We recently reported that 10 Herts players have progressed through to the next stage of the GB U19 and U16 Team selection process. We all know of the club-vs-country struggle in football and in other sports. With so many of its young players involved in the GB teams, Herts Baseball Club faces a similar dilemma. On one hand, the success of Herts players at international level has a very positive effect on the club and its players and Herts is always eager to promote and support that effort. On the other hand, Herts coaches are likely to miss so many players this season due to international call-ups that it is bound to have a detrimental effect on the teams and the domestic youth and senior leagues as a whole. It is an issue which was raised by Herts delegates at the recent BBF Annual General Meeting in the hope that the GB programme can co-ordinate with the British youth and senior Leagues in the same way as FIFA and UEFA co-ordinate the world and European football calendar with the domestic leagues, setting aside a fixed number of weeks over the course of the season for international call-ups.

In British baseball the ideal time for GB U19 and U16 call-ups is during the winter months of November, December and January and from the middle of July until the end of August when the youth leagues take a break coinciding with the school summer holidays.

The GB coaching staff is under pressure to produce results on the international stage and it is understandable that they would want to call up the players for games and training sessions as often as possible, but there is a risk that this could be to the detriment of the domestic leagues. Such imbalance could produce results for GB in the short run but the destructive effect on the domestic leagues could mean that the stream of talented players coming through the clubs into the GB programme will eventually dry up and in the long run both the domestic game and the GB programme could suffer.

The majority of British clubs cannot compete with the GB programme in terms of coaching and this would suggest that the top talent could benefit from being with the GB team on a permanent basis, however this would destroy the domestic game in the long run as teams cannot exist without a backbone of players. The solution must surely be to find the right balance when creating the co-ordinated international and domestic calendar and at the same time take measures to achieve an improvement in coaching standards across all clubs. Clubs like London and Herts are two good examples of clubs aiming to be on a par with the GB programme in terms of coaching and improving players.

The Herts U17 team, for instance, managed by Cris Hiche has a team of 5 assistant coaches covering all aspects of the game, including a fully qualified strength and conditioning coach. Additionally, the team benefits from contribution from Herts Falcons NBL players who run clinics and pass on additional value to the young Herts players. The team has the coaching expertise and is aiming to produce the next generation of NBL players for Herts and national team players for Great Britain.

If the GB programme and the BBF leagues can find a way of supporting, or even incentivising, all clubs to create a similar high quality coaching setup and a good environment for developing players, Britain would be able to enjoy a thriving domestic league and a greater number of players who can compete on the international scene.

The role of the GB programme would then become one of “selection of players” rather than “creation of players from scratch” – an enviable position which established sports such as football, rugby and cricket enjoy in this country.

Marshall will be aiming to work for the long-term physical development of the club’s players delivering sessions which will work on speed, acceleration, agility, plyometrics, metabolic conditioning, weightlifting and others. He has a Masters (MSc) in Strength and Conditioning and is a certified strength and conditioning specialist with a 2:1 honours degree in sport science. He is now in the process of taking his UKSCA accreditation.

Tony Marshall contacted the club in October with a view to joining the Herts coaching staff and he took part in his first training session with the Herts adult teams on Sunday.

Herts President, Aspi Dimitrov, said: “We are very fortunate to have Tony as part of the team. We don’t have the salary budget of Manchester United or the Los Angeles Dodgers, so to have a highly qualified coach join the club on a voluntary basis means that our players too can work with a sport scientist in the same way that the professionals do and we are very grateful to Tony”.

Although Marshall will be working mainly with the five Herts adult teams, U17 team Manager, Cris Hiche, has made a special request to set aside as much time as possible for the Herts U17 players, whose performances and fitness levels could benefit the most from Tony Marshall’s work. Many of the U17 players are challenging for a place with the Great Britain National Teams and this could give them a significant competitive advantage.

Herts is keen to set the highest possible standards in all aspects of the club from financial management and statutory compliance to facilities and coaching. Perfecting the product offered to members and fans of Herts Baseball was one of the key objectives identified at the club’s Annual General Meeting in November. The appointment of Tony Marshall ticks one more box for the club.

The Great Britain National Team has confirmed that members of Herts Baseball Club have been selected in the preliminary roster of the GB Under-19 and GB Under-16 National Teams.

