Above is a diagrammatic guide of areas and lines for the softball teams represented. It's not 100% accurate but it gives a good idea of where you may be placed.
Click to enlarge.

Finding Your Station

I’ve gotten my head around using Affinity Publisher to create indexes for my maps - and the Zafarnia map has received this treatment. This means I’m one step closer to creating folded maps which I could potentially offer, provided that there is enough interest.

There is an index of individual stations, as well as index of teams which detail where stations for players can be found.

One main feature of the Zafarnia Map is grouping people by teams and clubs. The PDF version of the map gives a team-by-team summary of where stations can be located. Not all teams however will have areas, generally I only consider creating areas for groups of four or more players. Areas are generally based on 2024 rosters, especially for Raiders teams.

As someone who loves writing softball memoirs, I’m happy to go into more detail on this page about each team with an area.

Teams I Play For

The most exciting season yet.

Has it really been four seasons with Raiders Blue? Time has flown so quickly.

The hard work with Ian during the era of lockdowns had paid off, the bats were unleashed at Loughton. After years on Orange, I moved up teams to Red, on the same team as Ian who I brought into the club. He too was looking for a more competitive team, having left Meteors Green, since disbanded. Many remaining players from Meteors Green would move to Meteors Red or Purple.

The LSL returned to normal operations in 2022, and the Raiders had five rosters to fill. Some key players would either leave the club entirely or opt to move to a lower team, preferring to appreciate the game without the tension of the higher divisions. As a result, there were three BBH spots to fill for Raiders Blue. The team struggled a little in 2021, finishing near the bottom of the Gold Grade B division.

Derek would return from a Raiders hiatus this year, willing to captain a team. With Gaston as co-captain for Blue those were the folks to impress for a chance to fill one of three roster spots up for grabs. I was eyeing up Gold; fortunately, I was selected for Blue, along with Ian, who I haven’t shaken since in five years (good). Now, with demotions and promotions returning, finishing at the bottom of the table can’t be an option now.

Raiders Blue would be playing in Div 4, a step up from Div 6. The season was quite successful; we finished respectably at the middle of the table. Still, with some covid restrictions in place, and the virus still spreading about, rules for ringing were more relaxed. Instead of a player only being allowed to ring for the same team three times, this limit was increased to five. Jo, from the Knight Sliders, rang so much for us, she was now considered an honorary member of the Blue Crew.

There was a ton of potential with Blue: if we gelled together as a group a little more, and pick up a couple of strong players, we could possibly obtain one of the top two spots in Div 4 next year, with the Mafia and Base Invaders now out of the way. Derek and new captain Kat now had a goal: promotion to the majors.

Jo signed on full time, with Rachael, Taryn and Kieran joining. What a team! Starting off with a couple of wins, the Firstball tournament in 2023 truly foresaw the outcome of the season. For a challenge, Derek and Kat decided to enter us into a higher grade for this tournament, where we would be playing Div 3 teams and a Div 2 team. We went down to Chiswick and played our hearts out, even beating the Div 2 team! We did have a handicap, but we scored so many runs we didn’t even need it to win! We would lose in the final by only two runs against Soft Boiled, a competitive final. That energy persisted for the rest of the season, where we would win twelve of the fourteen games and win the division entirely. Promotion spot secured, as well as a place in the National Softball Championships next year. Our only losses were against Bat Intentions (they had the home field advantage at the infamous Boston Manor) and the Base Jumpers (where I would underestimate the mighty Miguel for the first and last time, probably the LSL’s biggest hitter), the teams that placed second and third place in Div 4.

Time for the majors. 2024 was an awkward season for Raiders in general, with two teams in Division 3 and four teams in Division 6. Fourteen Raiders derbies. Down in Division 6, games were amicable (though there were some surprising results: Raiders Green managed to mercy Red!) In Division 3, Blue vs Gold had tinges of animosity.

Gold had dropped some players as part of a rebuild, after being demoted from Div 2. We benefitted, by getting to have Kris, Jolene and Sully joining the team, all fantastic players. It really is dispiriting to be dropped from a team after all those years, and I can’t blame people for having rancour feelings because of it. I certainly wouldn’t want to be in that position. Our new Blue players brought great attitude to the team and helped us get some wins.

Derek was especially hoping for us to give Gold a challenge and knock them off their high horse. At Firstball, our first match up, we weren’t too far off getting a win against Gold. This rivalry made for some uncomfortable league games; Gold would beat us 16-3 (no mercy). We played amazing defence, but you can’t win a game scoring only three runs. For game two, Gold mercied us in four. We were relieved that Gold would be moving up after their highly successful 13-win season.

It's daunting moving up a division in softball; a year facing new competitors. How would we fare? Gold was the strongest team in Div 3 that year, but all the other teams would be challenging. We would re-unite with the Mafia and the Base Invaders, who we faced in 2022 before their promotions. Base Invaders beat us decisively twice that year. We managed to beat them this time for our first battle, though they mercied us in five innings for the second game.

My mental health was a whirlwind in 2024, caused by a section 21 notice to move out of my current flat, right in the middle of the season, typical. Re-mortgaging, high rates; screwing us all over.

The feelings of envy I was having put a blemish on my performance. I felt like I couldn’t do anything, and my bat suffered as a result during. Yet, the team was doing reasonably well, getting wins here and there. Apart from Raiders Gold and the Private I’s, we did manage to beat every other team in Div 3 at least once this season. The PIs was a brilliant game to watch, although we lost 29-26, it showed Blue at their best against a very hard-hitting team. After eight games, we had a respectable 5-3 record.

The threat of relegation hangs over every team. I’ve played for a team which finished at the bottom of the table for years, but that was in the lowest division, there was nowhere lower to go. Being demoted out of Div 3 after our hard work last season would just feel so, so wrong. Lamentably, Raiders Blue would endure a five-game losing streak. The team would now be in grave danger of demotion. Bat Intentions nabbed a couple of wins near the end of the season; with a tie in hand, the team could push ahead of us to avoid demotion. The Base Invaders were the great hope to put a stop to this; nervously I would refresh the TeamLinkt page to see how they fared against Bat Intentions. What… a loss? Damn it.

It was written. Game 14. The relegation battle. Two teams stand before me. This is your last chance to save yourself from elimination. Good luck, and don’t fuck it up.

Demotion battles are tense. A few days before this stressful game, I rang for the BBG Muppets to help them remain in Div 2, beating the Dazzlers (though I couldn’t come even close to catching Miguel’s humongous hits). That was the practice, this is the war. I had to fight for Raiders Blue’s honour. This was the zenith of the Blue-Bat Intentions rivalry which began all the way back in 2022 I couldn’t even concentrate at work on the day of the final clash.

12-9. We had done it. As a team we all came together. The whole team breathed a sigh of relief, we were to remain in Div 3 next year. I collapsed onto the ground after the very last out. With my NSL team, the Fuzzy Ducks, having been demoted from NSL 2, having both of my teams being demoted in the same year would be shattering. It would almost be a quitting matter. My envy for Raiders Gold, champions of Div 3, would have been intolerable if we had to look up to them from Div 4 next year.

I did not have the strongest season with Raiders Blue, performance-wise – particularly batting. I like the big hits, but almost none were to be found. Weak hits, ground balls, pop-ups, I was all over the place. No MVPs for me after any of the games, which was deserved, I was that mediocre.

Div 3 was a strange experience. You had the promoted teams, the demoted teams, and what’s left? Four teams neck and neck. Four teams finished with a 6 win 8 loss record, absolutely bonkers. Had Bat Intentions won, they would have solidly been the third-place team. It proves just how close Div 3 was that season, and it was going to get even tougher next year. We made it through, we had to now take the 2025 season head on.

2025 was a positive year for Raiders. Instead of six teams in two divisions, there was more of an even spread in the league: six teams in four divisions. Red and Gold had moved up. For us, we wanted to do more than survive the season by the skin of our teeth. Perhaps we could even get promoted?

The team remained almost the same, but we managed to pick up Mike Yu, a huge surprise. Mike can smack a softball a great distance, he was unanimously the most feared hitter in Sunday Softball. Pitchers were not looking forward to his approach to the plate. I would not have imagined Mike being in my LSL team when I first witnessed his hitting. It was just as well, we were looking to pick up Jeff for the team, currently one of Raiders’ best players (his defence is amazing to watch), but he committed to captaining Red for the season this year. Speaking of Red, Emma was another great pick up.

Div 3 would be increased from eight teams to nine. A new team arrived on the block: the Asteroids. Great, there goes one of the promotion spots already. Every other team made the realisation. This is officially going to be a fight for second place. It was anticipated by all that Asteroids would storm the competition and win the division, and they did so in the greatest style: undefeated. 16 wins!

Div 3 was a greater challenge than last year. Not just because of the Asteroids. We expected the Dazzlers and Game of Throws, refugees from Div 2, to be challenging games. The Base Jumpers and Buccaneers, two strong teams, recently promoted, would be far from pushovers, they had in fact become even stronger. It’s Div 3, there would be no easy games (well, as it turns out, except for the Cheetahs…)

Still a little concerned with the threat of demotion, we had to push on and win as many as we could. Being unavailable for the first game on account of being in Prague, I celebrated as Blue beat the Base Jumpers to earn their first win. I returned for a match up against the Buccaneers, now having found my bat after I seemingly forgot to take it with me to Prague, getting win #2.

The Dazzlers would hand us our first loss of the season, a resolute 27-10 win, a mercy in four innings. We expected this to be an arduous game, taking on a team that were in Div 1 a few seasons ago. The team could not mope at this loss, as we would next face the other Div 2 demotee, Game of Throws, for one of the most outrageous games of softball I’ve ever played. Blackhorse Road and its dry, goose guano-stained field, we arrived and beat Throws 48-23. This incredible result shocked even the LSL Instagram admin. This very game was highlighted in their post introducing the 40-run club, the 48-run result was the crown jewel. (Raiders Green would eventually top us a month later, with a 49-33 win against Raiders Indigo. Could a total score of 82 runs in a game be the most in LSL history?)

We were highflyers in that game, with celebrations lasting till closing time at the Blackhorse Road breweries. The next game would not have much to celebrate over. Our matchups with the Buccaneers would be done and dusted relatively early in the season. We travelled down to Morden, and it seems we used up all our bats at Blackhorse Road the week prior as we scored a paltry five runs against the Buccaneers. They played fantastic defence; nothing went past Katou and Gena in the outfield. We were able to defend well too, allowing only eight runs. High scoring games are the most exciting games, but this week was the exact opposite. We were able to correct our course against Oblivion, playing a very enjoyable good game, where we managed to win. The Cheetahs, down in Richmond, would be our first win by mercy, with a game-ending triple play!

The Base Invaders game was correctly predicted to be a close one. Another relatively low scoring game, Alex from the opposing side had unrelentless speed and caught everything in the air in his vicinity, and seemingly out of his range too. By the top of inning seven we were tied. With home field advantage, we could have a chance to pull the win off. I came up to bat, with a risky plan in mind. Right-field hitting is a skill which can be tough to execute, and when I try it, it’s very hit or miss. I was hunting for an outside pitch from Daz, a great pitcher who can really work that strike zone. The pitch I wanted was delivered; I had to go for it, and it the plan was initially working to my ultimate design. A solid hit past the infield, maybe a little too much height on it, but this could score some runs if it landed on the ground. Well, fellow Fuzzy Duck, Pippa was playing right field. As expected, she made an incredible catch, to close this game as a tie.

Ian, a stickler for the rules, mentioned that the game was not yet over. LSL doesn’t deal with ties. Someone had to win; an eighth inning would commence, each team starting with a runner on second. The Base Invaders scored some runs, and we were unable to match up. Still, this was a very entertaining game, there’s no shame in being beaten by a very strong team after a tough battle.

The Asteroids was par for the course, a thumping loss. We did give them a fright with a very strong first inning (Christine and Newton hit some home runs, Christine herself pulling off her signature hit, a hard-hit ground ball on the right field line). Unfortunately, the outfield had to worry about not disturbing an ultimate frisbee game behind. With hitters like Oli and Dan able to send balls flying, plus solid hits from the rest of the team, the Asteroids bounced back quickly and mercied us in five innings.

With a 5-4 record after nine games, I was somewhat concerned. Nowhere near being safe from demotion, we had to continue getting those wins. We could not afford another five-game losing streak right now. We got a win against the Base Jumpers once again, another very close game (both games were tight. 20-19, then 26-23). The Base Jumpers’ bats are very hot: there’s not only the menacing Miguel, but two more notable batters were Big Max and captain Jed, two lefties capable of humongous hits to right field. It was a huge achievement for the team to win both games. Miguel amazed (and frustrated) us all with the biggest hits ever seen at Regent’s Park. Poor Christine couldn’t even come close to reaching the ball. Even I couldn’t manage to get a catch, much as I was gunning for it. Miguel’s hits would easily clear the baseball fence at Farnham Park. I wonder if he’s on an NSL team, he’d be a great fit for an NSL 1 team with that bat of his.

A couple more wins could really help here, for Blue’s peace of mind. It wasn’t going to be easy; apart from a Cheetah’s game, the rest of the season would be tough. First up, the Base Invaders again, always tough to beat. Our defence wasn’t on point that game, I let a couple of pop-up flyballs drop in front of me. Derek shouted “CONTRACT!” No win this time, but we fought back with our bats.

