With the Irish Open Softball Tournament (IOST) last month, and SINCC this Sunday the 29^th of September in Galway for the first time; that will wrap up the SI competitions for 2024. Declan Carty the SI competitions officer has done an extraordinary amount of work over the course of the year, sometimes on his own and SI would like to thank him for all his hard work and effort.

IOST was a tough one this year, with only 12 teams competing (possibly too many people were at Stradbally for Electric Picnic?) Belfast Softball Club took home the top prize for the second year in a row and we would like to congratulate them on another fine finish. It was an all-Ulster final with the Belfast Cubs playing the BSC Real McCoys whose bats were just too hot to handle.

Softball Ireland has been made aware of a number of issues concerning the venue and the board has prioritised some solutions for future tournaments. If you could help us out with anything we may have missed and let us know what we can do to improve IOST, both as a tournament and one of the largest social events for SI members for the year, then if you could fill out this questionnaire it would be a great help. Thanks!

Softball Ireland Slowpitch National Team Head Coach Peter Mullen has announced an 18 player roster for the COED European Championships in July 2024.

COED Slowpitch Roster
Norma	McIntyre
Hazel	Kilduff
Eimear	Linehan
Jennifer	Ó Buachalla
Abigail	McConnell
Mary Carroll	Smith
Katie	Doyle
Merilin	Neiland
Julie	Trundle
Brian	Hehir
Christopher	Barr
Darryl	Dolan
Ken	McCarthy
Eric	Kelly
Niall	Lavery
Pearse	Newman
Simon	Lewis
Gary	O’Shea

Three squad alternates have also been nominated; Serena Costelloe, Sal Rizo and Phil Wallace. 

Speaking on the announcement of the roster, Peter Mullen said

Over the last four weeks, the 28-player squad has trained together regularly. All the players should be commended for the effort and work they put in, to ensure the coaches had difficult decisions to make. After careful consideration, this panel of 18 players was selected, which the coaches feel will best help them compete as a unit at the championships.

We would like to congratulate all players selected and look forward to working with them over the next 12 weeks.

The Softball Ireland AGM was held on March 3, 2024 in ALSAA. 27 of the 44 teams that were registered with Softball Ireland in 2023 were in attendance or sent in Proxy votes for the Secretary position as well as two Constitutional amendments that were proposed. With only one person going forward, Jonathan Spielberg was confirmed as the new Softball Ireland Secretary. In addition to the secretary, Regional and Discipline representatives – Vinny McGrane for Softball Connacht Munster, Anke Klitzing for Softball Leinster, Brendan Sweeney for Softball Ulster and Melanie Cunningham for Fastpitch were all ratified by the members for the 2024 Board. Many thanks were given to outgoing Secretary Steven Trundle whose last act as Secretary was to complete the minutes of the AGM. Those minutes will be circulated after the first sitting of the new Softball Ireland board.

Other highlights from the AGM included an update from Softball Ireland President Colum Lavery and a Medical update from Dr. Melanie Cunningham. The AGM agreed to delay the approval of the Financial Statements to help clarify some questions raised on the reporting format following the implementation of a new accounting software. Emailed questions from the membership will be answered and SI will be looking for an approval of the accounts electronically in the coming weeks.

The most exciting news for Softball Ireland Members was the IOST announcement for the 17^th and 18^th of August in MTU Cork. This being the third year held there and Declan Carty, the Competitions Officer for SI, worked hard to secure the venue and organise accommodation. More details about the IOST will be released soon.

There are still some indoor tournaments to be played, DIST in DCU on the 24th of Feb, Katie Long in Galway on 2nd of March and The Womens indoors in Belfast on 9th of March but with longer hours and warmer days it means it’s nearly time to move outdoors.

Hippetys Quadrangular will be the first outdoor blitz of the year on the 6th of April followed by the first team Blitz the Brian Walshe Cup in ALSAA on Saturday the 20th of April. This is the best time to get the whole team together and show what you have before the Leagues start.