U19 TEAM

Pitcher and catcher, Jake Caress, and third baseman, Kyle Lloyd-Jones, have both progressed through to the next stage of the GB U19 Team selection process. Both players took part in these tryouts a year ago, but this is the first time that they reach this stage. They were both members of the Herts U17 team and the Herts Raptors in 2012 and their development on and off the field is very positive news for Herts fans.

U16 TEAM

8 Herts players took part in the GB U16 tryouts. Carlos Casal Jr, Marty Cullen Jr and Tom Everex-Armstrong who play for the Herts U17 team were part of last year’s GB U16 team and all three of them have made it through to the next stage.

Brodie Caress and Callum Vangundy also managed to successfully go over this hurdle, which is an improvement on last year. Jose Morillo also took part in the tryouts and as far as we understand he is kept as a reserve option by the GB Coaches, so perhaps there is still an outside chance of him battling to win a place in the next stage. Herts Eagles pitcher and infielder, Will Zucker, joined Herts last year and he has also been successful in going through to the next stage. We understand that he originally tried for the GB U19 team but, as he is still much younger, the GB coaches assigned him to the U16 team.

Herts Baseball Club revealed that catcher, Conner Brown, has just joined Herts. He was a full member of the GB U16 national team last year and has also made it through to the next phase. He will will meet his new Herts teammates shortly as the Herts youth teams report for Spring Training ahead of the 2013 baseball season.

THE HARD WORK HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN

All of the players reported with the GB teams last weekend as part of the next step in the process. There will be additional evaluations this Spring and the size of the GB U19 and GB U16 roster will be reduced further ahead of the GB Team’s 2013 international games schedule. It is unrealistic to expect all 10 Herts players to make the final squads, but the rising number of Herts players battling for a place in the GB teams is exciting news for everyone connected with Herts.

MORE TO COME

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).

Mike Wakelam has been appointed to the Board of Herts Baseball Club. He will take the position of Head of U11 Department.

Over the last several years Wakelam has been instrumental in creating the right structure in place for the Herts U11 teams along with the other U11 coaches. The U11 section is now in a very strong position to deliver further growth. On the back of the success of the U11s, the club is currently considering launching a separate U8 section which is another step towards the long-term goal of establishing a separate section for every age.

Mike Wakelam was born in Australia. His baseball background goes back a long way, from playing tee-ball as a 7-year-old in Melbourne at the well known Upwey Ferntree Gully Baseball Club. As a teenager he played for various teams and travelled to the USA as a 15-year-old to progress his career at the Mickey Owens Baseball School in Springfield, Missouri. 2 years later he returned to the USA on an exchange program to play high school baseball, where he finished the season with an All-Conference honourable mention. A knee injury meant that his playing days were limited. However, this didn’t deter him from continuing his involvement in baseball in a coaching capacity. He has been coaching little league teams since the age of 16. When he was 19 he coached the Under-16 All-Star team at Upwey Ferntree Gully baseball club, and went on to coach several players privately, two of whom travelled to the US and played and trained at the Playball Baseball Academy in Ft Lauderdale, Florida.

In 2009 Mike Wakelam happened to be at the Northwick Park baseball centre when Herts were running an exhibition event there and decided to join Herts Baseball Club. He went on to play for the Herts Eagles in the AAA League and also for the Falcons in the NBL establishing himself as one of the most feared sluggers. His career batting average in the NBL stands at an impressive .667. His persistent knee problems have kept him out of the game since 2010 but he has stayed involved in baseball contributing to the success of the Herts Baseball youth programme.

In the beginning of 2010 he was a candidate for the Coaches Commissioner role on the Board of the British Baseball Federation. He generously withdrew his candidacy to make way for Leicester’s Mark Meredith to run for that office. This has been a blessing for Herts as it has allowed him to stay focused on the club and contribute to its success.

This announcement comes soon after the Board appointment of Cris Hiche as the Head of U17 Department and is part of the club’s long-term objective to increase the Board’s capacity, effectiveness and to be a more proportionate representation of the club’s different member categories. In 2012 the club had four adult and four youth teams, however the Board featured four adult team Board positions and only one Board position linked to the youth teams. The Board now has three positions directly linked to the youth programme and the club is considering additional candidates to head the other age groups in the youth programme and co-opt them to the Board.

The number of members on the Herts Baseball Executive Board is now 12, each bringing expertise and experience in the fields of business, finance, sport, law, media, IT, retailing, event management, construction and others.