Here we go, the Dazzlers re-match, this time at their home ground in Blackhorse Road. This was the most stressful game I have ever played in my many years playing softball. We refused to be beaten down again so easily. Panicked, we almost didn’t have a full roster, enlisting the help of Andy, who had played with us in the indoor softball league. Lewis arrived just in time to play, no doubt Andy would have been awesome, but come on, we love Lewis. Somehow, at Blackhorse Road, our bats really come alive. Perhaps we should move our home ground here next year and ditch Regent’s Park.

Four innings almost complete; we were close to mercying the Dazzlers. Perfect revenge after the first game. Yet, we did not bank on the opportunities. The Dazzlers managed to sneak in enough runs to survive the mercy rule. We were too complacent. Same again for the fifth inning, where the was an opportunity to finish up and head to the brewery for beer and pizza. The Dazzlers did not stop and further closed the gap by inning six.

I stepped in to pitch the last couple of innings. A daunting task, I had to stop the Dazzlers in their tracks. Surely they should be ahead by now, they seem to have scored countless runs in the previous too winnings. In fact, with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, with runners on base, we were tied. It could have been all over, but Emma made a heroic game-saving catch to end this exhausting battle.

35-35. Raiders Blue made history again, as part of the highest-scoring tie in LSL history. 70 runs in total. The tie breaking rules couldn’t come into effect, enough time had passed that it ended up too dark to play a final inning to decide a winner. To think we came so close to a win in four innings. The game shook us all. A tie is better than a loss, nonetheless. We gladly took the point in the league table. LSL made sure to highlight the game, this heartstopper game was featured as a post on the official Instagram feed.

Game of Throws would be looking for revenge after a 48-23 loss. They also equipped in some great ringers to make for a trickier game; Gemma and Al would done the purple jerseys that evening. Raiders Blue is a strong team though, and we never give up. A close win, 21-20. The team felt relieved after that much needed win. Safety in Div 3 was inevitable now; to seal the deal, allowing me to enjoy my holiday stress free, we just needed to beat the Cheetahs, who had by then not won a single game. Thank goodness, we pulled it off; it was now mathematically impossible for us to be demoted from the majors.

It was worth refreshing TeamLinkt just to see the drama of Div 3 whilst I was away. The last two games were against the Asteroids and Oblivion. I would be away for the second Asteroids game of the year, meaning I only played one inning in total against them this season. This was a closer game, and Blue fought hard, the game culminating in a respectable 10-18 loss.

Strange things were brewing. The Base Invaders love their home in Div 3 and are not willing to move up, though they’re more than capable of surviving in Div 2. With more than enough wins to secure safety earlier on, they would decide to throw their last couple of games to ensure they didn’t finish in the elusive second place spot. Game of Throws would also beat Oblivion, ensuring their spot in Div 3 next year. Base Invaders were now on a 9-7-0 record, Oblivion was on 9-6-0, and we were on 8-6-1. Guess what the last game was? Raiders v Oblivion. Whoever won this game would earn the second-place spot in the league table.

Shocker – a promotion battle for our last game? What an absolute contrast to last season! Both situations are nerve wracking, but I know which game I’d prefer be playing. The team was torn in what they wanted to happen at the end of this monumental game. Being promoted to Div 2 would be an astonishing accomplishment, for a team in Div 4 two years prior. Being in the same division as Gold for 2026 could potentially be a poisoned chalice, that rivalry was perhaps best put to rest indefinitely. Still, many of us were tempted by the challenge, so we had to approach the game like any other, playing our best fully intending to win.

Others felt differently. Promotion to Div 2 would be a step up in difficulty for us all. For 2026, we would have the Asteroids, which beat us both times, Raiders Gold who walloped us both times in 2024, as well as the Coyotes (Hazard a guess to how that would go), OddSox (a team of mostly NSL 2 players), Pirates, SPAM and Soft Boiled (very solid teams). It would be tough to get wins against these formidable opponents. There was every chance that we would be sent straight back down to Div 3 by the end of the year, which would not feel as gut wrenching as a relegation to Div 4, mind. Nevertheless, losing most of the games did not appeal to many (especially Ian). I for one was experienced playing for a team that lost most of their games. I can’t recommend it.

John Archer Way was the arena of battle. Freshly back from Corsica, it was time to bring out my bats one last time for the LSL. One couldn’t predict who could win, it was close all the way til the end, with both teams being in the lead at some point throughout the game. It was Oblivion who finished the game off brilliantly, securing the win and heading on out to Div 2. We were a little disappointed, of course; well, those who appreciated the idea of moving up. There wasn’t much to be upset about, we played a strong season, improved as a team and were solidly safe in Div 3. This last game was humorously a direct opposite of last season. I’m just a little bitter that the Buccaneers slipped in front of us, getting a ninth win, leaving us bang in the middle of the Div 3 table. Still, better there than at the bottom. Considering the injuries we faced this season, with Ian and James off for part of the season (leaving us with one specialist BBH outfielder only), and Lucy, an incredible outfielder with a really strong bat, tragically missing the entire season, this year was a really positive result for Raiders Blue.

What will 2026 bring next year? BBG Muppets, Private Is, Diamond Dogs and Fly Ballers will be joining Div 3 next season, I fear all four teams. Very sad about the BBG Muppets, especially as I can no longer ring for them. Private Is return to Div 3; time for some revenge, as they have beaten us every time, we must change this next year. The Diamond Dogs need to be beaten both times; I can’t face losing against the team my co-worker plays for. Out of all four teams, the Fly Ballers are the team I’m concerned about the most. They have been promoted every season since their formation and could be on their way to Div 2. They need to be stopped! Hopefully, we’ll be able to beat all four teams (and finally get that win against the Dazzlers)!

2026 will see a huge change with Raiders. Andy, one of Raiders most iconic players, will be moving abroad. Gold will need a new captain. Who will take on the mantle? This also means spots up for grabs on the team. The temptation of playing on Gold, a Raiders dream of mine, returns. (To be fair, Jeff is right there and is a stronger player). Blue has been my closest team, and it becomes harder to consider leaving the team the more I play with them. There’s a tough battle in Div 3 next year, but Blue have got this, and I need to continue to be part of the story. The passion for softball we have is so apparent; we played indoor last year together, and this year Taryn’s organising some off-season practice to make sure we’re sharp for next year, taking a leaf out of the thriving Bangers and Smash’s book. Onwards, Raiders Blue, let’s do it.

Chris Reade has had a KILLER season, with one of the best bats on the team and excellent in the outfield, though she loves her infield as well. Christine’s bat is one of the strongest in Raiders and has embraced outfield with style. Captain Derek – what can I say? A great leader and pitcher. Having Emma on the team this year was fantastic, that catch against the Dazzlers is a Raiders iconic moment. Ian – can’t get rid of him and thank God for that – so passionate about the game, one of Raiders’ best baserunners. It was a shame James couldn’t play much this year, having a solid leftie on the team is great and he is a great outfielder. Jolene’s bat was fab, and she made some great catches in right field. Kat also led the team brilliantly and her batting skills are notable, so good at placing the ball. Kris is our power hitter and is endlessly jolly. Am I ever glad I met Lewis at indoor, having him on Blue ever since has been amazing. It was also a shame to not be able to play with Lucy due to injury this year, her bat was sorely missed. Newton was one of my Orange crew back in 2018, another amazing power hitter who loves to plan his hits. Nora the destroyer deservedly earned the Team MVP award for amazing fielding on third and batting. Taryn – am I ever glad she is on Blue, so enthusiastic, great on first, can smack a softball, and helped with organising some of the Raiders Blue tournaments.

Raiders Blue, being my LSL team, is home to my closest softball Judies – many of the bigger stations are for Raiders Blue players, so they don’t occupy a single area on the map. The central section of Line 4, coloured blue on the map, has some of the roster along it.

NSL 3 Champions! The most fun I've ever had at Farnham.

To me, the Fuzzy Ducks was one of those elite teams that happened to have a silly name, along with Mouse Rat, Muppets and the Secret Agents. (My favourite team name from the past has to be the Russell Squares, though). By the time I had started softball in 2016, they were already in Div 2, promoted each year since 2012 when they entered the LSL in Div 6. Undefeated in 2013 and 2014, in 2015 they had their first and only loss in three years – duck domination in Div 3. In my first softball year, they would conquer Div 2. Ever since, the Fuzzy Ducks have never been seen any lower, balancing around Div 1 and Div 2.

Raiders Gold players would often mention their name, the silly ducky team. Gold were always gunning to beat them. I had nowt to do with the ducks; I was in Orange, at the opposite end of the softball totem pole. Still, I chuckled when the Fuzzy Ducks were mentioned. One Raider, Brian, moved to the Fuzzy Ducks around this time, trading a gold bar for a heap of feathers. I’d watch from afar as they played in the competitive divisions at the Diamond tournaments, their shirts in a beautiful shade of my favourite colour, green.

My first game with the Fuzzy Ducks is earlier than you think. In 2019, I was playing the lower rec grade for the Diamond tournaments with the Raiders. These weekends were a frustrating affair that year, with a captain that seemingly had little faith in my abilities. I wasn’t pitching as much as I’d have liked, and my batting was too inconsistent. Moping around after a poor performance, I walked around Farnham, watching other games taking place, in particular the higher division battles. Usually, I’d be watching Raiders Gold playing, but I decided to take a promenade instead. I can’t remember a particular reason why I ended up walking aimlessly.

Brian called me over. They were short for one of the games, so he asked if I was willing to sub in. Wanting some extra playing time, I accepted, getting some decent hits and catches in right-field. Playing for the funny ducky team? This was the most enjoyable game I played that day, and a win doesn’t hurt either.

Starting from 2019, I wanted more out of softball. I saw how the comp teams played; it was just as competitive as baseball. Not seeing much success out of baseball in 2018, I would begin to transition into a regular softball player from 2019. More tournaments were attended, leading to me actively skipping baseball games (in 2019, I only made two appearances with the London Mustangs as I decided to sign up for more softball tournaments). Moving up through the Raiders ranks was a coveted goal of mine.

By 2022, I made it onto Raiders Blue, as well as regularly playing Upper Rec tournaments. Ironically, it was at this time where I was enjoying baseball the most (helped by having Gabi as my captain). Windsor 2022 befell, that weekend changed absolutely everything. After this tournament, three letters circled in my mind from then on – N S L.

I heard about this exclusive league, when the Raiders made a fleeting appearance in 2018 for an inaugural NSL 3 season. By 2022, I wanted in. Come 2023, I was looking for a spot on an NSL team and had signed up for many more tournaments than ever before. My baseball career was officially on hiatus. (I do miss baseball very much mind, I wouldn’t mind going back to it part time in 2026).

I was initially without a team; but the Panthers came through by weekend 2. I was enlisted to help out with some pitching and outfield. I fell in love with NSL instantly after one weekend. The atmosphere is motivating, the standard of ball is very high. NSL 1 games were particularly entertaining to watch. It was a bummer that the Panthers would be eliminated from NSL 3 and therefore the entire Nationals league. I needed to find another team, early on, to ensure that I could take part in the entirety of the NSL series next year.

The 108 opened up for indoor softball in 2023, and I had a spot on a comp team, the Moose Knuckles. I remember Lorraine and Stacey moving around amongst the spectators at the LSL All-Star game, searching for potential players to ask if they were interested in joining their new comp indoor team. I was one of the people asked, I was definitely up for some indoor at the brand spanking new baseball/softball venue.

Playing Comp indoor led to me rubbing my shoulders against many players in higher teams. LSL Div 1 and 2, even NSL teams. Softball networking! I had gotten to know many more of the highflyers, through playing indoor! (Note, that in 2022, when indoor was played at Osterley, Liz Knight ran a scratch team to ensure enough teams for the indoor league. Ian and I always commonly helped out with this scratch team. Incidentally, that’s where we met Lewis, eventually getting him to play for Raiders Blue!)

I oft mentioned that I was on the hunt for a new NSL team. I thought of asking Jo if the fOXes had an available spot, but I predicted that I would probably need to again, resort to the Facebook ‘Wanted Softballers’ group again. No need, my pursuit would be materialised, as Robby would approach me with an enticing possibility. The Fuzzy Ducks were looking for a couple of players, in particular anybody who could pitch. The Fuzzy Ducks, that funny named team? What’s more, they were playing in NSL 2. I did not feel I had the chops for NSL 2, but if someone offers, it’s certainly worth going for. Playing that competitively will make you a better player. (This is why I generally avoid playing lower-rec tournaments for most of the season).

The captain of the Fuzzy Ducks was incidentally on the Moose Knuckles (though had not been able to make previous sessions). Yikes, I’d assume that when he showed up to indoor, he’d be watching me like a hawk, especially for a preview of my pitching. I had a bit of an off day a couple of weeks ago; getting multiple walks (these are killer in indoor softball when bases are loaded). Thankfully, with Ben watching, I kept the walks to a minimum. Well, it’s indoor softball, and though I was nervous around him initially, Ben isn’t even that kind of person anyway, in fact one of the friendliest captains ever in softball.

Confirmed! I would be playing for the Fuzzy Ducks next year for NSL. I couldn’t wait, but I felt a bit of imposter syndrome prior to the season. It was daunting to play NSL 2, the highest level I would participate in. What a view from the bottom of Div 6! The Ducks got a practice tournament in, the Dev Squad Derby would open the 2024 season. The Fuzzy Ducks were an original Dev Squad team so were invited to Regent’s Park to compete. This was an ideal time to get to know my new NSL teammates. Thank goodness, I played well: pitching, outfield and hitting. I’d ring for the Ducks a couple times for the LSL games, but the key weekend was fast approaching.

