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First Pitch Festival inspires school children ahead of London Series

sportsbeat
·4 min read
MLB legends were on hand to offer expert guidance at the First Pitch Festival
MLB legends were on hand to offer expert guidance at the First Pitch Festival

East London school children enjoyed a once in a lifetime opportunity at the Olympic Park at MLB’s First Pitch Festival, a celebration of baseball in the leadup to the London Series between the Cubs and Cardinals this weekend.

Nine hundred children from twenty-five different schools enjoyed a masterclass from MLB legends Jake Arrieta and David Eckstein as well as Chicago Cubs mascot Clarke the Cub on Hopkins Field.

Baseball is a hidden secret in the UK, followed by enthusiastic night owls and weekend warriors, and played by a small but resolute community and that is something BaseballSoftballUK are looking to change.

Hosting six MLB regular season games in the UK, across a four-year period provides a unique opportunity to share the magic of baseball, to catapult the sport’s popularity and exponentially increase the number of baseball and softball players throughout the country.

BaseballSoftballUK aims to increase participation by making the sports even more inclusive, improving the overall playing experience, and driving elite performance of the national squads by working with and through National Governing Bodies the British Softball Federation and the British Baseball Federation.

The children experienced the five fundamental baseball skills of hitting, fielding, running, pitching and gameplay, BaseballSoftballUK’s London Series Legacy manager Jon Rye encouraged kids across the country to give the sport a go.

The First Pitch Festival preceded the two-game series between St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs, taking place on June 24-25

” It is a good opportunity to get young people enjoying baseball and softball and having some fun in the sun with some talented stars around us,” said Rye.

“MLB First Pitch is a great introduction programme in primary schools, it is suited to their ability and their age.

“Baseball and softball are inclusive sports where anybody can play, they can enjoy it and it is a mixed gender sport.

“This is a chance to engage a new audience and a real opportunity to encourage and enthuse young people to play baseball and softball.

“Having the MLB London Series in town is a great firework moment for our sport.”

Arrieta is best known for his stunning success across two spells with the Chicago Cubs, while Eckstein is a two-time World Series champion with the Anaheim Angels and the St Louis Cardinals.

Their former teams the Cubs and the Cardinals are historic rivals and will go head-to-head on an action-packed weekend at London Stadium, complete with unmissable entertainment and a full ballpark experience.

Those not lucky enough to have a ticket to the event can attend the Trafalgar Square Takeover fan festival and City Collabs taking baseball beyond the ballpark.

And after proving a hit with the children of East London, Arrieta was keen to emphasise the importance of growing the game in the UK.

“It is my first time in London, it is a big deal to be part of something like this where we’re trying to grow the game,” said Arrieta, who played in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 2016.

“It is something that I am enthusiastic about, trying to get more kids involved in the sport as much as I can.

“We are just trying to introduce the basics of the game to the youth, a lot of these kids do not have a lot of experience with baseball.

“So, we are showing them the basics, just the fundamentals of throwing, catching, pitching, and hitting.

“But more importantly, we want them to have an enjoyable time doing it because baseball can be a slow game, there is a lot to learn, so we are trying to incorporate the basics, so they get excited about the game.

“Any time that we can bring in inexperienced players we are excited, and that is exactly what we are trying to do here today.

“A lot of kids in London and other parts of the country don’t have a lot of familiarity with the game, so getting them excited about it, getting them moving around, having a good time and having a little competition while we’re doing it is a lot of fun.”

BaseballSoftballUK is the national development and performance agency for baseball and softball in the United Kingdom and the accountable body for safeguarding baseball and softball, and for government investment from UK Sport and Sport England into the sport – visit baseballsoftballuk.com