Xmas Drinks

If anyone is interested we're going to have xmas drinks on the 20th Dec.

Nothing is planned yet other than the date so if you're interested let us know and we'll organise something.

Revised Winter Schedule Update

As we didn't get play last Saturday we are going to try to reschedule the winter games and add a bit of redundancy in case there's a last minute cancellation again (we're never going to be able to predict the weather anyway!!)

Apologies to those who only got word of the cancellation late, we tried our best to keep the game going but there were too many last minute weather related withdrawals to go ahead with it.

We're now going to try for Saturday the 1st of November for our next game. We'll keep the original November date (8th) as a backup in case we can't get enough people for the 1st or if we have to cancel again for whatever reason.

As usual let us know if you intend coming so we can call it off or fall back on the second date if we need to. I won't email about this again until closer to the time but I'll update this post with numbers etc so keep an eye on this post for more up to date info. Feel free to let everyone know you're coming by using the comments below too.

We'll work out the December game closer to the time, probably the 6th or the 13th.

And while I still have your attention don't forget about our end of year questionnaire!!

Provisional Winter Schedule

Only about half of the questionnaire's have been completed yet its pretty clear that almost everyone would like to get together and play a game every few weeks over the winter (weather permitting of course). I have come up with a provisional schedule below that will give us a game every 5 weeks or so.

Saturday 4 October
Saturday 8 November
Saturday 13 December (we might try to have drinks after too!)

I'd appreciate it if you can get back to me asap if you intend on playing in October. You can pencil in the other dates but they are very, very provisional at the moment.

If you are going to play on October 4th please let me know that you'll be around and which day suits best (or if both days are ok). Right now the game is set for 12.30 on Saturday. I'll be sending another mail closer to the time but the more advanced notice the better!

We won't be doing any training so we do need numbers to be able to play a game, if I don't get at least 12 confirmation's I'll call the game off or try to reschedule for another weekend. Even though we'll just be playing a game don't be afraid to bring new people along.

2008 MVP Award Winners

The 2008 Galway Softball MVP winners are as follows

Female: Orla Conroy
Male : John McGreevy

We had a total of 18 people who voted, which was pretty much everyone that was around this year. It was a pretty close run contest in both categories with only 2 votes the difference in the male vote and 3 in the female. The more people that vote in this award the fairer it is so thanks to all of you who did vote.

If you get a few minutes some time soon don't forget to fill out our end of year questionnaire. Its your chance to have a say in how to improve the club.

Click on the image to see the rest of the pictures from the night.

End of Season Questionnaire

If you have a few minutes some time soon we'd like you to fill out our end of year questionnaire. There are a few questions we'd like responses too and there are a lot of good ideas in the club that we need to capture.

By doing things this way everyone gets to have their say and we can keep track of things.

Click here to fill it out, it shouldn't take any more than 10 minutes to complete.

End of the Season Party and MVP awards

End of the Season Party and MVP awards
(rousing cheer in the background)

Friday September 12, 2008
6:30pm

***UPDATE***

As the bowling alley is closed the rough plan is as follows.

6:30pm - Monroes, for pizza/food/drink
c8:30pm - Bierhaus
Later - Massimos

Awards will be presented in Bierhaus around 9pm.

So hope to see you at some stage on the night.

2008 MVP Nominations

The nominations for this years MVP are as follows, if you're eligible to vote this year then you have already been notified. Voting is open now and closes at midday on Thursday 11 September so get your votes in now.

2008 IOST Review

For the second year in a row we managed to qualify for the plate competition, unfortunately this year we lost all of our games in the plate competition on Sunday so we didn't make the final this year.

Saturday started out quite well, as normal we lost our first game but everyone was feeling good and then sun was shining. However, from a weather perspective at least, the day went downhill from there. It pretty much rained non-stop for the rest of the day but we did manage to win 2 games despite (or maybe because of) the conditions! We finished Saturday 2 for 5 and qualified for the plate competition on Sunday.

Thanks to everyone for coming down and especially to our super-subs!

** UPDATE **
Some pictures from the weekend, there are more out there so don't forget to send them in, thanks

IOST Squad announced

Well we did id! We have a squad to travel to Belfast for the IOST, see below for those traveling. We'll be traveling up on Friday and we returning (hopefully not too early!) on Sunday. Hopefully this year we'll try to better than our controversial plate final defeat.