No playing around, this is NSL 2 we’re talking about. Every single team is going to be very strong. There’ll be consistent defence, few fielding errors, and huge bats throughout the lineup. We started our campaign against the Honey Badgers, a team Liam had played for previously, so you know the standard is going to be very steep. First at bat, my NSL 2 debut. I brushed my braids back. Home run over the fence. That sealed it – I was an official Fuzzy Duck. My nerves vanished. Maybe I could survive in NSL 2. Maybe I belonged.

Speaking of belonging, what a friendly team the Fuzzy Ducks is. Every single tournament with them has been so enjoyable. I never feel nervous, even with the high stakes and brutal competition within the NSL. We do love our Fireball, and we have our iconic warm up which we’ve committed too much harder in 2025. Everyone plays better in a jolly mood.

NSL 2 is indeed an arduous division, every team gave us a tough game. We had some roster troubles too: for our second and third weekends, we had to rely on some ringers (including Christine from Blue!) A solid roster that can make at least two of the weekends is essential to playing well as a team, as great as the ringers were. We struggled to get wins and were in danger of demotion at the start of week 3.
The KKs, Manchester Mavericks, Naturals, Bracknell and ourselves, this was a fight for the last three safe places. Ben and DP had to be extra strategic with the line ups. The Mavericks had an incredible Week 3 and managed to claim one of the safe spots. We managed to beat the KKs, that was an extremely tense game. The Naturals v Fuzzy Ducks game would end up deciding our fate, and I had to pitch this one! This was nerve racking, the only game that was more stressful was the 35-35 Raiders Blue-Dazzlers tie. It was close, with hitters like Adam and Oli I did my best to prevent them from hitting home runs. The Naturals got the W, and it was official, the Fuzzy Ducks were demoted.

Perhaps I’m a harbinger of bad luck in NSL… two teams, two demotions. At least this time, we would still be in NSL for 2025, just in NSL 3. No more fancy fields with dugouts; we were banished to the uphill/downhill pitches 9 and 10 and by the horses on pitch 8. Pitch 5 would be the only dirt field we were allowed to play on. It was disappointing alright, but we had a chance to bring it all back and return to NSL 2 after 2025. It wasn’t all doom for the Ducks that year nonetheless, they became champions of LSL Div 2, moving to Div 1 for 2025.

The NSL team mostly stayed the same, albeit with some amazing new additions. Mer’s joining? A player from the Mescalitos? Fantastic. Only one player left for another team, very understandably, as she wanted to continue playing at the most competitive level, moving to the Tempest in NSL 1. The Fuzzy Ducks were looking strong in 2025 though, it was exciting!

NSL 3 by now operated as two brackets of eight teams. Two promotion spots were available, only one per bracket. NSL 3 is full of formidable teams hungry for NSL 2 and the privilege of Fields 1-4. Each year, the standard of opposition ameliorates. Southern Stormers, Bracknell, fOXes, I predicted would be our fiercest competition. Cardiff was announced to be joining the league, and I was nervous about them for sure. Fuzzy Ducks are an incredible team though, and we knew what we had to do. DP would run a few BP sessions beforehand, ensuring our batting artillery was ready for service.

We escaped Southern Stormers, Bracknell and Cardiff this year, though the fOXes would be part of our bracket. NSL 3B: Fuzzy Ducks, Bees, Game of Throws, Globo Gym Purple Cobras, fOXes, Panthers, Sharks and Spitting Camels II. We knew Game of Throws, fOXes and Panthers would be tough, but what about the others? What the hell is a Globo Gym Purple Cobra (ah, it’s from the movie Dodgeball). The Cobras were in fact a team based in Ireland/Northern Ireland; I may have faced a few of the players at the tournament in Dublin last year. The Cobras would incidentally be our first opponents of the new NSL 3 season.

We had to put on a stamp on NSL 3, and quick, flying strong right out of the gate. The Cobras game demonstrated to us that winning the league would be far from a cake walk. Fuzzy Ducks say that they are a little slow to start up on Saturday mornings, and our first NSL 3 game would end up a tie. 8-8, at least this wasn’t a loss. On the board in the league table. Onwards!

Game of Throws next! They were new to NSL, comprising of many of London’s strongest players that weren’t already on an NSL team. As forecasted, they would be a gritty side. I’ll point out right now, almost all the games this year were close. This level of softball is still no easy ride, for certain. (Chatting to a player in NSL 1, they theorised that NSL 3’s standard is comparable to NSL 2’s from a few years ago). We won in the end against the Throws, 12-7. First win of NSL 3, hopefully many more to come. It’s a long marathon.

The potential winning streak would be halted promptly by the fOXes. Strong contenders last year, they were famished for promotion as well. Fresh from the USA, James and Laura travelled to Farnham to fight along with the rest of the den. Again, a very close game, though the fOXes won 8-7. For certain, a game of sheer defence, but our first loss of the year. Can’t fret now and give up at the third mile. We had to arise, dust our feathers off and continue the race.

The Bees were next. They had started off the weekend very convincingly, currently at the top of the table with a three-game winning streak. It was up to us to brush the swarm off, and we did it in pure style. 19-2. None of us expected this result; this one of our most convincing wins of the season. We’d play our last game of the day against the Sharks, a team with tricks up their sleeve, ending up another 8-7 game, only this time, the win was ours.

Bless Spitting Camels II, a rookie team to their big sister team in NSL 1. A resounding 17-4 win started off day two perfectly. Next up: the Panthers.

The situation with the Panthers was a little awkward, I had left the team mistakenly assuming they would not be playing NSL after their demotion at the end of 2023. They were thankfully invited back and had a much stronger season in 2024. This year, the Ducks and Panthers would be in the same bracket. There was no bad blood between the Panthers and me at all, it was great to see them, even with the anxiety of having to face Dave’s devious pitches. It felt strange to play against the team that introduced me to the NSL, Crazy Jen and I shared a hug before the game. A convincing 18-6 win to the Ducks rounded out our first weekend of NSL.

The standings at this point were startling. Three teams were on a 5-1-1 record, Ducks, fOXes and Bees. Which species will reign supreme? All of us joked that seven of the eight teams in our bracket were named after animals (and the token insect), more than NSL 1 and NSL 2 combined (Honey Badgers, Spitting Camels, Tigers, Meerkats and Terriers). NSL 3A had no animals, they all got stuck into NSL 3B.

Weekend two really threw us off in 2024, and there were some concerns with getting a full team in for the June weekend this year, though we were mostly sorted thanks to Petey (from Meteors Black) agreeing to play with us. Christine would make an appearance for the Sunday; Ben absolutely appreciated her skilful batting when she played last year. This weekend, we would face the teams in our bracket for the second time.

Game of Throws first. With bees and fOXes on our tail, we couldn’t settle for the famed ‘Fuzzy Ducks slow Saturday morning start’, all guns were blazing for game #1 with a convincing 23-5 win. We were able to get the sought-after win against the Cobras this time with our stellar Fuzzy Ducks defence, winning 13-6. The Spitting Camels gave us a tougher battle than last time, though the Ducks scored victory winning 16-9. The Bees were back, and we needed to stop the colony from racing ahead, pushing them back with a 10-4 win. Winning four out of four on day one gave us amazing energy, but we all knew the big game was tomorrow morning, against the fOXes.

We lowly NSL 3 teams have the last dibs on fields, and with Field 8 out of commission for the weekend, we would be relegated to Dair House school fields, essentially Farnham’s ‘Field 11’, for the most important game of the weekend. Both teams wanted it badly, the fOXes were keen to retain their place at the top. The game got somewhat heated; it became a little uncomfortable at times, I must say. Thankfully, our debut at Dair House was a victory, and a resounding one at that 12-4. Christine came through, delivering her signature hit that I adore. The right field hard ground ball baseline shot. It’s a classic. Christine scored a home run!

Wanting to remain undefeated at Dair House, our next opponents, the Sharks gave us another tricky fight; we pulled out a 14-8 win. Returning to Farnham Park proper, scoring 14 runs was in vogue at the time, and we did just that against the Panthers, scoring a W against their 3 runs. Second weekend, the Fuzzy Ducks were totally undefeated, and we would go on to win the next two games, extra matches against teams from the other bracket which did not count towards the league standings, though beneficial as practice matches for next week. As tops of the weekend, we’d be playing the two of the stronger teams in NSL 3A. The MK Diamonds were top of the NSL 3A table, so a practice round was essential to size them up, especially with fantastic players like Billie on their roster, one of the country’s elite SBHs who had a monster hit which landed close to the fence.

After weekend two, Fuzzy Ducks were now solely in the lead, shaking off the Bees and fOXes, though the Bees were close behind. Ducks on 12-1-1, Bees on 10-3-1. The fOXes lost their lead, ending up 8-4-2 at close end of week two. The mission was not yet fulfilled, we knew what we had to do at weekend three. We celebrated our undefeated weekend in the Fuzzy Ducks way no doubt, but there was a little apprehension in the air. Anything can happen in softball; it all came down to the concluding month.

Week three: all teams would be playing every team in the opposite bracket. Eight games, bees up our arse, nerves were in the air. An exceptionally close game against Tempest II would be a turbulent beginning to the weekend, with a 7-6 loss. Not how we wanted to commence this month’s tournament, though blessedly, our winning ways returned with a strong 17-4 win against SPAM. We’d face our fellow NSL 2 relegation sister finally, Bracknell, for our next game.

Three pitchers I fear all were playing in NSL 3 this year, Eddyvean from the fOXes, Tom from the Bees (though he thankfully did not pitch in the games we played against them) and Steve from Bracknell. Finally, though, I got the home run for the Fuzzy Ducks I was hoping to hit, against one of my most feared pitchers, to help the Fuzzy Ducks win 17-5.

Breaking Bats were in danger of relegation, so all the stops were pulled to avoid that fate. Magda had some dangerous weaponry, in form of Timo, Jorge and Jose, all strong baseball players, capable of hitting over the fence. The game was tight, Jorge and Jose both hit home runs, so I responded with my second home run of the day. In that game, my favourite catch ever: Jose’s hard hit line drive was nabbed by yours truly for a squeaky-bum 10-8 win.

The game I was most nervous about would close the day (and my time for the NSL 3 league, I had a wedding on the Sunday). Throughout the day, some of us were keeping a close eye on how the Bees were faring. With our loss in the morning, the possibility of them catching up was looming, and we had two tough teams to face next. Winning against the Stormers would be key. In fact, the Bees were having a rocky third weekend, starting with a tie against the MK Diamonds and a loss against Tempest II, who were playing incredible softball. Still, if we lost our remaining games the Bees could fly home with the promotion spot. We had to take down the Southern Stormers. Dom led the classic Fuzzy Ducks warm up and then it was all systems go. This was some brawl. The Southern Stormers are one of the toughest teams in the league. It all came down to the last inning. The Fuzzy Ducks never give up, even when the going gets tough. The bats never died down, and Steve’s strong pitching helped out immensely, being drafted for the weekend due to DP’s absence. 16-13 to the Ducks.

Mission accomplished, and with a day to spare! The win against the Stormers secured our top spot in NSL 3B. The Bees were now officially too far behind to catch up. We could not stop ourselves from a massive celebration on Field 9 at the end of the game. The festivities continued into the pub in Windsor town centre, amidst an amazing sunset. A return into NSL 2! Back to playing on the fancy fields! Plus, I didn’t even need to nervously refresh TeamLinkt on the journey to my friend’s wedding in Derby to see how the Ducks were faring, to see when our promotion was confirmed. We did it all on the Saturday.

The eventual NSL 3A champions, MK Diamonds, gave us a tough game but the Ducks came through with an 8-7 win. 8-7 scores seemed to be common this year. Trend Alert! Now comfortable and indubitable, the team switched things up for the next game against Cardiff, new to the NSL league. I love the Welsh, and they expressed some anxiety about demotion after weekend two, but they needn’t have worried after a very strong third weekend; winning seven out of the eight games. They even made the Championship weekend in August. They beat us 18-4, ah well.

A match up against the Manchester Dodgers ended the Ducks’ NSL 3 crusade. Things could have got awkward with Tony and Brian, ex-Fuzzy Ducks, now playing on the Dodgers. There was a notable Raiders presence within this Mancunian team; Tony enlisted the help of Andy and Lexi from Raiders Gold, excellent choices, and they were able to only just make it through NSL 3A, earning their spot for the 2026 season and sealing SPAM’s fate. This proves that a Raiders team could be quite competitive in NSL 3. I overheard Brian enquiring about the possibility of a Raiders return to NSL; we could put a very strong team. Players like Steff, Jeff, Nora, Derek… well, most of Gold and Blue really, could fit right in. In fact, there was a lot of Raiders representation overall on the weekend: we had Taryn and Cora playing for the Naturals (hopefully we’ll be seeing Caz in NSL next year), Kate playing for Blitz Bombers, and Wendy playing a role in Storm’s promotion to NSL 1. (NSL 3 to NSL 1 in two years, very impressive). Note, if a Raiders NSL team is formed, and I’d love to see this happen, I would remain with the Ducks.

The Ducks would get one last win, 19-10, to close out the NSL 3 season. A record of 18-3-1. We didn’t ‘Storm’ our division, like that particular team did last year with 22 wins and zero losses, but we finished quite far ahead of the competition. The Bees were 10 points behind, trailing with a 12-7-3 record, and Game of Throws and the Globo Gym Purple Cobras wound up overtaking the fOXes after having a strong final weekend.

