For International Women’s Day 2022, Softball Ireland wish to highlight the female leaders in our sport who continiously help us govern, grow and develop softball in Ireland.

Gillian Fitzpatrick, Board Member, Softball Ireland

I’m still relatively new to the game – but this is my second year on the board of Softball Ireland. I like to think I add a bit of an outsider’s perspective! It’s important that we build and nurture a strong board, and for me that means drawing on different experiences, backgrounds, and areas of expertise.

I founded my own advertising and marketing company, Bolter Media, last year and currently act as its MD. I work with start- and scale-up brands who have put significant blood, sweat, and tears into developing their products and services – and then struggle to know how they’re going to acquire their customers. That’s when I come in.

If you’re looking to make a splash with a new brand, I always recommend the following: streamline your messaging, develop brilliant social media platforms, be confident, and don’t panic. That last one is really important!

Playing softball offers me a nice bit of respite from the madness of running my own business. It’s competitive but it’s also an accessible sport – you don’t need to have played before and or be typically ‘sporty’ to get going. And this year, after two years of Covid-19 disruption, we’re hopefully now going into a more normal season. I can’t wait!

For International Women’s Day 2022, Softball Ireland wish to highlight the female leaders in our sport who continiously help us govern, grow and develop softball in Ireland.

Jacinta Kelly, Treasurer Galway Softball

Playing softball since 2005 with the Galway Tribes. Started playing through people from work as they were short of girls and asked me to give it a try. I always like trying new things so I gave it a go and I’m still playing.

In my day job I’m the VP of Finance for a travel technology company, OpenJaw Technologies Limited. I’m a Chartered Accountant so probably inevitable that you’ll be asked to be treasurer at some point. Over the years I’ve met and made lots of friends through softball of all ages and nationalities, it really is an inclusive sport. We’ve had players from 16 to 70 play with us.

It’s also nice to give something back to the club by being part of the committee. I’d encourage anyone to give it a try.

Ireland will participate in the Mens Slowpitch European Championships in Colorno, Italy from June 14 – June 18, 2022 and the Co-Ed Slowpitch European Championships in Ljubljana, Slovenia from July 12 – July 16, 2022, the first time either Championship will be held since the beginning of the pandemic.

Senan Dormer, Slowpitch National Team Head Coach, has confirmed that trials for the Mens and Co-Ed national teams will be held on March 5, 2022 and March 26, 2022 at Castleknock College from 1100am – 1400pm each day.

To offset the costs of renting the grounds for the trials, players will be asked to contribute €5 p/p on the day.

Male players will also be asked to indicate if they wish to be considered for both the Mens/Co-Ed European Championships or wish only to be considered for one tournament.

Players wishing to register their interest in advance of the trials or have any queries on the programme should email Senan Dormer: Senan_dormer@yahoo.co.uk

Softball Ireland looking forward to supporting Senan, his coaching team and the players challenging for European gold in 2022.

*Note: A player wishing to represent Ireland at European Championships needs to be in possession of a physical Irish passport AND be able to present it to officials at the European Tournaments.

Softball Ireland in conjuction with Softball Leinster are delighted to launch the inaugral Winter HitTrax Slowpitch League which will be played weekly in Strike Zone from February 1, 2022.

The season will consist of 6 teams playing 1 hour double headers over the course of six weeks at the Strikezone complex. There are No restrictions on roster, field as many players as you want in the line-up, however, the league is co-ed, so there will be a minimum number of female players and a player may only be registered on one roster (no borrowing).

Registration is based on first come, first served basis and teams may be registered here – https://www.klubfunder.com/Clubs/Baseball_Ireland/TicketSales

The cost of the six week event is €180 per team (covers the cost of rental).

About HitTrax
Strike Zone, Baseball Irelands indoor training facility, has recently added a HiTtrax unit. HitTrax accurately measures the speed and trajectory of the hit ball while calculating the realistic outcome.

It is with great regret that the Softball Ireland Board, on the recommendation of the Softball Ireland Medical Committee, have agreed to cancel the 2021 IOST Tournament due to be held in Limerick in August 2021.

The decision to cancel the tournament was not a decision taken lightly by the Board. However, the Board believe that the onerous health requirments to host the tournament coupled with lack of social activities would result in the tournament not replicating the high standards set in 2019.

We are delighted to announce that Softball Ireland will host a 1 day tournament on August 21, 2021 in place of the IOST Weekend – details on the August 21 event to be announced in the coming days.

Baseball Ireland’s Strike Zone, the indoor training facility in Dublin, is now available for bookings. The venue includes 3 alleys with pitching machines and may also be opened up for fielding practice on its synthethic field.

There are options to book the full venue (€100ph peak times / €50 off peak times) or just book a stand alone alley for some BP.

The online booking form is now available on line.