For those on the list we will sort out whose traveling with who and at what time etc this week

Final Squad For IOST:

Kevin Dooley(c)	Angelica
Kevin Doyle	Suzanne L
John	Hildegard
Diarmuid	Fiona
Liam	Louise
Simon
Rookie
Brendan
Mark

Mark and Fiona have been drafted in by Diarmuid and Louise is a friend of Suzanne's. If anyone else want's to travel with us let us know asap as you might have to find your own accommodation.

So far 21 teams have entered, see here for the list

Galway Softball Merchandise now available

Help support our club this year by buying some of our merchandise.

Jerseys are available for €40. They are available in sizes S, M & L.

There's a limited supply so snap them up quickly as they are sold on a first come first served basis. If you would like any of these items send us an email saying what you want.

We can post these to anyone of our former team mates that are now based away from Galway too.

Cork Challenge Match 2008 Review

For those who don't already know, we sent a team to Cork this weekend for a couple of challenge games. We all arrived in Cork early so we had time to go for a beer run before we started, I say we all arrived early but there's always one of us that's late!! No names will be named on the blog though.

We started the first game around half 12 but despite being up for a few hours The Tribes hadn't actually woken up, we had a disastrous first inning (nothing new there then) giving up 7 runs. We came back strong though, even taking the lead for a few innings, but we ended up losing the game by one run. Whats worse is that we lost Orla to a foot injury, it turns out that she broke a bone in her foot when she turned on her ankle and will be on the injured list for at least a few weeks. Get well soon Orla and I'm sure we'll see you in the Bierhaus some Wednesday soon, crutches and all.


We all took a break and had lunch but by the time the second game came round the effects of the 3 hour trip to Cork finally caught up with us, we did rally towards the end only losing the game by four runs but we were never really competitive. The most memorable thing from that game was when Simon ran backwards from shortstop all the way to the outfield to try to catch a ball that was never for him. It was never for him because Kerry was standing right underneath the ball the whole time, or at least she was standing underneath it until Simon barged straight into her knocking the ball out of her glove! It'll probably be the last time Cork loan us a player.

That evening we went out to watch another Galway team lose to a Cork team by one score! After that we met up with some of the Cork team and had a good night, the details of which cannot be reported on a blog. What goes on tour stays on tour!

Thanks to Cork for having us down and for giving us 2 good games. A good weekend was had by all and we'll see ye again in Galway on the 13th September for the rematch.

Click on any of the images above to see the gallery of pictures from the weekend, I'll update it as more pictures come in.

Updated team travelling to Cork

There have been some changes to the squad for tomorrow, see below

Kevin Dooley(c)	Angelica
John	Johanna
Simon	Orla
Rookie	Suzanne D
Rob L (possibly)
Dave Haskett
Kevin Doyle

Andrew has decided not to come to Cork but Kevin Doyle will be coming in his place. We also see the return of Dave Haskett who is now resides in Cork. Let's hope he doesn't send anyone to casualty this time!

UPDATE
Dave has contacted me to point out that it wasn't actually his fault, just one of those things and that it was HER fault!
Welcome back Dave ;)

Team travelling to Cork on Saturday

The squad for the 'Galway Tribes' team traveling to Cork next Saturday (19th)for our 'Almost Annual Challenge Game' is as follows

Kevin (c)	Angelica
John	Johanna
Simon	Orla
Rookie	Suzanne D
Andrew
Rob L

We only have the minimum of 10 traveling so if there's anyone else that wants to come along you're more than welcome to join us, you'll probably have to find your own accommodation though

IOST Update

Dear Team Contacts,

Softball Ireland would like to confirm that the 2008 Irish Open Softball
Tournament (IOST) will be held on Saturday the 23rd and Sunday the 24th of
August at the Jordanstown campus of University of Ulster in Belfast.

After many successful years in Limerick, it was time to find somewhere new
and fresh to host the flagship tournament of Softball Ireland. With the
booming increase of softball in Belfast this seemed like the ideal place.

Accommodation on campus of five single-bed roomed ensuite apartments as
well as halls a 5 minute walk from the pitches. Hotels are nearby and
Camping for the brave across the road on the picturesque longshore park
overlooking Belfast Lough. Bars and food on campus and a very willing
staff in Jordanstown to help get this up and running, we hope you will all
enjoy it.

