August 2022 Newsletter
Welcome to the August Newsletter!
GB Women Make History
Congratulations to the Great Britain Women’s Senior National Team on making history in Montpellier, France this month at the WBSC European Women’s Championships. The GB Women’s side was the first British Baseball team to ever go to a Women’s European Championships. The team played against the Czech Republic, Netherlands and French across the three games. You can find all the results and the streams of the women’s games on the WBSC YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/WBSCEurope. Congratulations to John Baxendale who was also in France umpiring the Championships. John is a graduate of Wendelstedt Umpire School and regularly suits up for many of the BBF’s National Baseball League Games.
Great Britain’s Successful Summer!
The Youth National GB Program has had one of its greatest summers in the history of the program. All three squads reached the finals of their respective European qualifying tournaments.
GB U12s U12 European Qualifier Winners!: The Great Britain U12s have won the U12 European Baseball Championship Qualifier, which was held parallel to the U12 European Baseball Championship in Vienna, Austria. As a result, the team has now qualified for the 2023 U12 European Championships. Congratulations to Coach Brian Lainoff!
GB U15s U15 European Qualifier Runners Up!: The GB U15s narrowly lost out on winning the WBSC U15 European Qualifier. The team won the most games in a U15 tournament in GB history and also had nominated the MVP of the tournament.
GB U18s U18 European Qualifier Winners!: Like the U12s, The Great Britain U18s have won the U18 European Baseball Championship Qualifier, which was held this week in Sundbyberg, Sweden. As a result, the team qualifies for the European Championships which are due to take place in mid-August of this year in the Czech Republic. Congratulations to coach Jonathan Rodriguez!
Upcoming World Baseball Classic Qualifier Regensburg Germany
The Great Britain Men’s Senior National Team is due to compete in the upcoming World Baseball Classic Qualifier in Regensburg, Germany. The German city will be in the spotlight from September 16th to the 21st, as hosts Germany, Czech Republic, Spain, France and Great Britain will compete together with South Africa for two spots in the main tournament of the World Baseball Classic to be held in March of 2023. With only two teams advancing after the double eliminated formatted tournament, at least one European team will be guaranteed to join the already qualified 16 teams in the main event, which already includes the Netherlands, Italy and Israel.
British Baseball Federation Baseball5 Tournaments
We are also delighted to be announcing two Baseball5 tournaments, one Adult and Youth that will be hosted at Farnham Park in August and September. These two tournaments are being run by Lee Manning Development Official of the British Baseball Federation.
For more details, and to sign up your team, please follow the registration links here:
Youth Baseball5 Tournament Saturday August 27th 2022: https://forms.zohopublic.eu/britishbaseballfederation/form/YouthBaseball52022TournamentRegistration/formperma/1fhOTGyLjeXHIux-7iCXXPhfl2Epwzjh8ARY093w0PQ
Adult Baseball5 Tournament Saturday September 24th 2022: https://forms.zohopublic.eu/britishbaseballfederation/form/AdultBaseball52022TournamentRegistration/formperma/18qvRDAAa0jBB_RJzBEk4G9iclZSRU3sXB5WR5fqcqI
World Baseball Softball 2022 Taiwan Congress
This July, The British Baseball Federation was also represented by President Tom Thornhill at the 2022 World Baseball Softball Congress in Taipei City, Taiwan. The Congress brought together more than 200 representatives from 133 member Federations to discuss key issues in both Baseball and Softball. Tom was joined by British Softball Federation Delegate Mike Jennings for the trip.
London Archers in PONY 2022 World Series
The London Archers have spent the past weekend competing in the Pony World Series in Lew Hays, Washington, Pennsylvania. After winning the PONY League Baseball U14 Championships earlier this year the London side were invited to compete in the prestigious tournament schedule for the 12th August. PONY organizes youth baseball and softball leagues and tournaments and each year televises a Pony League World Series. The competition attracts teams from around the world.
Blake Taylor at the Little League World Series
British Baseball Umpire Blake Taylor is also currently out in Williamsport umpiring at the Little League World Series. Blake was added to the umpire staff earlier this year. For more information, you can read the official release on the Little League website here: https://www.littleleague.org/news/volunteer-umpires-announced-for-the-2022-little-league-world-series-events/
MLB Announce London Games
It’s official. The Cardinals & Cubs will face off in London for a two-game series June 24-25!
The MLB London Series will be reprised in 2023 with a two-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs on June 24-25, 2023, as was announced today by Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA).
The 2023 London Series will mark a return to the baseball-configured London Stadium following the inaugural Mitel & MLB London Series that was held on June 29-30, 2019 between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. The two-games at London Stadium were the first-ever regular season games played in Europe.
British Baseball Federation Development Committee
The British Baseball Federation has created a Development Sub-Committee to address the Federation’s development objectives for the sport of Baseball in Britain. In the short term, the committee has been actively recruiting members of the community interested and qualified in developing the sport to help the Federation work with BaseballSoftballUK on the Baseball Development Plan in advance of the 2022 Annual General Meeting. The long-term goal of the committee is to develop the Federation’s ability to sustainably enact the development principles outlined above.
Vacant Board Positions
The BBF are searching for volunteers to fill the following vacant positions on our Board:
Youth Affiliated Clubs League Commissioner - Oversees aspects of youth baseball, leagues and rules and acts as the primary point of contact for youth baseball queries. Also responsible for scheduling and format of Youth National Baseball Championships (YNBCs).
Coaches Commissioner - Oversees aspects of coaches development to enhance coaching for all levels. Should provide feedback on performance, skill and improvement techniques to improve the skills of our member coaches
Treasurer - Oversees all aspects of the financial management of the Federation. The Treasurer is the Chair of the Finance Committee and controls the bank accounts for the Federation. Should be a qualified accountant.
If you are interested in performing any of the roles listed above, please email info@britishbaseball.org.uk
Tom Thornhill
British Baseball Federation President
Board
Tom Thornhill – President – elected AGM November 2021
Chris Carter - Senior Affiliated Clubs Leagues Commissioner. – elected AGM November 2021
Chris Deacon - Officials Commissioner– co-opted November 2021
Earl Dix - Secretary – elected AGM November 2021
Erik Gustafson - National Teams Programme Official – elected AGM March 2021
Lee Manning – Development Officer – elected AGM November 2021
If you would like to have further information or wish to contact us, our addresses are as follows:
Web: www.britishbaseball.org.uk
Email: info@britishbaseball.org.uk
Twitter: @BritishBaseball
Instagram: british_baseball_federation
Facebook: BritishBaseball
