The Great Britain National Team has confirmed that six members of Herts have been selected in the final GB Under-16 National Team roster for the 2013 GB games schedule.
Callum Vangundy, Carlos Casal Jr, Conner Brown, Marty Cullen Jr, Tom Everex-Armstrong and Zack Longboy have received confirmation of their inclusion in the GB squad. All of them are members of the Herts U17 team which is preparing for the start of the British U17 league season which opens next Saturday, 27 April, with a home clash against one of the favourites, London Mets.
Herts U17 manager, Cristobal Hiche, was very pleased about this news. He said: “we at Herts are very fortunate to have players with a lot of potential to excel both in the domestic league and internationally”. He added: “the players have put a lot of hard work into this and they should be very proud of what you have achieved. Of course the hard work is only just starting.”
This means that these Herts players may miss quite a large number of games for their club in the U17 league and the adult leagues, which is a major setback for the club, but at the same time it is an opportunity for others to take their place and compete for that spot in the roster.
A total of ten Herts players were part of the GB Under-16 National Team extended roster before this week’s announcement of the final roster. Herts Baseball Club President, Aspi Dimitrov, said: “We have some Herts players who didn’t make the final roster and they will feel down. Our club needs to pick them up. They need to realize that this is a challenge for them to work hard over the next 12 months with the Herts teams. Our club has one of the best baseball programmes in the country to develop players and promote their careers. Those players who do the hard work with Herts will see the rewards very quickly in terms of domestic and international recognition and call-ups.”
The progress of Herts players with the GB teams is a tremendous boost for Herts as an organisation. The Club is even more excited by the fact that there are many more talented players coming through the various age groups of the Herts youth system, from the U-11 and U-14 teams through to the U-17 age group. The opportunity is there for any young players who want to get involved in baseball to progress and wear the GB Team jersey. But you don’t have to be a GB National Team player to play baseball. Any interested players, boys and girls between 6 and 16 years of age, from complete beginners to advanced players can join the Herts baseball youth teams (click here for more details).