All the registration, accommodation and event details will be released
soon, we are currently working on deals for the price on the accommodation
on both campus and in the local hotels and when we have them we will send
out a list of local accommodation and who to contact to book it.

Entry to the IOST will be limited, so please don’t try and book
accommodation until your team is confirmed as registered. We will have
registration open by the beginning of next week. The entry fee will be 240
euro (190 sterling).

Some info on University of Ulster Jordanstown:
The Jordanstown campus is home to the Sports Institute for Northern
Ireland and has excellent facilities for recreational and more serious
sporting activities. Since being contacted by Softball Ulster the staff
has started playing softball during the lunch breaks in their
state-of-the-art indoor pitch.
Jordanstown Campus is just a few miles from Belfast City Centre and is
served by buses, taxis and a train station a short walk away. Historic
Carrickfergus, with its 12th century castle, harbour and modern marina is
a few miles along the Lough.

Thanks
Steven Trundle
Softball Ireland Treasurer

Castleknock Invitational tournament review

Well for the third successive year the Tribes made it to the recreational final and for the third successive year we finished runner-up, although this year we got a runners-up trophy for Kevin's shelf
We started off in usual Tribes fashion losing our first two games, the first against the Shutout 7 Marley's and the second against the Castleknock Wildcats. After two consecutive losses a beer run between games 2 and 3 was needed. As usual it proved to be a success to as we got it together and won the following 3 games, against Belfast Brawlers, The Usual Suspects and the Dublin Bay Packers

The recreational division was to be decided by the top two teams playing off on the final. The league round finished with the Castleknock Wildcats finishing top but there was a three way tie for the other place in the final with ourselves, the Shutout 7's and the Usual Suspects all finishing with 3 wins and 2 losses. To complicate matters further all three teams records against each other was 1 win and 1 loss.

The tournament organisers decided that the only fair way to determine which of the three teams got to play in the final was by a three way coin toss. After a complicated set of rules were played out, Kevin held his nerve and came away from the dreaded coin-toss shootout victorious. We played the Wildcats again, this time for the title. Unfortunately despite a valiant effort by the Tribes we were well beaten in the final, with the score finishing 20-5

Commiserations must also go to Csaba whose Blazzer's lost the final of the competitive competition

Despite the final defeat a great day was had by all and we learned a lot by playing some competitive games. Check out the pictures from the weekend here

Finally we'd like to thanks to the Bearcats for hosting a fantastic blitz

Tournament update

Unfortunately this year it looks like the MIST is not going ahead plus the IOST is moving to Belfast, so we won't have any tournaments in Limerick this year. So this is what we've got so far, plus Cork will come to Galway at some stage:

28 June Castleknock blitz
19 July Cork, challenge games
27 July Belfast BEST blitz
23/24 Aug IOST Belfast

I realise that Belfast is a bit awkward especially for the 2 day IOST. I just want to get your thoughts on the above and a rough answer by you Yes/No or maybe to see if we can send a team to any of the above. So please can you give us an answer soon as you can. Also any other thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Kevin

Squad for the Castleknock Bearcats Invitational

The squad for the 'Galway Tribes' team traveling to Dublin next weekend is as follows

Kevin (c)	Angelica
John	Johanna
Simon	Orla
Roberto	Marta
	Majbritt
	Suzanne L

We only have 10 traveling so if there's anyone else that wants to come along you're more than welcome to join us

Galway Tribes Pub

Kevin Doyle found a pub called The Galway Tribes when he was in Chicago last month

Our solicitors are currently negotiating with the aforementioned establishment for a leasing agreement between us and the pub for them to use our name!!!

If anyone's in Chicago be sure to check it out

2008 Player Registration - Final Call

This is the last reminder for anyone who hasn't registered for this year to let Kevin know asap that you will be registering. The tournaments are starting soon and we need all players registered to be insured. Send in your details if you want to be registered (name, dob and contact number)

It's important that we have everyone's contact details in case training is canceled as if it is everyone will be notified by text and email

The registration fee covers insurance, ISA fees and general upkeep of the club and the fees for 2008 are as follows
Returning Members €40
New Members €30

New blog mailing list

I've setup a new mailing list for the blog, just enter your email address in the box below and click subscribe to sign up. If there is an update you'll get an email if not you won't.

