There were only a few moments when it was not raining, during the first day of the Championships, but all the games went on and all the innings were finished without any breaks. The U-19 and the U-16 Men’s Softball European Championship has begun.

Both tournaments are held in Prague, the Czech Republic at the same venue, this week.

The 10th U-19 Men’s Championship consists of five teams: Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Great Britain, and Israel. The first ever U-16 Men’s Championship consist of the same nations except for Great Britain.

The teams will play a double-round-robin, then the top four teams will enter the „page-system“. This system is the same for both categories.

The first day uncovered what to expect from each team. The U-19 Israeli players showed some unexpected strength. Team GB, surprisingly, lost both of their games. The Czech proved their role of the leader in men’s fastpitch categories.

The newly opened U-16 category showed, that even in this age, the teams can be on a different level. The Czechs beat Croatia in 3 innings 24:0. However, the tournament is in its beginning.

The atmosphere at the tournament is great. National teams of the two different categories support each other and the original simple U-19 event has grown into something that says – men’s fastpitch has its bright future in Europe!

All results and schedule can be found here

To watch the U-19 games head over here
Follow the event's Facebook here

-Helena Novotna-
/cover photo by Martina Machackova/