Registration for the BWC is now open and you can register your team here

https://forms.gle/Y5yQTNfwkJxdEPgt6

Big Thanks goes to Declan Carty who has been arranging this and our other Blitz and keeping track of all tournaments under Softball Ireland.

Softball Ireland are pleased to announce the appointment of Aideen Teo as Slowpitch National Team Manager. Having recently joined the sport in 2022, Aideen is already well known among the community. She is currently on the Castleknock and Packers softball club boards, is a proud Black Panda in the All Girls league, and most recently was part of a team that represented Ireland at the Gay Games in Mexico last year.

As well as an obivous passion for the sport, Aideen brings significant professional skills and experience to the role including people management, organisation and planning. The Slowpitch coaching team are delighted with Aideen’s appointment and look forward to working closely with her to support the national squads.

Ireland’s Slowpitch National Team’s Head Coach has announced three dates for Open Trials for the National Team Programme.

The Slowpitch National Squad coaching team will be hosting three Open Trials for players
interested in joining the Co-Ed, and Men’s National Squads. Both teams will be competing in International tournaments this summer. The details for the trials are:

Saturday, 10 February 2024
1100-1400 in Sean Walsh Park, Tallaght, Dublin 24

Saturday, 17 February 2024
1430-1730 in University Limerick, Limerick

Sunday, 25 February 2024
1100-1400 in Sean Walsh Park, Tallaght, Dublin 24

Any players over the age of 18 with a valid Irish Passport are welcome to try out, on any or all of the three dates. In order to register, please complete the registration link or email spcoach@softball.ie
To offset the costs of renting the facilities, players wil be asked to contribute €10 per person on the day.

Irish Slowpitch Softball National Team Manager Position

Softball Ireland are seeking to appoint a Slowpitch National Team Manager for the 2024 international season. The Slowpitch National Softball Team Manager is a member of the voluntary group that includes the Head Coach, Assistant Coaches and team medical personnel. The Team Manager will report to the Slowpitch National Softball Team Head Coach.

Primary Duties Include

• Acting as the centre for communications to and from players and staff of the Slowpitch Softball National Team.

• Organising the logistics of the Slowpitch National Team trials and training in Ireland, in collaboration with the coaching team.

• Setting and managing the Slowpitch Softball National Team’s budget for overseas competitions, signatory on the Slowpitch Softball National Team’s Bank Account and providing post-competition accounts. Both the budget and accounts are to be submitted to the Softball Ireland Treasurer for approval.

• Organising logistics for overseas competitions (flights, accommodation, meals, local transport, laundry etc).

• Organising the Slowpitch Softball National Team’s uniforms, clothing and equipment (with support from the other National Team Managers as appropriate).

• Managing all aspects of the Slowpitch Softball National Team’s logistics for training and competitions in collaboration with the coaching team

• Co-ordinating & managing the Board quarterly update reports & post tournament reports and submitting to Softball Ireland.

If you have any questions on the role, please do not hesitate to contact Peter Mullen at spcoach@softball.ie

Applicants are asked to submit their applications to spcoach@softball.ie by January 31, 2024.

Following a review of Team Ireland’s preparations for and performace at the World Series in September 2023, the Softball Ireland Board unamiously agreed to appoint Peter Mullen (BatPak) as Head Coach for the Slowpitch National Teams (Co-ed & Men’s). Peter has been apponted as Head Coach until the conclusion of the 2025 World Series.

When appointing Peter to the role, the Board were impressed by the postive post tournament player feedback together with Peter’s committment to the development of our National Slowpitch Programme and determination to raise the standard and quality of Slowpitch Softball throughout the country.

Ireland will compete in Co-ed and Men’s European Championship Slowpitch tournaments during 2024 , and Peter plans to hold training sessions and open trials during January and February 2024 as part of the squad selection process.

Further information on the Slowpitch National Team assistant coaches and team manager will be shared in early 2024.