The NSL campaign was not over. One last appearance in NSL 3; we qualified for the championships in late August, hopefully to come first place for this weekend. This was an intense two days of softball, with at least ten games being played. The plan was for top four teams of each bracket to play against each other, however due to distance, Tempest 2 and the Globo Gym Purple Cobras could not attend. Two games each against MK Diamonds, Southern Stormers, Cardiff, Bees and Game of Throws. The NSL season culminated in a Southern Stormers v Fuzzy Ducks final, both on a 7-3 record. The eleventh game of the tournament, I think this is the most games I’ve played at a two-dayer. It was the Southern Stormers who emerged victorious this time, though one player lamented: ‘we always win the championship, but never get the promotion spot’. I’d love them to finally achieve promotion in the 2026 season, then we can face them again.

In 2026, I have all the confidence that we’ll be able to do well in NSL 2. Our team is so strong right now. Pricey’s amazing oppo hits (EAGLES!), Captain Ben solid at everything, Brandon is a beast, Charlotte’s debut this year was fantastic, Corina, chill as always with an amazing bat, Dan pitching a storm as always and working that bright Orange bat, co-captain DP always being encouraging and a masterclass in place hitting, Dom had a super strong season and especially love her on first, Elie, though unfortunately injured, was an essential cheerleader, Jack is one of the fastest and best outfielders I’ve ever played with, Josh’s bat is so goddamned consistently good, Jupiter, also new this year, brought some great game, amazing to have Lauren for weekend two and three, Mellissa is a Mescalito and it shows, amazing offensively and defensively, Nicole’s bat is so consistent, definitely one of the highest OBPs, Uncle Palmer can do it all, Pippa killed it in the outfield, and so did Prae, whose hits to right field, her speciality, are so exhilarating to watch, and Vicki pulled off a really strong season with some great fielding in the outfield and at catch. There you have it, Fuzzy Ducks 2025. Bring on next year for sure, the Ducks are back with a vengeance, and I hope to be returning to NSL 2 with them in 2026. I seem to play well with the Ducks, but a few more home runs wouldn’t hurt next year. I shall be practicing hard in the off-season.

The Fuzzy Ducks have their own domain, having taken over much of the western half of Line 11 – this is for LSL and NSL players. The line is green, but doesn’t match the shade that we wear, but… close enough, right?

Every time I play a tournament with the Salty Seamen, I always seem to forget my bat! :(

The Salty Seamen were formed from a bunch of misfits from Sunday Softball, the brainchild of former Raider Antti, Max and Nick. Not content with putting our bats away for the winter, many of us continued to play through the cold, the persistent squelchy mud and once, even through the snow; not willing to wait out the five months before the start of next year’s season. After softball, we headed straight to the Edinboro Castle, with Guinnesses in tow, attempting to drink just enough to split the logo. Alan’s grouchy disposition brought us all together. Naturally, we played so much with each other, that a potential team was forming.

Aiming to dominate the softball world, the group ended up a little male heavy. The Seattleites, the Richmond Knights, and yours truly. They made their debut at the Let the Boys Play tournament in 2023 (I had already signed up with Thames Valley by then), getting a solid achievement in handing the previously undefeated Storm their first loss in the entire tournament series. Romin was not best pleased.

My salty debut was at the Prague Heavy Hitters tournament in May 2024. The team had to find some women to play (Jo and Rach answered the call, brilliant!) Gender balance rules are a little more lax for this tournament compared to regular mixed tournaments (you only needed two SBHs on the field). In Prague, with the fences slightly closer than in Farnham, there is a lot of pressure to hit over the fence, tantalising for all players who make the journey to Krc. I had no issue doing this with the Raiders and the Panthers in 2023, I hit at least three home runs at each tournament, so I set myself a goal to beat this record. This time, I only managed one, on the smallest field, no less, but at least I had done it. No personal best this time.

You’ll recognise the Salty Seamen by our uniforms. Not in the traditional sense: our kit is any old non-softball sports jersey we have lying around. NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL jerseys, even football shirts, are the order of the weekend. I thought it unwise to bring out my Washington Redskins jersey, a relic of the past now the team has rightfully been rebranded. I opted to order a second-hand Toronto Raptors kit to show off those noodle arms. The weather was great in Prague that weekend, constant sun, though I’d regret my choice for my next Salty Seamen appearance for the last Let the Boys Play weekend in mid-October, where temperatures were in single figures (we’re talking Celsius, people!)

My Prague performance was below average for sure, nowhere near my capabilities. Nonetheless I was looking forward to LTBP with the team late in the year. No Storm presence though at the series this year (confound those Thick Boys). Unfortunately, I had injured myself after a slide gone wrong at Solent Lastball a few weeks prior, consigned to only pitching for the next two Raiders tournaments. With more pitchers available in the salty roster for the weekend, I thought I could chance some outfield though I couldn’t run as fast as usual.

As mentioned, the last tournament of 2024 was chilly, and the rain made things the atmosphere more morose. I was nonetheless able to hold my own in the outfield, even making a few catches. Captains were somewhat concerned about me. I ended up DH’ing for the remainder of the tournament, which was a good idea. Confound that ankle of mine. I felt really off, nonetheless, something was holding me back.

That bat though, that damned bat. I was barely able to hit out of the infield. Mid hits, or pop-ups were the order for the last tournament of the year. This really isn’t like me: the conditions and my pure softball burnout (this was tournament #21 of the year) must have beset me. The Seamen were also a little aggravated after being beaten by a stacked Reading team; they came to Farnham expecting to win all the games. We decided to just throw the last game, everyone playing any random position to their hearts’ desires, much to the annoyance of Ethan who wanted a more meaningful end to his softball season.

I wouldn’t have been shocked if they would not ask me back for Prague 2025; I wouldn’t have picked me after two poor showings with the seamen. Still, the Salties called me back to Eagles Field for 2025. Time to return and get those home runs I’ve been meaning to hit. Flights booked, Airbnb room sorted and a fresh new jersey for the new year, an Evgeni Malkin Penguins NHL jersey (I’m so into hockey uniforms right now) plus great new teammates. The amazing Yuki officially joined the bunch of nutters, a new regular at Sunday Softball. Amanda from baseball joined too, along with some other great players. Even an ex-rival from Bat Intentions, David was boarding the ship. An excellent group, this was set to be a fantastic trip. This time I’d be hitting those home runs over the fence for sure, it was all I wanted. Doing it with the Raiders was iconic, doing it with the Salty Seamen on Field 3 with spectators watching would make this trip unforgettable.

Yeah, that didn’t happen. My hitting was shocking. What exactly was going on here? I managed fine with the Raiders and managed fine with the Panthers. The rest of the team seemed to be able to cash in their home runs early on (with a more generous limit of six per game). I could rarely hit anything but power bunts or weak pop-ups that barely cleared the infield. My best hits would in fact come whilst ringing for the Fuzzy Ducks. For fuck’s sake, I’m usually a good hitter, what is going on with me?

Could it have been a case of imposter syndrome? For some reason, I just seemed to have a mental block when stepping up to the plate. This is a great bunch of guys, yet I seemed to get the yips at the plate (the fielding was generally fine). It was really disheartening, I sometimes felt like a fraud who had convinced people they’re a good player but was unable to deliver the goods when it mattered. The standard of the Salty Seamen is so high, most of the guys can hit over the fence no problem, and the women on the team were also excellent hitters. Could it be the demons in my mind? I convinced myself I didn’t meet the standard of the team.

It may also be the fact that the tournaments I’ve played with Salty Seamen have been at the very start of the season, where there’s a few softball cobwebs to clear out, returning to regular play; or at the very end of the season, where the softball burnout is real. Perhaps it was also the strange strike zone in Prague.

The Salty Seamen sailed to Prague once again for the October tournament. Now, I love the city of Prague, especially its tram network so am always willing to return (I regret the early morning flight from Heathrow, opting to take the last Piccadilly line train and wait in the airport all night – not doing that again!) I thought it may be best to rest up from the game and call it a year, having played sixteen tournaments already. This would be a more satisfying way to close the season out, bookending the season with trips abroad. Besides, I had some unfinished business; Eagles Park would be conquered. Full Mast, to the Czech Republic.

The Seamen had now recruited some more SBH throughout the year, brilliant stuff. Lovingly calling themselves the Sea Wenches, meeting and playing with them was one of the highlights of the trip. Now, how about the hitting?

It was much improved, getting on base far more often than in May. It was a shocker that I finished in the top three, batting average-wise. Thank goodness Sam didn’t work out our slugging percentages, which would have been an entirely different story. It’s so very frustrating to not hit any home runs though, I still wasn’t close. Home runs aren’t all the game’s about of course, yet nothing feels more badass than watching your hit clear the fence, with the outfielders not being able to do a damned thing about it. With all the other men in the team hitting at least one over the fence, I once again felt demoralised. Of course, not their fault, the Salty Seamen are exceptionally good players and people, but I wanted to be part of the elusive home run club as well! Once again, I had no troubles when playing for the Raiders and the Panthers. Again, I felt myself to be the weak link and a disappointment to the team.

Times off the field with the Salty Seamen were the best part of the trips, especially our evenings at the Airbnb, playing drinking games. Even though I was disappointed with my play, I didn’t leave Prague too despondent, as the trips were still great fun. It’s not just about the softball, this is a little community of softballers who take the social part of the game seriously.

What’s next with the Salty Seamen? They are looking to expand the fleet, with the second team called ‘Full Mast’ (trialled at October Prague). The group has become larger, with plans for future tournaments and socials. The Oktoberfest at Clapham was an incredible evening. Starting as the brainchild of Antti, Max and Nick after a Sunday Softball sesh, softball’s gotten very salty.

For myself, I would like to play a couple more tournaments with them. Maybe not Prague (where the pressure of hitting over the fence has proven deliberating to my psyche, and there’s generally stronger players in the group), but perhaps during the middle of the season, where I tend to play better. We shall see how salty it becomes next year.

Salty Seamen players are found along the western half of Line 9.

Labor Day was a washout but I couldn't find a better group to play softball in the pouring rain with. A highlight of 2025.

You’ve got to climb Mount Farnham to reach the Valley of the Softballers.

One of the Windsor and Maidenhead league’s mainstays, Thames Valley has their traces in Richings Park (not too far from Iver station on the Elizabeth line). Some players still sport the older Richings Park jerseys. This makes Thames Valley one of the closest teams to Farnham Park geographically.

I reiterate – the WM League absolutely loves their softball, with the biggest hub of softball so close by. Players rarely miss tournaments and always turn up to the indoor sessions at Rickmansworth. Thames Valley’s red (sometimes black) is therefore a familiar Farnham sight. I first met some of the great characters of TV in the turn up and play sessions in 2021, including unforgettable Syx.

We’d often have to play against TV when I was playing in Lower Rec for the Raiders. There was one tournament early in 2022 where I ended up playing against Thames Valley three times in one weekend!

There’s not much of an appetite for single-sex tournaments with the Raiders lad, the increased competitiveness and bellicosity isn’t appealing to some. Ian was very much keen to play in the Let the Boys Play series though, two/three tournaments in the softball calendar, only for the men. He really enjoyed the atmosphere and told me all about it; I wanted in. There would be one last tournament to close out 2022: weekend 3 of Let the Boys Play. I wanted to compete too, for a few primary reasons, but first I needed to find a team. The Facebook group is a godsend, and Andy, one of TV’s most iconic players, let me know of an available place with the TV Tornado Bros. The tournament was all I ever wanted in a Sunday, and a perfect way to end the 2022 season, now officially a Valley Boy.

Ever since, I have played with Thames Valley many times, primarily for single-sex tournaments, including the unforgettable Sons of Pitches 2023 tournament, which is in my top three tournaments ever. I could write a novella about that weekend; the pitching, the Storm game, managing to strike out players from Lakenheath, my very first home run over the fence on Field 1 against Lakenheath no less, cracking my bat… what a shame they changed the format of Sons of Pitches for the worse in 2024. I unequivocally assert that no-one likes an 8am start. I also played for TV in Bordeaux for the indelible tournament on the beach, as well as a couple of the BSUK Cups.

My most vibrant times with Thames Valley were without a doubt from this year. The two non-Farnham Park tournaments with TV were some of my favourite weekends of 2025. Labor Day was such a fab group, with our Airbnb, boardgames and axe-throwing. I’ve never enjoyed a washed-out tournament more than that weekend in rainy Leicester.

The Raiders couldn’t get a team into Solent in 2025, a huge shame. I love this one and was hoping to co-captain a team with Stephen as a nice closing tournament for the club. Regrettably, there were not enough fields to accommodate many teams outside of the Solent league. Thames Valley bagged an elusive spot, so I made the trip with them to Southampton, part of a B-Sides/TV mashup team, inevitable enjoyment. This time we rented a couple of camping cabins. Firepits, a de-facto game of “The Traitors” around the fire, failed barbecues (which culminated in getting all the meat cooked on the hobs instead). It was a brilliant evening; although it was bloody cold in our cabins, that’s what it’s all about.

Thames Valley has close ties with the B-Sides, and some ties with LNZ. A few TV players play for the LNZ team in NSL 2.

I own a couple of Thames Valley shirts; one specifically made for the beach tournament, and another as a prize for being voted the MVP at one of the tournaments.

Long may my time with Thames Valley continue, certainly up for another tournament elsewhere in the country seeing as those two tournaments in 2025 were a highlight.

Thames Valley has quite a significant section on the map – taking over the southern half of Line 7, coloured pink, close enough to red, I suppose. There’s some overspill on the southern end of Line 6, the B-Sides section, as well as the southern end of Line 13A, which is LNZ’s area.

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Teams I've Been Rostered To

All that whining in 2019 while I was meant to be captaining Orange paid off. My one season with Red was fab.

