MLB's UK takeover can inspire next generation of baseball stars

By Jonny Bray

BaseballSoftballUK’s London Series Legacy manager Jon Rye believes MLB's UK takeover can inspire the next generation of British baseball stars, with the Cubs set to face the Cardinals this weekend at London Stadium.

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.

Rye helped host MLB’s First Pitch Festival at Olympic Park on Thursday which saw 900 children from 25 different schools introduced to the sport for the first time, with festivals also taking place in Cardiff and Sheffield.

And Rye hopes kids across the country are inspired to give the sport a go when MLB takes centre stage at London Stadium.

” 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.”

The children attending Thursday's First Pitch Festival experienced the five fundamental baseball skills of hitting, fielding, running, pitching and gameplay.

They were joined by MLB legends Jake Arrieta and David Eckstein as well as Chicago Cubs mascot Clarke the Cub on Hopkins Field.

Not everyone will get two former all-stars as their first baseball coaches, but Rye believes that anybody can fall in love with the sport due to the welcoming nature of the baseball community.

He added: "The community is really welcoming; I have visited a number of clubs.

"The experience and the passion that I have seen from volunteers, players and coaches has been wonderful.

"It is really exciting for me to then take that passion into a programme that we are rolling out across the UK.

"I hope these young people can experience what I have felt."

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