EUROPEAN SLOWPITCH CHAMPIONSHIPS TO FEATURE ON NATIONAL BBC TELEVISION
An exciting opportunity to give national television coverage to the eagerly-awaited European Slowpitch Championships has been achieved by tournament organiser Roger Grooms.

Mike Bushell, a BBC sports presenter on the Weekend Breakfast show, came to Southampton on Monday, July 7 to train with the Great Britain Slowpitch Team and challenge himself at slowpitch softball.

In preparation for this, the main European Championship diamond was set up at the University of Southampton and Mike had a go at hitting and fielding during a GB practice session. A class of school children was also there from the local Thornhill Primary School, where BSUK has been conducting coaching sessions over the past four weeks, and and Mike Bushell took part as the children practised with the GB Team.

The feature will be broadcast on BBC Television on the morning of Saturday, July 12 and will highlight the European Championship Finals Day, the efforts being made before and during the European Championships with school coaching in the area and the BackSoftball campaign to get fastpitch softball reinstated to the 2016 Olympics.

Opportunities to see softball on mainstream television are few and far between and these different activities, centred around the European Slowpitch Championships, provide the perfect platform for the sport to be featured on a BBC flagship programme.

The European Slowpitch Championships will begin on Wednesday, July 9 and will culminate in a Finals Day on Saturday, July 12. The BBC broadcast going out on the morning of July 12 will be a great opportunity to inform people about the event and hopefully attract even more spectators to come down and enjoy the day.