I got my wish. Constant mithering throughout the 2019 season may have helped, even though it likely irked everyone. Two games with Gold and an MVP award at the Raiders tournament may have been noticed. Batting practice with Ian over the main lockdown and the winter unquestionably helped my case more. I showed up to Raiders spring training, anxious but raring to go. I had but one mission: not just get out of Raiders Orange but shoot up that hierarchy. I pondered, could I even make it onto Gold? I would be lying if I said I wasn’t eyeing up this possibility. It was a ridiculous proposition; no Raider jumps straight from Orange to Gold. The timing and circumstances weren’t in my favour anyway; Gold had a solid team and were not looking for players. Sometimes with Raiders teams, you just need to be in the right place at the right time, 2021 wasn’t it.

Anthea and Stephen had promised me that if no-one had picked me, I would be guaranteed a spot on Green. Grateful, I was nonetheless setting my sights on a higher division. Got to show them the bat I’m known for, putting it to use in the training, scoring some home runs in the games. All the practice with Ian finally paid off. Laura and Derek picked me for the team. Year made.

The 2021 season’s format was different due to the circumstances (a pandemic, though dying down, was still occurring). There would be no promotions and demotions that year. The league was split into 8 smaller divisions of 6 teams. There would only be ten games in the season, starting later and finishing up earlier. It was a good way to return back to the sport, though the performative safety procedures were in place to appease Whitty and Vallance. Swapping balls was no longer done by the first base coach, each team had to handle their own softballs (get your minds out of the gutter). I wonder how many covid cases this prevented.

Laura had asked me before the season premiere if I was able to play shortstop. It wasn’t where I was most comfortable, but I was willing to have a crack at it. I wasn’t half bad, bar the odd overthrow to 1B, however when Derek and Laura realised I was better fit in the outfield, and Rachel mentioned her willingness to play SS (subsequently being nicknamed the ‘shortstop lady’), I was returned to where I was much more comfortable.

In our divisions were the Buccaneers, Parrots and Base Jumpers. We enjoyed a winning streak to start the season off and were anticipating continuing the winning streak by beating the Base Jumpers, whose record wasn’t very good at the time. This was the beginning of a long rivalry.

Given that, we enjoyed a very successful season that year. Three teams were tied for first place with a 7-3 record. Statistically we could claim ourselves as the top team, having scored the most runs, and having the largest run differential.

This season would be a stepping stone. I was still hoping to move up the Raiders ranks. Though contrite to leave Derek and Laura, who captained the team very well, 2021 would be my only season with Red. From 2022, I would be off to Blue, playing for another Derek.

Red is doubtless the most mutable of the Raiders teams, seeing the most consistent change every year. The 2026 roster could well be completely different to 2025 (one of the captains is at very top of the waiting list for Gold membership, should he rescind his captaincy). 2026 will in general be a year of change for the club (with one of Raiders’ most long-term members departing to France).

After facing a disappointing 2023 season, Raiders Red were demoted to Division 6 for the 2024 season, leaving four Raiders teams in the bottom division! There was a mission from the club to get Red promoted, and they have done so in style, finishing top of the table. The inevitable changes happened: two very strong women on the team opted to play for Green, along with the inevitable softball departees. New, talented people filled those spots, but of course a team must gel well to see continued success. They had a tough start to their season, having to play against teams that would eventually finish at the top end of the table. Confidence may have been shot initially, but they pulled it back together, earning fantastic wins. Their spot is safe in Div 5 for now, hopefully we could see them top the division this time next year.

Raiders Red haven’t really got a solid area, though I have placed some Red players along Line 1, coloured red on the map. Some Red players may find themselves as major interchanges near the centre of the map.

Captaining Raiders Orange in 2018 was pure bliss - what a team.

I joined Raiders in 2016, relatively late into the pre-season training. I had wanted to return back to baseball after university. Having now landed a solid job and officially started adult life, all work and no play is not the way to live the next stage of my life. University was in the rearview, as well as almost everyone I had met there. (I’m only in contact with one of my baseball teammates to this day). I needed to find some new social circles.

During baseball training, I had just met Tom who would be a teammate for my new baseball team, the Mercenaries. He also happened to play softball for the Raiders. It was probably obvious to most that I was gay, and he (correctly) thought that the Raiders would be the perfect club for me to join. During uni, I enjoyed the softball games even more than the baseball games (partly because I wasn’t stuck on the bench or in right-field for the entire time).

I had only just come out and needed to meet fellow LGBT people, the London Raiders would present a perfect opportunity. My first time at a gay bar was my first meeting with club members at their annual Meet the Raiders party. I returned home drunk; yes, this is my crew.

With the two sessions I attended (Stu was there to introduce me to the game, as he has done iconically for hundreds of people), I would be selected by Raiders Orange, the lowest ranked team at the time. I was delighted and excited to be playing. Many Raiders would say that their first year in the club is pure magic, and this was the case for me. The 2016 Raiders Orange team, led by the lovely Richie, was a motley crew of incredible people, and every game, though almost always a loss, was an absolute blast. It became more than softball: we often went round each other’s houses for board games, and who could forget the iconic washout of a camping trip at the end of the season (this is where my ‘Seabass’ nickname comes from). Such a riveting season with a fab group left me wanting to remain in Raiders Orange for the subsequent season. With baseball being my main sport, I was unbothered about trying to move up within Raiders. Staying in the bottom team was perfect for me. Alas, in Raiders, no team ever stays the same. Izzy and Ellen up to Red, Vicky up to Green, Richie unable to continue captaining, people would have to take their place. Those who did were much welcomed, including Chloe, a fellow Frenchie. It’s not the same team but it’s still great all the same, the Orange magic was still very much there.

I decided, this club has given me so much, why not volunteer to captain a team? Still with orange fever, I took the mantle of Orange captain for the 2018 season, with my co-captain Anna (from 2016, of course). Again, the team would be quite different to the prior year: Ali moved up to Red, and I would sorely miss him. Derek moved to Green. A few players left the club as they would be moving away from London. Ali’s departure meant I would have to take on the pitching full-time now, having started sporadically in 2017. We had quite the influx of new players for Orange, who had joined the club that year. Anthea, Alex, Caz, Christine, Cora, Donna, Jackie and Newton – what a team! Many of them are still playing in Raiders to this day, playing for Green, Red or Blue. All from my class of Orange 2018. Orange managed to win more games than before. I couldn’t have done it without a promising, zealous new team behind me.

The magic of Orange rapidly evaporated come the 2019 season. I truly enjoyed the captaining side in 2018, and I was set to continue. However, the thoroughgoing Raiders politics would throw a spanner in the works. Oblivious to what was befalling within the higher teams in the club, where I realised it was where wanted to be as soon as the season commenced, there was somewhat of a revolt. Raiders Gold had completely fragmented. Unaware to how the players were feeling, some joined other teams in higher divisions, some quitting softball. Only part of the team remained. Therefore, there was a huge club reshuffle. Essentially, most Blue players would move up to complete a new Gold team, Red became the new Blue; everything was shifting upwards. Locked down as Orange captain, this could have been a perfect time to play for a more competitive team, but I watched the rising of others from the bottom of the club. I couldn’t relinquish captaincy at this point, it would make things difficult for the club. My fervour slowly became resentment at my place in the club, as many of my teammates from 2018 were almost all swiped by Green. Alex, Caz, Cora, Christine and Newton, all to Green. I had to pick a new team, and many of the new players were less passionate and more flaky (one even only mentioning that she was not available to play half an hour before the game began). There were some positives, though: Anthea was a great co-captain and was patient with my rants. The brightest star was James joining Orange, we became very close friends (until he moved to Manchester), and he was willing to do some pitching too. He was eager to play as much as possible. A true friend I miss dearly.

2019 was a very awkward season, not just for league but for tournaments too. Orange did manage three wins in the season: two were forfeits from the folding of The Jets, and one was a forfeit from the Brew Jays who did not field a full team (they had five men and three women).

I was constantly wanting to play more competitively but felt stuck in a rut. Every game I umpired for a higher division; I was envious of the players. Bitter and covetous, it was time for a campaign to get out of Division 6. I did have opportunities to ring for other teams, including Gold themselves, and I played well. I knew that it was time to move on up. For sure, 2019 would close the Orange book.

Raiders Orange is now completely different now six years later. They had somewhat of an awkward season, where Indigo managed to finish above them in the league table. Many players on the 2025 roster are on Line 2, coloured orange on the map.

I want me one of those shirts. They're the team of many colours. Clear eyes, full hearts.

In 2018, NSL 3 was trialled to allow more teams to compete nationally. Eight new teams would take part in the launch of the new league, a one weekend only tournament. The grand prize for the top two teams: a place in NSL 2 the following year.

One of the eight competing teams was the Raiders. I overheard Andy, Wendy, and other players from Gold, bemoaning the stricter rules for uniforms for this particular tournament. Nothing that concerned me, I was playing for Orange and taking part in the odd Lower Rec tournament when my baseball calendar could allow for it. The Mob and Tempest would snatch the coveted prize, with the former going undefeated. The Raiders finished a respectable fourth place, scoring as many runs as The Mob; only one point behind Tempest, who had a pesky tie pushing them slightly ahead. They even finished ahead of the Fuzzy Ducks!

There was no NSL 3 in 2019, mysteriously. You all know what happened in 2020, and with restrictions easing but still present in 2021, a shortened season was offered to NSL 1 and 2 only. NSL 3 would resume in 2022, again with eight teams. This time, the Raiders were nowhere to be seen!

Gold had changed considerably since 2018, and the time that had passed led to most players forgetting about NSL. I was rather interested, though I didn’t feel my skills were good enough for such a prestigious tournament, thinking this was a Gold/Blue only affair. To me this was merely extra tournament time. 2022 was somewhat of a transition year moving from baseball to softball full time (one event that year would seal the deal and complete the transition officially). The list of people interested, mostly Gold and Blue players, quickly dwindled as people dropped out; this was a ship without a captain.

My memory is hazy on this. With the dropouts, there was a desperate push to fill in a team, going so far as adding a player who had just joined the club onto the roster. Wendy expressed concerns with this, justifiably, so plans for the Raiders NSL 3 revival fell through. No big deal, plenty of other tournaments to dive into. I had a baseball season to partake in as well, so a few free weekends would make it more reasonable to plan which sport I would be playing on each weekend. Truth be told, I wasn’t fully aware what NSL even entailed, other than strict uniform codes. I knew of and partook in the Diamond tournaments (which halted after Covid), but I was merely playing in Lower Rec at the time.

Well, Windsor 2022 happened. Since the end of the Diamonds, Windsor was the largest tournament held at Farnham Park. 32 teams of all levels would partake, split into three divisions. Again, in Lower Rec, it was entertaining watching the softball elite play the game. Then two fellas in Storm uniforms walked past. One of them was fully colour co-ordinated. Is this what this famed NSL is all about? Sick uniforms and fierce competition? I wanted in. I also noticed the odd players wearing trousers that fit with their jerseys (catching sight of this even before Covid). Does NSL give you pants permission? I tried to convince the Raiders to get their trousers on, designing a concept pair on Boombah’s uniform builder, but this was in vain. Only Kurt was interested.

Windsor 2022 was fantastic, a team full of my favourites from Raiders, 30°C weather, and a home run derby for charity. I thought, why the hell not, I’ll give it a go. I proceeded to hit two over the fence. I had to contend with Dan Patterson from Team GB and Che, who got 7 and 5 respectively, but two from me? Not bad going. Not having hit over the fence at Farnham at this point, I pondered, maybe a proper home run could happen one day. Maybe I could be decent enough to play NSL 3. Trouble is, finding a team could prove difficult.

There was still a lack of interest in NSL amongst the Raiders, so again, no team would be entered for the 2023 season; a missed opportunity as the league was to expand to 12 teams. A few Raiders had found joined other NSL teams for the year, some with Storm, some with the fOXes.

On Facebook, there is a group where players look for teams, and vice versa. It was worth a shot, could there be an NSL 3 team looking for a player? It’s harder for a BBH to find a team, but there’s no harm in asking. I can pitch, I can play outfield, I think I’m a good enough hitter. No dice, I would miss out on the first weekend of NSL 3, major FOMO. 2023 was christened as the ‘Year of Softball’ where I’d play as many tournaments as possible, and here’s one I would be missing.

NSL 3 just looked such a blast, and with the June weekend free, I would try my luck one more time, this time a little closer to the weekend (I had previously asked in March, long before the first weekend, if my services could be of use). There may have been more of a chance then as people tend to drop out of tournaments closer to the time. This time, my Facebook plea got a response!

Dave, from the Panthers, was looking for a second pitcher for the weekend. Absolutely fantastic news, I now had my foot in the door for NSL 3. The team also has an incredible kit (which I took note of when we played them at Let the Boys Play the year prior, the shirts seemed to come in many colours. Black and gold, black and red, black and purple, black and green, teal and white, all looking fireeeee).

The cake came with phenomenally sweet icing, as another player would also join the team for the weekend. Jen. Crazy Jen. This was going to be perfect. NSL with one of my favourite people from softball ever? How can you be nervous about performing well when Jen’s amazing personality keeps you in a constantly great mood? When you’re happy, you play much better. I would have too much fun to even be daunted.

Something felt different that weekend. Fierce competition was in the air. The love of the game is felt nowhere stronger than here, at the premier weekends of Farnham Park. I was able to play well too, ensuring that Dave’s pick was not in vain. The Panthers were a really friendly bunch. The party after the tournament was the wildest I’d experienced at Home Plate, with 36 teams about, the atmosphere was electric. My first taste of NSL was everything I’d hoped, and I wanted more, though I had now booked my summer holidays, choosing dates which would mean missing the weekend in July. When booking my flights, I had prior assumed I wasn’t taking part in NSL this year.