Note that this is seperate to the regular mailing list. This list is for blog posts only and it does not affect the regular list in any way.

Enter your email address:

Munster Marauders update

Last weekend the Munster Marauders played in the Diamond Series Tournament in England, below is Hildegard's report on how they got on

"Here's some short story about last weekend.
We entered in the A-Comp, so we were playing the most serious teams there are in Britain (or at least in England), among them the current european-club-champions.
We could and we should have done better.
During the group-stage we lost all our games, 8 all together. We had a pretty solid defence even so we weren't playing as a team twice a week or even more often. It was the batting that could have needed some boost...
We got hammered once and lost another game by 6 runs. All other games we lost we lost by one run only. But it's rather encouraging to know that we can stand up to the best.
Sunday afternoon we had to play a placement game as well, which we won by one run.
Weather was great, 25 centigrade and sunshine all day... They must have made a fortune in cold drinks and ice-cream.

But we enjoyed ourselves, had good fun and learned a lot."

Tournament updates

1. Castleknock Sat 28th June. We have 11 people so far hopefully, could do with 2 or 3 more, let me know if you are interested as soon as possible. This is a one day tournament, would say that most people will travel up early on Sat and maybe stay Sat night.

2. Cork, July 19th. We hope to send a team down to Cork for that weekend. Again we will travel in the morning to get there for 12pm. The plan would probably be to stay in UCC apartments which are central and cheap and have night out with the Cork guys Sat night. Let me know as soon as you can if you wish to go to this.

3. MIST is still a possiblity, will keep you all up to date on the progress of this.

4. IOST 23/24 August, still no announcement about venue, we've heard rumours of Belfast.

Kevin

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Munster Marauders

The Munster Marauders are heading to the UK this weekend to compete in the Diamond Series tournament and for those of you that don't already know Hildegard was selected for the Munster Marauders squad earlier this year.

I'll post more info about how the Marauders got on as I get it.

We would like wish Hildegard and the all the Marauders the best of luck this weekend

Tournament rumours

There's currently a rumour that the guys in Limerick may have found an alternative venue for MIST, they're looking in to hosting it a little closer to us in Ennis. We have Johanna to thank for suggesting the alternative venue

Its also rumoured that the IOST will take place in Belfast, it's not ideal for us but as its only a rumour we won't worry about it just yet!

Challenge match with Cork announced

Its been confirmed with Cork Softball that we'll head to Cork on Saturday the 19th July for a the first leg of a challenge game. We might have a night out in Cork afterwards too!!

This is a good chance for both teams to get some competitive games before IOST so we'll try to send as many people down as possible. You can mark your calendar's now but don't worry about signing up for this yet we'll sort everything out closer to the date

Cork will come to Galway for the second leg on Saturday the 13th September

You can check out the pictures from our last visit to Cork in 2006 here

Saturday training has now resumed

Just to let everyone know that Saturday training sessions will now will resume this coming Saturday (24 May) at 12:30 in Laurel Park.

This is generally a more targeted training session so if there's something specific you would like to practise (i.e., batting) then come along.

Also don't forget our regular Wednesday training session!

New Galway Softball homepage

We have a new and improved homepage for you to check out, just click here to have a look

It's been officially announced on softball.ie too

Tournament updates

MIST, UL, Limerick:
Unfortunately due to problems aquiring grounds for this, it is unlikely to happen this year. A pity, cause "The Hookers" have a trophy to retain. So the first big tournament of the year is most likely off.

Castleknock Bearcats Invitational, June 28th, Castleknock, Dublin.
Last couple of years we just fielded half a team in this mainly cause it was a week before MIST but as this is probably a no-go Im sure we can get at least a full team for this. So if you can let me know as soon as possible if you would like to go to this to secure your place on the team. If by any chance we have a lot of interest I will see if we can enter another team or pair up with a team like we did last year. Also the sooner we know the easier it will be to get accomodation if needed.

IOST August 23/34, Venue TBD:
This is the big tournament of the summer, a bit off yet so just mark your diaries.

BEST, Belfast, Sept:
More details later in Summer.

