As the National Governing Body for British baseball we are delighted at the growth of blind baseball across the country and the performance of the GB Blind Baseball team on the international stage.
This September, the GB Blind Baseball team will be representing the country in the WBSC International Cup being held here at the National Baseball and Softball Complex at Farnham Park near Slough.
We are seeking to raise funds for our very successful national team who have now competed in the inaugural WBSC International cup 2022 coming away with a silver medal, and in 2023 our national team took bronze in the WBSC European Championships.
It is a huge honour for all involved to compete against the worlds best athletes but as everything comes at a cost.
Our aim is to cover the cost for the players so that they don’t feel under pressure financially and can concentrate on competing with the world's best.
Blind Baseball was originated in Italy over 30 years ago and came to the shores of England five years ago.
Since then the game has gone global and there are now over 12 teams playing internationally including teams from Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy , Hungary, Tanzania, Cuba, China and Pakistan.
This puts us in a great position to achieve our goal of having Blind Baseball as a paralympic sport in the near future.
Our team of coaches and players have been promoting and developing the game now for over five years with a wealth of experience and knowledge gained to grow the sport not just at grassroots level but creating pathways to enable players to represent their country at the highest level.
We now have seven teams playing actively around England and Wales with more teams in the development stage to compete next season.
The sport caters for players all abilities and age is no barrier with over 10 players playing competitively being over 50 years old.
Your generosity would mean the absolute world to players who work sohard to achieve their excellence.
As we have no external financial support and need to accommodate 10 visually impaired players and five sighted coaches and support staff so we want to raise the money to ease the burden on the players who have the honour of representing their country.
The money raised will all go to the cost of hotels, travel, transport, food, entry fees and playing and training kit.
Being a part of witnessing the impact the sport has on visually impaired individuals is hugely rewarding.
Creating an opportunity for many who are at risk of being isolated and detached from society is a major way for us all to raise aspirations for those involved as well as encouraging others to join the community and get involved in this exciting sport.