Four days of great softball just ended. Italian and Czech Junior National Teams played and grew the game at the Softball Summer Challenge in Milan area, Italy. Starting from August 24, the four Italian youth clubs from Bollate, Caronno, Legnano, and Saronno faced the U-15 and U-18 National Teams from Italy and Czech Republic.

During this difficult year, the young athletes finally had the opportunity to prove their skills in twenty-five friendly games at a very high level. Most of the games' results can be found here.
The tournament does not have a final ranking, though, because the goal of the event was to start over after the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was still under strict rules, and the only spectators allowed were the insiders.

The U-15 Italian and Czech National Team will play the U-15 Women's European Championship in 2022 in Enschede, Netherlands. In July of 2020, both teams should have played the U-15 Women's European Championship but the event has been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the U-18 Women's National Teams of Italy and the Czech Republic will play the U-18 Women’s European Championship in Prague, Czech Republic, July 19 – 24. The two teams will also represent Europe in the WBSC U-18 Women’s Softball World Cup that has been postponed from 2020 to 2021, in Lima, Peru.

/ Elda Ghilardi
Photos courtesy of FIBS