The Great Britain Women’s National Team (WNT) hosted a landmark event on June 6 and 7, with the WNT of Czech Republic travelling to Farnham Park, Slough, for the first-ever WBSC-sanctioned competition on British soil, the Great Britain Women’s Baseball Invitational Tournament. This designation meant that the results between national teams over the weekend would be considered official, with points in the world rankings up for grabs. The games would also serve as a rematch of the 2025 Women’s Baseball European Championship title game. In addition to these two clubs, GB Baseball fielded its WNT Development Team, which was joined by two teams from Baseball For All (BFA) from the U.S., led by pioneer Justine Siegal.
Going into the weekend, GB was ranked 15th in the world, with Czech Republic a few points behind at No. 18. The Czechs had the upper hand in the three official games, but a total of nine other contests were played, offering all-day baseball at Farnham Park, the national facility for baseball and softball in the U.K.
“It is definitely the best preparation that we can get for the World Cup qualifier in August,” explained Artie Herbert, catcher for the Women’s National Team. “It is great to test ourselves against really class opponents — I thought we played well. Everything is heating up now with the World Cup qualifier just a couple of months away and I cannot wait to get out there.”
As part of the events surrounding the Invitational, there was a training day on June 5 and a free baseball camp on the morning of June 7. Coaches include Baseball For All’s Siegal and Liz Benn, along with members of the Great Britain women’s baseball squad.
The presence of Siegal was a major coup for the event. Best known for her series of firsts in baseball in the U.S., she was the first female coach of a professional men’s baseball team, coaching for the Brockton Rox (Canadian-American Association) in 2009. Two years later, she became the first woman to throw batting practice to an MLB team, the Cleveland Indians, during spring training, a feat she has repeated for four other clubs. In 2015, she was the first female coach employed by an MLB team when the Oakland Athletics brought her on for a fortnight’s coaching during the club’s autumn instructional league. Siegal has also coached for Israel in the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifier and for Baseball United’s Arabia Wolves, and was the premier female coach in Japanese and Mexican professional baseball. She is also the co-founder and commissioner of the new Women’s Professional Development League.
Behind all of these accomplishments is Baseball For All, a non-profit founded by Siegal after completing her undergraduate degree. According to the charity’s website [link], “Our goal is to build gender equity in baseball by providing girls with real opportunities to play, coach, and lead in this sport. On top of it all, we’re a support system, a strong community that ensures that no girl or woman in baseball feels alone.“
“I reached out to Pietro [Sollecito, GB WNT Head Coach] and asked if we could help over here and the opportunity to have teams involved was fantastic and it led to a little community for the weekend,” noted Siegal: “Our players are having a great time playing baseball and seeing Windsor Castle! Everyone has been so kind to us and having these girls over here to play internationally is special.”
The event was originally supposed to include the national team of South Africa. As we first reported https://www.mister-baseball.com/great-britain-czech-republic-wnt-first-ever-official-wbsc-event/, the WNT players for South African Baseball (SAB) were unable to raise enough funds to make the trip, and announced in late May that it would have to cancel its tour of the U.K. According to SAB, France was originally supposed to compete in the invitational as well [link][link]. South African Baseball’s women’s youth teams have also been invited to the Baseball For All summer tournament in Rockford (Ill.)[link].
The Great Britain Women’s National Team now turns to August, when it travels to Taiwan for the Group Stage of the WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup. The WNT is currently fundraising for travel to the event, and you can chip in here [link].
Results
*Officially sanctioned game. All others are considered exhibitions and no score was kept.
June 6
BFA Sparks – Great Britain
BFA Genesis – GB Development
*Czech Republic 5 – Great Britain 1
GB Women’s Baseball League South – BFA Sparks
*Czech Republic 12 – GB Development 6
GB Women’s Baseball League South – BFA Genesis
June 7
GB Development – BFA Sparks
*Great Britain 6 – Czech Republic 7
BFA Genesis – GB Development
BFA Sparks – Great Britain
Czech Republic – BFA Genesis
BFA Genesis – Great Britain