Unfortunately, the Panthers’ season did not pan out as hoped. The team finished in 11th place out of 12, meaning that they would be demoted out of NSL 3 entirely. Still, NSL wasn’t entirely over for the Panthers that year. For NSL 1 and NSL 2, there is a fourth weekend for the ‘Nationals’, where the strongest eight teams of both leagues compete against each other for the championship. This would be trialled for NSL 3 for the first time, though this was a rather late notice affair; not all of the NSL 3 teams could make it, particularly the teams from up north. Organising travel and hotels at short notice was unviable. The Panthers, based in Swindon, only a few stops away on the GWR, could make and would thus be invited back, and I was able to enjoy one more NSL weekend with them, this time, hitting a home run over the fence.

I absolutely loved wearing the black and gold/teal and white jerseys, now wanting my own (though Craig already claimed my usual #33 ages ago). It was disappointing to not be able to play with the Panthers in NSL anymore. The team was great plus Jen was part of it too. That’s softball for you, these things happen. At least my LSL team had been promoted.

The Panthers invited me over to Prague for one more tournament. Though late notice, I still accepted, mainly because it was the Panthers, and partly because adding this tournament to the list would get me two 20 tournaments for 2023, the most I had ever played in a single year. I got to pitch for the first time in Prague, plus get a few home runs, and spent the weekend with a great bunch, ordering the ‘weird smelling fish’ at the Chinese restaurant on the Saturday night was another highlight (the menu was very badly translated!)

Still, I wanted to continue playing NSL in 2024, this time, playing all three weekends, and hopefully, Nationals. With my team being demoted, I would need to do the whole Facebook group begging once again. That is until a session at indoor softball at the new 108 venue. Robby approached me and mentioned that the Fuzzy Ducks were looking for a couple of players for the NSL team. An NSL 2 team? Insanity. I was up for the challenge and was crazy interested in the offer. I might end up being way in over my head, but challenging yourself helps to make you a stronger player.

NSL meanwhile was increasing in popularity. With 10 available fields at Farnham, up to 40 teams could take part in tournaments, so it was decided to further expand the NSL 3 league to 16 teams. The two demoted teams, Panthers and Maidenhead, were invited back to the league. Well, this is awkward, I had now signed up with the Fuzzy Ducks. With Dave excitedly announcing the good news for the Panthers, I had to regrettably leave the team for 2024, explaining what had happened in the off-season. If I had known that the Panthers would be returning, I would have gladly played with them again.

Even though I had left the pride, there was absolutely no bad blood. Dave and the team fully understood and wished me luck and I returned the favour. Still, I would love one of those Panthers shirts, they are so striking. It was marvellous to see that they had a very successful season in 2024, finishing third in their bracket (in the same bracket as Storm, mind, who went undefeated – 22 wins!)

The Panthers also saved my arse at Cotswolds 2024, where I was only able to bring a grand total of three Raiders to Stroud to play, with countless last-minute dropouts only days before the tournament date. With more Panthers presence than Raiders in our team, I jokingly referred to us as the Pan-ders. Pandas!

The Panthers continue to be a solid team, incidentally part of our NSL 3 bracket. They qualified to keep their place in the league for 2026, even as the competitiveness of the NSL 3 increases year on year. Clear eyes, full hearts!

The Panthers can be found on the northeastern end of Line 16 – this includes players from the NSL team as well as players that I played with at the October 2023 tournament in Prague.

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Teams I've Played and Rung For

All that glitters is Raiders Gold. Diagnosing you all with a severe case of softball withdrawal symptoms.

Raiders’ premier team. All that glitters is Gold.

I’ve always dreamed of representing the Raiders at the highest level of softball, but the timing has up until today, been off. Though not a rostered player, I have nonetheless made numerous appearances in Gold games: my first appearance was early in my softball days, in fact my first year in 2016!

In this era, baseball was a bigger part of my life than softball. Baseball practice would always come first, if I happened to have a game on the Wednesday, I’d have to give it a miss (unless they were running short on players). One Wednesday, Gold would be playing at Finsbury Park (from memory, against the Finsbury Dazzlers) on the same day as baseball practice, and they were missing a player. I was recognised and asked to sub in. Good enough for Gold? Who cares, it’s better than the team having an auto-out. Baseball coach may not have been too impressed with my defection, but no regrets. I had a great time on Gold. Playing outfield, I was able to get a few good catches and some good hits too, helping them to secure a W at Finsbury.

I don’t remember being asked to play for Gold again until 2019. There was generally an ample choice of better players to choose from in higher teams, at this time I was still playing for Orange. That year, I had a stroke of luck: two calls up to play for Gold. For Game 1, I would be pitching, the pitchers in other teams were all busy at short notice but I was happy to make the journey to Colliers Wood (could even have a mini nap on the Northern Line after work). It was incredible to be pitching at a much higher level than I ever did previously, and I hit a couple home runs too! Whilst umpiring higher division games, I coveted a chance to play higher than the bottom division; that game provided undeniable evidence that it was time to seek something greater. My time on Orange needed to end and I had to play more competitively. Could I be playing for Gold in the future?

Jumping straight from Orange to Gold is wholly unrealistic, though, but in 2021, I thought there might be a slim chance that this could happen. The constant whinging about wanting to move up must have been heard by someone by now, and a year out due to the pandemic only made me want it more. I was chosen for Red instead, still a jump in teams. My wishes had finally been granted, and I had a fab season (including starting out the season as shortstop). 2022 would be a return to usual fare, with promotions and demotions returning for season winners and losers. I wanted more, though I was loath to leave Derek and Laura who captained the Red ship very effectively. This year, one of Raiders Gold’s key players, would move to the Yorkshire Dales. Steve was a dedicated outfielder, hence a vacancy in the outfield was now available. Could it be my time, to fill in some very big shoes? Two seasons, from Orange to Gold? Not this time, another very deserving player, Cristian, was picked for the position (it made complete sense as he was constantly playing in the Upper Rec tournaments). I still moved up. New captains would lead Raiders Blue that year, and Cristian’s departure meant that Blue now needed some outfield help. This’ll be great, but I’ve still got my sights on Gold.

Through my time on Blue in 2022 (and in all further seasons) I got very close to Derek, captain of Blue, and had a fantastic time. In 2022 and 2023 I enjoyed softball so much, my hitting and fielding were consistently strong. By the end of the season, I couldn’t now leave the team even if an opportunity arose. The 2022 season was inspiring and invigorating. We didn’t win all the games and faced some tough losses (notably against Base Invaders), but we finished with a respectable record mid-table. There was tons of potential for 2023, an avalanche of energy was brewing. The goal next year was concrete. With some amazing new additions to the team: Kieran, Jo joining full time, Rach and Taryn, we played hard and became champions of Div 4, officially the victors of the Minor leagues. It was time for the majors. Any chance of leaving Blue was now nil, why would I leave the team at this point? The gold couldn’t glisten enough for me to even consider.

Meanwhile, Gold weren’t faring as well in 2023. Struggling in Div 2 (you had teams like The Mob, who went undefeated, and the Ninos, so a very tough division), they would end up demoted down to Div 3 for the 2024 season. I made a couple of appearances for Gold that year: against the Mob where we started off strong, though The Mob did their winning thing, and the Ninos. Coincidentally these were the two teams which were promoted to Div 1. This got the Raiders in an awkward position: two teams in Div 3, Gold and Blue! For the 2024 season, there would also be four Raiders teams in Div 6. 2024 was a very awkward and uncomfortable year for the club.

Gold would be looking to do some restructuring with the goal to return to where they belonged, Div 2. Indeed, this meant dropping a few players. Rats! A chance to play on Gold, and I wasn’t in a position to seize it this time. Why would I? The only benefit would be status, I would be playing in Div 3 regardless. Derek, Kat and the team were highlights of 2023. Ultimately, on the survey I declared my preference for staying in Blue for the 2024 season. Hence, the Gold captains were a little stuck. They would end up dropping three big ball hitters from the team. Someone had to fill the spots. Would Andy be convincing me to play?

I think Andy knew that I would want to stay on Blue, and Derek would not relinquish me so easily. Thankfully, Tony and Brian, a pair of excellent players, had left the Fuzzy Ducks (Div 1 at the time) and were looking for new LSL and NSL teams. Brian had previously played for the Raiders, so this would be a welcome return for him. Gold had literally struck gold; two incredible players to rebuild their roster. Suzanne, a brilliant player who played for us in many a tournament, would also join Gold, leaving the Thundercats who had just been demoted. Still, one position remained.

Gold already have two incredible pitchers, Van and Craig. Blue would only have one available pitcher if I had left the team. It wasn’t in the club’s best interest for me to move to Gold. I wanted to stay to help Blue fight in Div 3. Yet, this was all circling my mind throughout the 2024 season. Raiders Gold, the club’s elite…

No-one jumps from Orange to Gold. Until now. Steff did what was a club first, jumping four teams to become part of Raiders Gold. He achieved what I had hoped to do myself. He had the outfield skills to do it, plus a solid bat, and by now yearned to play more competitively, mirroring my own experience in Orange. For him, the timing was perfect. Nervous at first of the daunting jump, he fit right in, his outfield skills were paramount to Gold’s successful season in 2024. But I felt some kind of envy towards him. Here he was, living my Raiders dream. I second-guessed myself all throughout the 2024 season, having a rougher time on Blue compared to the year prior. My time felt up and I felt passed over. I started to feel some sort of a resentment towards Raiders Gold, not helped by our intense matches in Div 3 (it was for my own good that I could only make one of the games). It felt like a kick in the teeth when they mercied us. Derek was feeling it too, the rivalry between teams felt somewhat inimical. Raiders Gold would dominate Div 3, putting forward a stronger team; in contrast, we struggled to gain footing in our new division, coming close to demotion, but thankfully surviving. Could you imagine how rough it would have felt if Blue receded back to Div 4? The bitterness would intensify if Gold eventually made it to Div 1 without me. I will always love Blue, but these were my honest feelings during 2024.

I was upset to not have been asked once to ring for Raiders Gold in 2024, until I slapped my face silly, I wouldn’t have been able to do so regardless; players cannot ring for teams in the same division. The elephant in the room was the Upper Rec tournaments. Since 2022, I had been a regular on the Raiders Upper Rec team, improving as a player (giving some particularly strong performances in Labor Day and Bristol Wreck). With the newly retooled Gold team, would I be pushed out of the Upper Rec tournament team? These thoughts marred my mind. If I couldn’t play Upper Rec with Raiders, I couldn’t play at all; I had joined the Fuzzy Ducks in NSL 2 for the 2024 season, and would not be allowed to play Lower Rec. They do check these things, this year Kate, who plays in NSL 2 for Blitz, had to be consigned to right field and the bottom of the batting order for the entirety of Bristol Wreck for the lower grade. I imagine they would be even harsher towards the big ball hitters.

As a result, I became a bit of what they call a ‘softball whore,’ playing for numerous other teams, such as Thames Valley and the fOXes. (2024 was an odd season, I couldn’t play any of the BSUK Cups anyway). It transpired that Raiders Gold were struggling to fill out their rosters for tournaments as some Gold players would be unavailable. For Windsor, in particular, they had to play 6 and 6, and I was in black and orange instead of the familiar blue and yellow. The spot was still there! At Labor Day 2024, whilst I was playing at the beach in Bordeaux, I saw faces I didn’t recognise in the team photo. This was one of Raiders most successful tournaments: undefeated in Leicester.

A new Raider BBH would join in 2024, one of the most stylish and skilful fielders in the club, possessing a great bat too. With years of experience playing baseball and softball in the States, Jeff dazzled in training, and was picked for Red who were looking, also looking to rebuild, promoting themselves out of Division 6. Jeff was an incredible pick, one part of the puzzle for the success they had throughout the year. It wasn't long till he caught the eye of the Gold captains and became a regular player at the tournaments. I felt that the spot on the Raiders Upper Rec tournament team was now as good as gone. Next season, at the spring training, two more very strong players would join the club. Mike Yu, who consistently crushed the ball at every single Sunday Softball session, was an unlikely surprise at Raiders training. Alongside, a young lad would show up too. He was noticed instantly; his brilliant bat and spectacular glove impressed us all. Xavier, I believe, is Raiders’ current strongest player overall; he without any doubt had to be selected for Raiders Gold even if there were already 7 BBHs on the roster.

Without my NSL 2 bragging rights, still wanting to at least play in Upper Rec, I would play regularly for Thames Valley. Raiders aim to play all the BSUK Cups, Windsor, Labor Day and Bristol Wreck, I played for TV for the July Cup and Labor Day.

Derek possessed a strong desire to build something with the Raiders Blue brand. We were a dedicated and close team, so Derek and Kat had plans to create a Raiders Blue tournament team for Upper Rec, mostly with Blue players (with a few ringers from Red, as well as other teams). This would be perfect; I could still play Upper Rec with some of the players I loved most. Derek mentioned that Raiders Gold were eyeing Comp. I would have loved to play Comp. Here we go, green with envy again, wanting to play for status. Wish you didn’t mention that, Derek!

Sorted for all the cups, Windsor and Labor Day. Only Bristol Wreck remained. Whilst Jeff and Steff were looking forward with glee to the 2025 Bristol Wreck tournament, discussing costume themes for the weekend, I assumed the team had been selected. It was a little frustrating, as I captained the tournament last year, leading the team to win the whole thing (I have that cute doggy trophy in my room, my first grand prize as a tournament captain). With the stress of balancing a competitive line up whilst ensuring everyone had fun and fair playing time, I was the sole captain of the team though Cristian was there to help during the semifinals and grand finale. When captaining with your mind on smooth sailing, your play can suffer a bit. Still, I was able to play good defence plus get one hit over the fence too! It felt a little chagrining, with all that, not to be picked this year. I planned for that eventuality and was looking to play LSL Lastball instead, a tournament I had never done due to it always taking place on the same weekend as Bristol Wreck.

