB WNT-led Girls development clinic and Development Team Training – Cardiff
29 March – 4 April: GB WNT Spring Training in Amsterdam alongside the Quebec Women’s Baseball Academy and the Netherlands WNT
23 – 25 May: GB WNT competes in the Battle for Britain tournament
5 – 8 June: International WNT Invitational Tournament Farnham Park
TBA – GB WNT first ever appearance in the Women’s Baseball World Cup Qualifiers