No fairytale ending for Team GB in our Olympic year

Despite omission from the Olympics programme in 2012, the Great American Pastime, mostly derived from British sports and driven forward primarily by notable British pioneers, Team GB still had a chance to shine at the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Regensburg, Germany, last week.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t manage to make it happen.

The talent in the squad that was compiled was undeniable – fantastic prospects in some of the farm systems for MLB clubs as well as a few former pros, top European players and long-term servants of the game. However, only a couple actually play their baseball in Britain and even fewer, ironically, were born in the UK – if the plastic Brits debate was a hot topic during the summer, this Team GB side wouldn’t hear the end of it had we actually had baseball in the Olympics!

The team was quite a lot different than the side that took to the field for the European Championships a fortnight ago, but unfortunately the eventual outcome was much the same: defeats against fancied nations and a solitary win against the Czech Republic.

But there was more to the tournament than that.

It was the chance to announce the British on the world’s baseball stage. After beating a touring US team in 1938, success against teams outside Europe, and even those within the continent, have been slim at both the club and international level. Going up against Canada in the first match, the ‘Brits’ – some qualified by being born to people born in former British territories before the Empire finally crumbled(!) – they faced one of the best teams in the world with one of the biggest pools of quality home-grown talent.

To many people’s surprise, for six innings the two teams fought toe-to-toe. Albert Cartwright smashed a home run for Team GB and at 3-1 things looked like they might have an air of upset about them. But then the Canadians started finding gaps and won on a mercy 11-1 success. Reminiscent of some of the lower levels of baseball in Britain in terms of score, if not quality of baseball on display.

Not to worry, you say. Because in double-elimination there are still a couple of routes to the final. The Germans, hosts for the tournament, beat the Czechs, and so a win against the Czechs would get the British through to the repecharge round (hands up if you only learned that word because of the Olympics this year?!)

And, like in Holland a couple of weeks ago, the Brits duly obliged with a 13-5 victory that knocked the Czech Republic out of the Qualifier and propelled the British into a now semi-final against the Germans, who were beaten by the Canadians in the winners-group semi-final (following a similar pattern to how the British Baseball Federation National Baseball Championships played out last month).

But any heroics that had gotten the guys to this stage were found left back at the hotel. The Germans no-hit the Brits for six innings before conceding a run, by which point they’d already plated 16 and were on the way back to a final against Canada – whom they had already lost to in that earlier stage. It was a final that Canada would ultimately win, 11-1 against the hosts, and they will join Spain as one of the confirmed participants at the World Baseball Classic next year.

Something that has been reiterated, for political or observational reasons on many occasions, is the lack of home-grown talent representing GB at the top level compared to either other countries or previous generations in Britain. There are two-fold problems, specifically around the quality of the leagues here in the UK and the ability to train and play on a regular basis, both of which could be mitigated by further investment in facilities. Which is just around the corner as I’ll update you on in a post in a couple of week’s time.

The facilities have never been very good here in Britain, but other countries have pulled away in terms of dedicating funds to baseball, while Britain has had to contend against other sports here in Britain: cricket, hockey, netball, football and rugby have been easier for children to get started with and play more regularly at schools, plus they have more exposure through TV and culture as well.

The best quality of team that it was decided that GB could field were players who ply their trade in the US or Canada, or at a stretch some of the leagues in Europe. A bit like the Argentinians, Kiwis or Australians that helped the Italian team forge those first few generations of competitive rugby union before eventually being accepted into the Six Nations over a decade ago. If we want there to be more home-grown talent moving through the programmes and representing Team GB on the diamonds, well the change starts at home.

More than that, the change starts at home clubs. The best way to get people playing is to get people playing earlier. Any marketing strategist will tell you that the formative years of development are crucial to enhancing exposure to something to make them a long-term consumer of the product. The same has to be true with sport, and especially a relatively small sport such as baseball.

Excuse my rant, but more Clubs need to form junior programmes so that more kids can play the sports. By law of averages, the more people that play, the higher the chance of one of them being good enough to play to a high standard. Let’s implement Moneyball with Club Development*

The GB team will now part ways for a while; those who are playing professionally or semi-professionally, or who are at college, will return to get their teams to the end of their seasons, while re-thinking how to deliver success will fall to the coaches as they need to put together a team that will get out of Pool B qualifying to return to the next European Championships in 2014. Alternatively, more incentive could be placed on career development and progression, with the young players in the UK given more responsibilities on the national team.

Either way, progress will happen.

*Incidentally, the rescheduled National Youth Baseball Championships saw the Cobham Cougars dethrone the London Mets on a fine morning and afternoon of baseball at Hemel Hempstead – it was the third time in three seasons the sides have met in the final, the Mets winning in each of the previous occasions. However, the rain ruined a second consecutive Sunday and the Mets’ Bronco side will have to wait at least another week before trying to claim the Club’s only title this year, when they take on defending champions LYBL.