The Herts adult league teams may be struggling to qualify for the playoffs, so the club’s youth teams may have to carry the flag in the national baseball championships (NBCs) this season.
Herts is preparing to enter teams in all age divisions, U18/U17, U15, U13 and U11. The club has submitted a bid to host the Youth NBCs at Grovehill Ballpark in Hemel Hempstead. The event is expected to take place on 18 and 19 September.
The Herts youth baseball programme was restructured this season and has seen significant growth from 21 registered players last year to over 70 this season and that number is continuing to grow as new players are still registering to play in the NBCs.
The majority of these players are playing baseball for the first time in their lives so they will have the difficult task of competing against the more experienced teams from around the country, but it will be interesting to see how they will respond to the challenge.
The club has also confirmed that Duane Badenhorst and Colin Barrett (pictured above) will be the joint managers of the Herts U18/U17 team. Both bring a wealth of baseball experience having played and coached in South Africa and Great Britain, including at international level with the South Africa U12 National Team, South Africa Men’s Softball Team and, currently, the Great Britain Men’s Softball Team.
Six members of the Badenhorst and Barrett families have worn the Herts jersey over the years and fans of the club will be delighted to see them back.
For more details about joining the Herts youth baseball teams for the upcoming national youth baseball championships contact us.