Stephan Rapaglia
Alan Smith and Stephan Rapaglia have announced their resignations as General Manager and Head Coach of the Great Britain baseball team, which they have taken to a #2 ranking in Europe and to impressive performances at the IBAF Baseball World Cup last September. Their departure from the National Team programme will take effect on Sunday, February 28, the date of the upcoming British Baseball Federation AGM.
Smith and Rapaglia have released a statement addressed to AGM delegates, who will represent Federation clubs and teams at the meeting, and to all members of the British Baseball community, urging them to retain a competitive GB Senior Team as a key fiscal and developmental priority. The two men argue that to do so is both affordable and essential to the long-term future of baseball in this country.
However, their statement is not restricted to matters surrounding the Great Britain programme. It also highlights the current “fractured” state of the UK baseball community and urges Federation voters to “make the right choices” at the AGM.
You can read the full statement on the British Baseball website at britishbaseball.org, and the future of the national baseball team is being discussed over on Matt Smith’s BaseballGB blog.
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Posted in: Management & Direction.
Tagged: coaching · funding · management · programme
University of Michigan head baseball coach Rich Maloney has announced that seniors Chris Berset and Mike Dufek have been selected as co-captains by their teammates for the 2010 season.
Chris Berset also plays for the GB Baseball Team, and was a standout performer at the IBAF World Cup last September.
GB Team Manager Alan Smith said: “Chris was one of our best players at the World Cup and a great asset to the GB team, not just for his performance on the field but also for his approach to the whole trip. His attitude and behaviour were exemplary, never complaining, and he was always willing to go with the flow. He was a credit to himself, his parents, the GB programme and to his college coach.”
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Posted in: Squad News.
Tagged: players
It was announced today on mister-baseball.com that the Confederation of European Baseball has approved the proposed schedule for the 2010 European Baseball Championship which will be held in Stuttgart, Heidenheim and Neuenburg, Germany, from July 23 to August 1. As well as showing the confirmed schedule, the article on the Mister Baseball website also has information about ticket sales for entry to the event.
In November we announced that Britain will be matched up with Spain and Italy in its first-round group. Spain won the bronze medal in the most recent European Championship in 2007 while Italy – despite finishing seventh in the most recent Euros – has traditionally dominated European baseball along with the Netherlands. Sweden (6th in 2007), Croatia (8th) and Greece (did not participate) make up the rest of Britain’s group. The Great Britain team will be defending its 2007 silver medal.
Posted in: European Championship.
Tagged: EC · European Championship · Germany
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GB's Chris Falls with the silver medal trophy at the 2007 EC
The Mister Baseball website has revealed the format and the schedule for next summer’s European Championship in Germany, in which the Great Britain baseball team will defend its 2007 silver medal.
Britain will be matched up with Spain and Italy in its first-round group. Spain won the bronze medal in the most recent European Championship in 2007 while Italy – despite finishing seventh in the most recent Euros – has traditionally dominated European baseball along with the Netherlands. Sweden (6th in 2007), Croatia (8th) and Greece (did not participate) make up the rest of Britain’s group. GB defeated Croatia 4-1 on the way to qualifying for the second round of this summer’s Baseball World Cup. Later, it was beaten 10-3 by the Spaniards.
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Posted in: European Championship, International Baseball.
Tagged: Croatia · EC · European Championship · Italy · Spain
The British Baseball Academy will hold its first national training session this Sunday, November 1, at Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire.
The British Baseball Academy is a BaseballSoftballUK programme that exists to ensure that all players with the appropriate levels of commitment have an opportunity to practice and improve their baseball skills.
Meanwhile, the Northern and Southern Regional Academies got off to a good start ahead of the National Academy, as Academy coaches ran practices in both the North and South of England on Sunday, October 25.
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Posted in: Junior Baseball.
Tagged: Academy · Junior Baseball · programme · training
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