Jerseys

Particularly for those new and those who don't have one. We have Jersies available to buy for the cost of €40. At present we only have a few spare but we are ordering new ones soon. So if you would like one, let me know at any stage over summer. These are limited quantities so let me know as soon as you'd like one to book one. The digital design is attached along with some of guys modelling the tops.

Just trying to keep track of our inventory. We had 2 or 3 spare ones lent out at the last tournament, which Ive lost track of, please let me know if you have any of these, I think you have a L one Jason?, not sure about others. Also we seem to be missing the Black/Green Easton bat, if anyone has this let us know.

2008 Registration

Here are the fees for this year:

Returning Members €40
New Members €30

This covers insurance, registration with ISA and use of/new equipment for club and general upkeep of club.

The main costs we have through year are tournaments entry/accom etc. As not everyone will go to these and to avoid too high registration fees whoever goes pay for these individually, with some help from club.

I have already paid registration for many of you who played last year with ISA.

For new players I will also need, Date of Birth and phone number.

I'd appreciate if can you pay Kevin as soon as you can

Farewell Trish

For those of you who don't know we said goodbye to Trish last night in the Bierhaus (and also in Massimo's when they stopped serving in the Bierhaus!)
Trish is initially heading to the slightly sunnier climate of Florida but who knows where she'll end up after that

All the best in your adventures Trish and don't forget to check in with us every once in a while

Adios Amigo!

Training tonight and some other stuff

Just a reminder that training will take place this evening as usual at 7pm in Laurel Park

I'm doing a stock take of the gear to see if we need to get anything this year, if anyone has any gear could they let me know who has it and where it is so we can keep track of it so that nothing gets recorded as missing when it shouldn't

Also I'll just give everyone a heads up that we'll start Saturday training sessions next Saturday week (17 May) at 12:30 in Laurel Park, if you can let someone know tonight or next week if you're coming as the earlier we know the numbers the better

And finally, I'm making a request for any old softball photos people have hanging around on their computers. We're in the process of updating our gallery but there are quite a few gaps so if you have any pictures you think would be a good addition let me know

See you all later

Amazing save by pitcher

A note to all of our pitchers, I want you to practise this so we can use it in tournaments!

Training has now resumed

Our first training session went off without a hitch last night. It wasn't even that cold out and it managed to stay dry too!

I looks like we're going to have to compete with some "tag rugby" team for space on the pitch so I guess we'll just have to show up early every week (and with the bats!)

See you all next Wednesday

First Training Session

As I'm sure you've all noticed the evenings are getting a bit longer and as you all know that means its time to start softball training.

Our first training session of this season will take place this Wednesday (23 April 2008) in the usual place (Laurel Park) and every Wednesday until the end of the summer (weather permitting of course!)

Saturday training sessions will start a little later into the season

Don't worry this is just a heads up and I'll send the usual reminder to everyone on Wednesday

PS The staff in the Bierhaus have been notified and are expecting us!

Intervarsity Pictures

Some pictures from the recent Intervarsity in UL where the Hookers won the Plate competition

UL Intervarsity 2008

Thanks goes to Csaba and Erika for most of the shots

UL Intervarsity 2008

Hi All

Just to let everyone know that the we sent two teams to the Intervarsity competition in UL last weekend, the Tribes in the competitive competition and the Hookers in the recreational competition.

After a successful league competition the Hookers exceeded expectations and qualified for the Plate knockout competion where, of course, they were drawn against the Tribes in the semi final.

Being the first team the Tribes were considered favourites for this game but it turned out to be a very competitive game in which the balance swung many times before it was decided in the bottom of the last inning. Despite the tag of underdog the Hookers prevailed beating the Tribes and qualifing for the final of the plate. The plate final was a tight game but the Hookers came back from behind to take the trophy to end a fantastic weekend for the Hookers on a high.

Congratulations to the Hookers team who have not only won this seasons first piece of silverware for the club but have also, and really more importantly, gained bragging rights against the Tribes.

Also a reminder to everyone that training will be starting soon (probably the 23 April) but don't worry everyone will be notified of the exact date when its finalised, the staff in the Bierhaus will also be notified!

Finally on behalf of everyone I'd like to give our best wishes to Roberto and Marta and Kevin and Angelica on their impending nuptials.