Yesterday (Monday 16 December 2024), UK Sport announced £330 million in funding to support over 50 different sports in the run-up to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
As part of this, £1million has been allocated to baseball and softball to help develop the elite squads. You would assume then that is £500,000 each for both GB Baseball and Great Britain’s Fastpitch Softball teams.
What this means
It is fantastic that both sports are receiving central funding to help their development in the hope that both can qualify for the Olympics in 2028. And, it has to be said, all involved with the sports have highlighted just how important this funding boost will be for both baseball and softball in the UK.
For example, the president of the British Baseball Federation (BBF), Richard Evans, had this to say;
“This very generous support from UK Sport and Sport England will allow us to build on the on-field success of the past few years and give us the best possible chance to qualify for the LA Olympics in 2028. It is also a reflection of the commitment and hard work put in by the Performance Management Team and all the coaches, players and support staff within GB Baseball.”
Furthermore, John Boyd, the CEO of Baseball Softball UK (BSUK), said the following:
“This investment is a huge vote of confidence in our aspirations of qualifying for the LA 2028 Olympics. Our focus now lifts to 2028, and we are excited to capitalise on the opportunity presented by this to enhance the development of the sports across the UK.”
£1million is a lovely headline figure to announce, and given some of the travails those involved in the sports have previously had to contend with, as outlined by GB Baseball head coach Drew Spencer on social media following yesterday’s announcement, the money will undoubtedly have an impact.
However…
In order for the funding to have a long-lasting impact, it cannot stop following the LA 2028 cycle. UK Sport, Sport England and the other central funding bodies have to continue to put funding in place, and, rather than it being solely allocated for the development of the elite squads, such funding also needs to reach all levels of the sports, particularly at the grassroots of the game. The sports will not have a future if the pipeline of players doesn’t exist for someone like Chris Ward, GB Baseball’s u12s coach, to develop and then move up the chain, for example.
For this to happen though, it has to be said that UK Sport also needs to change the rationale behind its funding decisions. Following previous Olympic/Paralympic cycles, UK Sport has allocated funding based on the level of medals success at the previous games, and we have seen this in yesterday’s funding announcement too, with athletics receiving £2million less than it previously had after winning less gold medals in Paris than it had in previous Games.
For me, this is a flawed logic and one which places short-term gains – winning as many medals as possible at the next Games – over long-term sustained success. If both GB Baseball and GB Fastpitch Softball fail to win a medal in Los Angeles, and UK Sport then doesn’t allocate further funding on the basis that other sports have a greater chance of winning medals at the Brisbane Games in 2032, how are GB Baseball and GB Fastpitch Softball ever supposed to get to achieve the levels needed to medal at an Olympics?
Conclusion
While yesterday’s funding announcement is undoubtedly great news for many sports in the UK, including baseball and softball, such support needs to be place for more than one three-and-a-half-year cycle in order to help those sports achieve sustained success.
Finally, all the very best to all of those involved with both GB Baseball and GB Fastpitch Softball. I sincerely hope we will all have reason to cheer in the summer of 2028!
Brett is the Oakland Athletics team contributor for Bat Flips & Nerds, and can be found on Twitter @BrettChatsSport. He is also now on Bluesky.