Regretfully, Tony would suffer an injury early in the 2025 season, which was heartbreaking as he had just made the GB Squad. This was a tough blow for Raiders Gold, losing a very strong player. Van was recovering from an injury from the year prior, and Craig wanted to take a bit of time away from softball. This left Gold without a dedicated pitcher for much of the season. Inevitably, I made my ringing return to Gold for LSL, maximising the opportunity by pitching three games. Glad to be back. I’m elated to say, all three of my appearances were walkless, the pitcher’s triumph. Derek was also very happy to help, as well as John, one of softball’s most experienced pitching extraordinaires. Cristian bravely took pitching up towards the end of the season, filling in very nicely and doing a great job. The Windsor Lastball was a great demonstration of him stepping up to the pitcher’s plate, a perfect opportunity for him to get more reps in. He’s so ready for next season.

Raiders Gold had difficulty in getting sufficient people for the tournaments. A lot of the team would be away on those weekends, some wanting a reprieve after the league games. The team would eventually have to drop out of the Windsor Tournament and Labor Day, some of them joining the Raiders Blue team for the former. I felt a little remorseful as many of Gold were looking forward to playing comp ball this year.

It transpired that Bristol Wreck’s Gold team wasn’t finalised. Cristian was captaining this time, and sent me a message, asking me to join the squad! I took the opportunity almost instantly (though it meant missing a chance to play for the Asteroids in Lastball!) So excited to make it to Bristol, I had a hell of a good time there, all of us in our doctors and nurses’ outfits (I slacked a little in my costumes compared to snake Britney and the creepy Poundland Jimbo Baloney Ghost mushroom outfit).

What’s in store for Raiders Gold’s future in 2026? For one, Andy, one of the club’s most iconic members, who has done so much hard and positive work as club manager for the past two years, will be moving abroad. Gold will need another captain. The temptation rears its head once more; I would love to join Gold, though I still have a strong loyalty to Blue. Besides, Jeff, a stronger player than myself, should take the place on Raiders’ top team now a spot becomes available. With all the obstacles this year, Raiders Gold played a very strong season, finishing near the top of the table even without some key players for most of the season. Could they make it to Div 1 next year? If that transpires, I want to join Gold then and there. Some may find Div 1 a step too far, but I’d be up for the campaign.

For tournaments, time to return. I will gladly play tournaments for Raiders Gold again in Upper Rec and Comp if they enter. I just wanted to avoid lower rec as I want to play the game at a higher level. It’s a shame to have had the team dropping out so much in 2025, that cannot happen in 2026.

Plus, my NSL 2 bragging rights will be back for 2026! Upper Rec at a minimum!

Raiders Gold has a small section on the map (for 2025 rostered players) in squares D4, E4 and E5 You’ll notice that the two main gold-coloured lines, Lines 10 and Lines 15, meet here. Plus, there’s Line 2 (Orange), Line 16 (Brown) and Line E (Orange) that come close to the area, coloured close enough to gold. The official team colour for Raiders Gold is actually Yellow, but Line 5 has been taken by other teams.

Ain't no party like a Green party. (No photos exist of me and Green officially, though, this is the closest we've gotten).

I’ve never been rostered to Raiders Green, having skipped straight from Orange to Red, the team above Green. Nonetheless, in my four years as an Orange player, I have rung for the Greenies numerous times.

My LSL pitching debut was with Green, at Blackhorse Road, on a wet, windy day. It was a woeful performance, with a lot of walks. As a new pitcher, you have to start somewhere (we were playing against one of the top teams of the division at the time). Walking 5 people in a row is quite embarrassing (at some point you’d hope they’d get bored and start swinging), so I vowed never to walk this many people in a single inning ever again. I think I’ve honoured that.

Raiders Green is a close group of players, a team that many people have chosen to play in. Players from Blue and Red have been known to choose to drop down to Raiders Green for a more relaxing and slightly less competitive time. Stephen is one of the captains of the team and has been Green as long as he has been a Raider, taking the captain role in 2019. He describes Green as the ‘retirement team’, given their average age was one of the highest in the entire LSL at the time. Old brooms sure can still sweep, as they finish near the top of the Div 6 table all the time, just never enough to escape to Div 5.

Poignantly, getting promoted out of Div 6 is a tough ordeal, many new teams come from the Softball 101 program, and often seem to gel very well together. This gives Div 6 a constant stream of keen competition. Also, demotees from Div 5 vow to fight hard to come back up. Raiders politics doesn’t help either, strong players often end up being selected for higher teams. Raiders is a great club, but this is its biggest flaw. It would be nice to see Green in Div 5 sooner rather than later.

Many of my closest friends for Raiders were on Green this year. Most Green players are on the central section of Line 3, past Green players are along the northern end of the line.

I was not best pleased in this photo, after Indigo beat Orange.

Indigo has not always been one of the Raiders teams (due to insufficient numbers). The team as present was re-introduced in 2023 due to an influx of new players enthusiastic for the game.

At the start of the 2019 season, five Raiders teams were all set for the league. Early on in the season, one team, The Jets, captained by Mike, and a mainstay in the London league disappointingly had to fold due to an insufficient roster. Simultaneously, there were a number of players who had partaken in the Raiders spring training and were interested in continuing to play, alas weren’t selected by any of the Raiders league teams.

Gustav got some calls in and did incredible work into the reformation of Raiders Indigo, a genius idea to amalgamate what remained of the Jets and the budding new Raiders and a win-win situation for all. LSL gladly inducted in the new team. The Jets officially folded, hence all their games would be forfeits. Raiders Indigo was considered a scratch team filling in for the Jets, so opponents would win their games by default. Two wins for Raiders Orange!

I would often be asked to help Raiders Indigo, primarily for pitching. It helped that many of the games were played in Blackhorse Road, where I lived a 5-minute walk away from the fields. Extra game time is always appreciated, but I was a little humiliated when Raiders Indigo actually beat Raiders Orange, which I was captaining at the time. The consistent, tiring ranting about wanting to move up teams next year only intensified thereafter.

(It’s telling that the three wins Raiders Orange had in 2019 were the two games against Indigo which they forfeited by default, plus another forfeit by the Brew Jays who were taking the piss’).

Due to the lockdowns, when we were allowed to play softball again (we should have been allowed much earlier, quite frankly, to be playing outdoor sports). Many people had left London, and numbers within the club sadly dwindled. In 2021, we simply didn’t have enough players to fill six rosters and went down to five. After this dark era, interest in sports rapidly picked up, and an influx of new players were interested in trying softball. We had a few enthusiastic players, yet some were not selected for a team. With few opportunities to play their interest waned and they simply went to find other sports. The committee took attention of this; it was clear that Raiders Indigo would need to be re-introduced. Just as well, a stream of new players, more so than the year prior, had joined and now there were more roster spots available.

The new Raiders Indigo team played the 2023 season, a fresh and eager bunch, captained by the very experienced Katie. Div 6 is still a challenging division, with experienced teams who have played for years, and new squads who took part in the more intensive softball 101 for several months in the previous year. The five or six sessions at Raiders training pre-season just doesn’t compare with that. Raiders Indigo couldn’t eke out a win in 2023.

In 2024, more determined, it was clear that softball isn’t just about winning. Similar to my first Raiders season in 2016, this was a team that really liked each other’s presence, and they wanted to stick together. With new captains, they continued to play, sadly a win was not in the cards. They did enter London Lastball, captained by Kat. She reminisces about this tournament: ‘For some of them that was the first ever game of softball that they won; they were really pleased about that’.

Previously, I had written the following: ‘I am really rooting for the team to get a win for the 2025 season’.

Come 2025, they had not just won one game, they won three! They beat Base Jam, thrashed the Beavers, and even managed to beat Raiders Orange by a considerable margin. They are scoring more runs and allowing fewer runs against them. They managed to score 33 runs one game, it’s just a shame that Raiders Green managed to score 49 in the same game (the most runs scored by a team in a single game this season, beating Raiders Blue’s 48).

Not only did they win three games, but they also finished above Raiders Orange in the league table, a very intriguing outcome! They scored more runs than Orange and allowed less too. No longer at the bottom of the table (Beavers and Orange are tied for that honour), it’s interesting what will happen because of it. Raiders Orange is meant to be the more competitive team, but if Raiders Indigo stick together, they will continue to improve. Could Indigo be the new Orange?

I have indeed played for Raiders Indigo when they were a team in 2019, which made me one of very few Raiders to have played on every team (until Pink came along this year).

The indigo/purple line on the map, Line 8, is reserved for Raiders Indigo’s 2025 roster. They can be found on the eastern half of the line.

I answered a call to ring for the BBG Muppets, and that was a start of a wonderful relationship with this team. For the past three seasons I’ve maxed out my ringing opportunities for the Muppets, I feel an honorary part of the team. Regrettably for some reason, my batting always seems to go to put when I play for them (including one game where I popped up to shortstop three times! I travelled all the way to Morden just to do that. Maddening).

There’s been some exciting games with the Muppets, where we played a relegation battle against the Dazzlers to keep the Muppets in Div 2. It was a tough game (with LSL’s biggest hitter guesting for the Dazzlers). All hope seemed to be lost until the last inning, when the Muppets’ bats furiously ignited, and we eventually won. The Dazzlers were sent to Div 3, to become Blue’s new bitter rivals in 2025.

The Muppets opt not to wear team jerseys, which I think is a shame. There’s something so sophisticated about a softball team all donning well designed uniforms, it makes a team feel more united.

Alas, my days with the Muppets have now hit an abrupt halt. The BBG Muppets have been demoted into Div 3 for the 2026 season, so I can ring for them no longer. Hey – for any teams in Div 1 or 2 next year, I’m looking for my new ‘regular guesting’ team!

The eastern end of Line 13A is the home of the BBG Muppets.

This game had it all, drama, a Stephen home run and parrot feathers.

One of my favourite games I’ve ever played was a guest appearance for the Beavers, against the Parrots (this was the era where the Parrots were my biggest rivals). The Beavers were short two men, so Stephen asked me to help out. A Monday fixture at Clissold Park? Hmm, it’s midday at work, I don’t have my bats… oh, I’m taking the opportunity before someone else does. Here were me and Stephen, the Raiders hired help in the middle outfield, welcomed with open arms. On this sunny Monday evening, one of the most memorable and thrilling games was happening in north-east London, and I don’t mean the Arsenal match.

The game started like many other, but Stephen and I kept fly-balls at bay. Also notable was Jo ringing, who was in left field. Hits started coming and the game was close. I got the home run I wanted early on (at least one per game keeps me content). The highlight, however, was Stephen’s first ever home run. It wasn’t a huge hit, but a couple of errors from the Parrots’ defence culminated in an overthrow into the dead-ball zone whilst Stephen was standing at third base. He was in utter disbelief but completely beaming as he touched home plate to complete his first ever home run. After some drama with the Parrots regarding one play, the Beavers took the lead, and ultimately got the win.

This was the first time I had played with Jo, and she would be a great team-mate later on in my softball adventure (she was also ringing, rostered to the Knight Sliders at the time).

Stephen’s first home run, drama with the Parrots, and a Beavers win. What an evening!

Many of the Beavers, some who played for Breaking Bats, are on the western side of Zone 1, within the Breaking Bats complex. The majority of stations are found on Line 12A and Line 18.

What may have been - if I could make any of the BSUK cups in 2024.

Blitz are a tournament club, primarily of London players. They have several teams in general tournaments and two teams in NSL 2, the Bombers and Havoc. Both teams finished fourth and fifth in the NSL 2 league (formed of twelve teams), one or even both of them could end up in NSL 1 soon. We have some Raiders representation for the Blitz NSL teams: Kate plays for the grey and orange.

Blitz are forming another NSL team intending to join NSL 3, the Hellcats, who will enter the league full steam ahead.

Blitz have the bombest after-softball parties. The tradition for Windsor Invitational is to fire up the barbecue and hang about in Farnham Park after all the games have been played. BBQ and booze, what could be better? That’s what softball’s all about.

Whilst looking for a tournament team for 2024, Lorraine offered me a spot on one of the teams, unfortunately I couldn’t take it up as I would be away for all of the BSUK cups! I did make a very minor appearance on Blitz, playing an extra game at Bristol Sommerball after the Raiders were eliminated from the play-offs. With my train not until later, I gladly stayed to DH and outfield for Blitz in the semi-finals and final, even getting to wear the famous jersey for the first time. A small appearance, but it still counts.

Players from the OddSox, Pimlico Pirates and Golden Sombreros are part of the Blitz crew, hence those teams have their place in the Blitz/Pimlico complex. Any overspill is on Line 14 (or Line 17, whoops...)

Thankfully, no bats were actually broken at this tournament.

Breaking Bats has become an amalgamation of players of several teams in the LSL: Battitude, Fly Ballers, Swamp Monsters and Beavers. I’ve guest starred for Breaking Bats twice, and even have my own jersey. The Sass, #33.

They were selected to play for NSL 3 for the 2025 season so joined our fold. Now, NSL 3 is very challenging, even if it is the lowest National League division, and strong teams from all over the country are competitors. Breaking Bats put up a fight, especially for the third weekend (where they must have had one of the strongest ratios of power hitters over the fence). They even gave us an intense battle for our sole matchup in July (where they hit a couple of homers, I finally got one of my homeruns for the Fuzzy Ducks this season here). That catch in left-field, a very hard-hit deep line drive, that I made, was exhilarating and a make-or-break situation in that game. My heart is still pounding.

