The third Softball Europe Blue Convention will occur from February 4 to 6, 2022. The Convention will take place in Rimini, Italy, jointly with the Italian CON7.

The Blue Convention will start at 6 pm on February 4, 2022, to finish two days later, on February 6, with the last session ending at noon. All the Softball Europe licensed Umpires are invited to join the event taking place in the Palacongressi of Rimini, Italy, at the same time as the baseball and softball convention CON7. The CON7 2022 Baseball and Softball Convention is an international event organised by the Italian Baseball and Softball Federation (FIBS) on the first weekend of February.

Softball Europe will cover the accommodation and half-board of their licensed Umpires registering on the official form to the Blue Convention by January 15, 2022. Umpires will have to take care of (and cover) their own transportation to the event venue.

Tokyo 2020 and WBSC Umpire Jose Chaparro will take part in the Blue Convention as a special guest. Some of the best European Umpires will be celebrated at the Blue Awards.

"Each SE Umpire is our link to all the other umpires in each respective Country. Through the participants of the Blue Convention, we hope to reach to all softball Umpires in Europe to unify the general umpiring style, rules interpretation and to get stronger after the pandemic," said the SE President, Gabriel Waage.

The first Blue Convention took place eight years ago in Rome, Italy, in 2014. In 2018, the second edition of the Blue Convention took place in Prague, Czech Republic.

Form to register: https://forms.gle/VMyX8uyRb74w41KP9

For more info contact Softball Europe Director of Umpires Raoul Machalet: rmachalet@wbsceurope.org

Photos by Grega Valancic