2 Raiders Women selected for GB development team.
In June 2007 the GB women’s fastpitch team failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, this effectively closed the door on a programme made up primarily through the selection of overseas players. The end of this programme created an opening for a new programme with players based in the UK, the GB development team.
Trials were held in March of this year and a squad was selected to train and play as the GB development team. This team has been training since March under the leadership of BSF National Development Manager and GB Women’s team assistant coach Hayley Scott.
This new squad competed in a club tournament hosted by Cardinals Wanze BSC in Belgium on July 14th and 15th. Ten girls made the trip on the Eurostar to represent their country and two of these girls were our very own Raiders Amber Jackson and Emma Ley.
Amber who normally plays outfield and Emma who normally plays short stop swapped positions packed their cleats and took the train to Belgium to represent GB in this tournament. Both girls, out of their comfort zones and with plenty of reservations about their new positions put on the GB kit, and to their surprise found that their coach had known what she was doing when placing them in their new positions.
Amber mainly played shortstop or 3rd base throughout the tournament only going in the outfield once. She made critical stops against hard hitting men and women and made hard accurate throws to first to get several outs. As the tournament progressed Amber’s confidence grew as she realised that she probably wasn’t going to lose all her teeth playing short stop. Her understanding of her new role also improved as she began to make great calls and looked comfortable in a position she had dreaded. Amber was a solid player at shortstop and looked at home in a position she had tried to avoid.
Emma who has consistently protested she is not an outfielder and can not catch high balls caught a great catch in the opening game from a big hitter. She looked relaxed as she positioned herself under the ball before making the catch. This gave Emma a new found confidence in herself and found that she could actually play in the outfield and do a good job of it. She made aggressive picks up’s, backed up other outfielders and covered 2nd base when needed. As the games went on Emma became more and more confident in her ability to play in the outfield and it looked like the position she had tried to avoid was one she could play and play consistently well.
Both Amber and Emma took to batting well, considering they don’t have time to count to 1 let alone 2 before swinging! The first day the girls were watching the pitches and adjusting themselves to a different strike zone, they were making good contact with the ball and made it on base the majority of the time. Amber’s best hit of the tournament saw the ball fly over right fields head for a triple. Amber also showed some great base running and steals with her quick pace. Emma’s last bat of the day against the tournament winners saw her clear the fence and hit a home run to the delight of herself, her coach and her awaiting team mates on home plate. After a long 1st day in the sun with 4 games back to back, 5 games in total the girls reapplied the sunscreen and began their second day with another 4 games back to back. They showed a few errors in the first innings of the first game but eventually switched on and began to play as a team. The last game of the tournament for the GB girls was a playoff for 5th and 6th place. The girls came out running. They hit hard, threw accurately, backed up and supported each other through each inning taking them to a 10-4 victory in what was a great game. This truly was an awesome way for the girls to end their first tournament together.
The GB team and coach Hayley Scott were left shocked when they arrived at the venue to see men and women warming up together having thought they had entered into a single-sex tournament. Whether it was lost in translation or the guy in charge had just forgotten to inform the team, the 10 women would be facing mixed fastpitch teams. After the initial shock the girls composed themselves and took on each team with the same grit and determination to succeed and prove to everyone including themselves they could hold their own against any team, same sex or mixed sex and they did just that. They all developed as individuals and more importantly they grew as a team.
These were the first competitive games the team had been involved in and there will be plenty more including Malta in November this year, all in preparation for the 2009 European A Pool Championships