Ultimately Breaking Bats’ time in NSL has been fleeting, with them facing a demotion, though if an NSL 4 is finally initiated, I’m sure they’ll be back. Some of the players may be joining the London teams that may be due to join NSL 3 next year – rumours are that a new Blitz team and the Asteroids will be joining the league, so we’ll be seeing some familiar faces for sure at the NSL weekends next year.

For now, the Breaking Bats lot have their own complex – with Battitude, Fly Ballers, Swamp Monsters and Beavers players, all on the north-western/western part of Zone 1. There is overspill on the northwestern end of Line 5 and the western end of Line 12.

Uh oh, now we have to deal with them next year...

Eek, this team. Some LSL teams have consistently earned promotions at the end of each season, the Fly Ballers are on their way to joining this cohort. In their first three seasons, they’ve been promoted every single time, and will be entering Div 3 next year. Will they continue their trajectory? All I say is I’m hellbent on moving up to Div 2 next year so there will be tough competition with them about.

Captain Magda is well versed in the baseball community, and with their transferrable skills, the baseballers are formidable players. Some truly massive hitters are now staples of this very competitive team. I’ve seen first-hand umpiring, where some Fly Ballers are able to hit the ball from the softball field in the corner all the way to home plate on the main baseball diamond at Finsbury Park. Even those who didn’t come from baseball are solid, solid players. For sure, when we face them next year, outfield battle stations!

I’ve played with the Fly Ballers, mostly during indoor softball and it’s always been a great time. My one appearance for regular softball with the team was for the Codebreakers tournament in 2023, where we won all of our group games but were knocked out in the semi-finals. I even have my own Fly Ballers shirt. Magda gave me permission as a semi-regular indoor player.

Stations for the Fly Ballers can be found within the Breaking Bats complex in Zone 1, with many more stations along the western end of Line 12.

Here to fOX sh!t up.

The fOXes are Oxford’s premier NSL team. The OX is in capital letters, see what they did there?

I got a chance to play with the fOXes for the Windsor 2024 tournament. Envisaging that I would be snubbed by the Raiders Upper Rec team, I decided to get my team sorted for one of my favourite tournaments of the year and got a spot on the fOXes soon after entries for the tournaments were announced!

I had a very fun time with the fOXes. What a great team! Fellow Panther Charlie was part of the squad as well for the weekend. I managed to get my first home run on the horse field too. I was rather apprehensive after my mediocre batting for Reading a month earlier (there were a couple of people from that team which were playing for the fOXes that weekend), so it was nice to remind myself that I can do this. Mind you, by then I had settled into my new home, so anxiety levels dropped massively.

Raiders Gold seemed to have a rather depleted team that weekend, and there I was in black and orange instead of my usual blue and yellow, but I honestly thought I wasn’t going to be picked. I couldn’t play lower rec, nor did I want to.

Come 2025, the fOXes were one team I would be nervous playing against, and they would happen to be in our bracket for NSL 3. Only one promotion spot was available. fOXes are natural predators of ducks, and they would hand the Fuzzy Ducks their first loss in NSL 3, a close game won by one run. Two of the fOXes’ stars, a softball power couple, Laura and James, fly in from the USA to take part in NSL. Laura is a great player who won the home run derby in Prague, and James can often hit over the fence. A loss by one run isn’t anything to be ashamed about against a strong team; the NSL 3 campaign was never meant to be easy. We couldn’t ‘Storm’ NSL 3 (winning every single game). There was a bit of an intense rivalry which became kind of unpleasant for the second game against the fOXes, which we ended up winning (during our iconic undefeated NSL weekend). Still, I really like the team, but hey, I wanted nothing more than to get into NSL 2.

Lots of Reading players play for the fOXes – Line 6A is shared between Reading and the fOXes so stations can be found there.

Losing is the new winning, even though we didn't score a single W, I didn't care, because I had a great time in Edinburgh in 2025.

The Furies are a tournament-only team comprised of many players from The Mafia, alongside several players from the London Advertising League. They make regular appearances at many of the Upper Rec tournaments.

Edinburgh Festiball was one to cross off, and for the 2023 tournament, I joined Breaking Bats, nabbing a jersey. The atmosphere was electric, the tournament was brilliant fun and the nights out after were fantastic. For 2024 though, the vibe was a little stilted. Many teams choose to stay at a caravan park near the field in Prestonpans, though I had my good friend, a co-worker from my old job with the buses, who lives in Edinburgh and lets me stay over for the weekend for free (I always order in Irn Bru and treat them to dinner on the Friday evening as a thank you). Many of Breaking Bats decided to party at the caravan club this time.

The Furies were also competitors in the tournament. The team had hired a minibus to drive them from Edinburgh to Meadowmill where the tournament was taking place. Sophie, on Breaking Bats, was staying with the Furies, and told me there was a free space on the bus (this would save my friend having to wake up early and drive me all the way to Prestonpans, or me ordering a likely expensive taxi). They were out and about in Edinburgh city centre in the evenings, watching some of the Fringe shows and hanging out at bars and pubs. Sophie chose to hang out with them instead.

The Furies would end up winning the Rec division for the tournament, barring them participation next year in Rec. They would need to play in the next level up, Intermediate, if they entered next year. I was also looking to play intermediate for the 2025 tournament. I love Edinburgh and wanted to return. There was the very slim chance that the Green Sox would be looking, perhaps this was the year?

I had turned down Mouse Rat for 2024 as I had already signed up with Breaking Bats. Perhaps this would be the year with Mouse Rat. but the Furies offered me a spot and I gladly took it. I had a swell time with them last year, now having a proper spot on the team would be brilliant. Mouse Rat eventually asked, but it was too late. The Green Sox even had a spot for grabs, they ended up playing in Scotland with a smaller roster! But playing with the Furies was great fun. We may have lost every game, but I really enjoyed the trip this year: getting to see a few shows, eating one of the nicest curries ever (and discovering timur powder); my only regret is not showing up to the BATSU show!

I would like to play Intermediate again in 2026 if I show up to Edinburgh. If the Furies have a spot and are playing intermediate, for sure I’d like to join in again, but they may return to Rec next year, which is understandable. If this is the case, maybe Mouse Rat or the Green Sox could come knocking…

The Furies and the Mafia have a shared area: squares E7, F7 and F8 – Line 11, Line 13, Line 13A and Line 18.

Once upon a time, there were four Meteors teams: Green, Red, Purple and Black. Meteors Green were the bottom colour, the Meteors counterpart to Raiders Orange. Yet, they always beat us. One notable team member was Ian, who I made note of very quickly as one of the tricksiest, most sneaky base runners in the game. I forewarned my teammates when he went up to bat, and yet he always made it round more bases than he really should have done.

Meteors Green didn’t survive the lockdowns and had folded before 2021. Ian, wanting to play in a higher division, would end up with the Raiders, on the same team as me, Raiders Red. I haven’t been able to shake him off ever since (thank goodness). Five seasons together, perhaps my most consistent Raiders teammate!

That leaves Meteors Purple, Red and Black. Meteors Black now seem to be a separate entity, with a completely different jersey and logo and are mainstays at the top half of Div 1. The Green players that remained found themselves on Purple and Red, which both were in the same division for the 2025 season. On paper, Purple were the higher team, at one point playing in Div 3. Meteors Purple had reached Div 1 in the past. They have now been demoted into Div 6, a huge fall from grace; whilst Meteors Red played a solid season and remained in Div 5. It seems the Red players are much more present in the softball community, most of them play indoor and take part in tournaments, but don’t see very many Purple players in this regard, I can’t really name too many Purple players.

I played a tournament with Meteors, as Meteors Mash Up (plus four Raiders). This was my first time at the yearly Codebreakers tournament in Milton Keynes, one of the last tournaments of the year and a highlight of September. It’s always so well organised with a wartime theme, costumes are encouraged. (To decide who gets to be the home team, flimsy foam planes are thrown from home plate, whichever plan lands the furthest gets the choice of being the home or away team).

I also guested for Meteors Red at the Codebreakers tournament four years later, snapping up an extra game when the Fly Ballers were knocked out. It was the finals against the Asteroids, and I managed my only right-field home run over the fence (though I feel the fences are quite short at Milton Keynes).

I’ve placed stations for Meteors Red and Purple on the eastern end of Line 18. As for Meteors Black, you’re all in completely different locations, I’m afraid!

This team name always seemed random to me. The name actually is taken from ‘Parks and Recreation’. They started in Div 6, but look where they are now.

My first appearance ever in LSL Div 1 was for Mouse Rat. I was asked by Jack, one of my Fuzzy Duck teammates, to guest pitch against Mescalitos. What a fun opportunity this was, I was sure to pack my pitching gear. I’d need it with the team I would be facing.

The softball gods weren’t in my favour, bringing windy and rainy conditions to Regent’s Park. Thankfully, with Lukas’ consistent strike zone, I was able to hold my own and Mouse Rat put up a good fight, eventually losing but managing to play all seven innings without even coming close to a mercy. I walked just one player that entire game, and for a disciplined team like the Mescalitos, who tend to ensure that they wait for the right pitches, this was certainly a proud achievement!

This game was one of my favourites of the 2024 season; my first experience in Div 1 was a blast. Though the top of the London league is very high standard, perhaps a little too competitive for my liking, I always like to do the odd game or two in Div 1 nowadays.

I’ve come close to playing for Mouse Rat for Edinburgh: in 2024 and 2025, unfortunately they always ask me a little too late, as I have already locked down a team by that point. Edinburgh is a necessity in the softball calendar and one I like to have organised in good time. The Furies will likely play Rec in Edinburgh next year if they enter, so Mouse Rat… Edinburgh Festiball 2026? How’s about it? (unless there’s the miniscule chance that the Green Sox may ask me first, a man can only dream).

Mouse Rat wear red and black, so they’ve grabbed the southwestern end of Line 1 for themselves.

The Raiders have recently struggled to get teams in for the indoor softball league. Considering the size of the club it’s a little disappointing (there is lately a little more interest), though it’s reasonable to assume that most players have had their fill after a long season of ball. Indoor is a whole different game (I cannot field to save my life in these sports halls).

Seeking a team for indoor for 2022 as there was a lack of interest from the Raiders (frankly most players didn’t want to make the arduous journey to Isleworth). Oblivion answered my call, and I joined their indoor squad for the season. I had met a couple of the players prior at the All-Star game. Indoor was great and we did relatively well in the league. It was just great to continue playing and I got to meet some more softballers.

Raiders Blue would catch up with Oblivion in 2024 after our promotion. We managed to beat them for game 1 but they got their comeuppance in the second game, a split series. It’s a flip of a coin whoever wins with the LSL league games and the tournaments, we are both strong sides.

In 2024, Raiders Blue had to fight to stay in the majors for our last game, and we scraped through with the skin of our teeth. In total contrast, our last game of the 2025 was a remarkably unexpected promotion battle. We had been middle-of-the-road contenders. The Base Invaders’ throwing of the last games to remain in Div 3 occurred, and Oblivion lost against Game of Throws. To think, before I jetted off for my holiday, we had celebrated guaranteeing our place in Div 3. By the time I flew back, I never would have thought we could have a chance of going up to Div 2.

Is it a poisoned chalice? Status can be a salient topic in softball. I could be a Div 2 player. We could show Gold that we absolutely got it too. With practice we could play well in Div 2, but looking at the 2026 season: Asteroids, Coyotes, Odd Sox, Pirates, Soft Boiled, SPAM, and of course Raiders Gold. Being in the same division as Raiders Gold rather marred our season in 2024, in particular the vibes. The rivalry was embittering, and a repeat of this in 2026 is not so riveting. It’s not just Raiders Gold that would be decidedly tough to beat, all the other teams will be formidable challengers. We would likely struggle, with a significant chance of getting sent back down. Better to develop as a team in Div 3 for one more year, though the Fly Ballers have entered the Div 3 fold. Eek!

I’d give Oblivion the edge; they are also a solid team so hoping that they’ll perform well next season and remain in Div 2.

I have given Oblivion a section in the south-east part of the central area – all on Line 9 or Line 13A.

Many squawks were heard in Richmond that day.

SQUAWK! All throughout my earlier times in softball, the Parrots were persistent adversaries, seemingly always in the same division as my Raiders team of the year. At first annoyed by their celebratory squawks, I grew to really like the team, even if they annihilated Raiders Orange (including one game where they swiftly thrashed us in four innings so they could hurry to the pub to watch the World Cup). The lashing of feathers ceased as I moved up the Raiders ranks; with Red I finally achieved my dream of beating the Parrots. They are a true run scoring team with some insane hitters.

After restoring my faith in humanity whilst umpiring (they were one of the teams in the second game I umpired ever), I felt like one of the flock. I was invited to play a couple of tournaments with them, first for Oxford, and then my very first opportunity to pitch every game in a tournament which I snapped up immediately. I played Codebreakers with them after the pandemic, and they remained opponents in the LSL until 2022, when Raiders Blue made it to the majors. The rivalry is put on hold for now…

The Parrots are within the Blitz/Pimlico complex – all on Line 8 and Line 11A (centred around an area in the south-west of Zone 1). You’ll recognise the stations easily; the station names are particularly notable.

The top team of the Pimlico trifecta.

I was pleased to be able to play for the team on a few occasions in 2024, all as a pitcher. That year, they introduced funky tropical uniforms. I truly enjoyed each game with the Pirates (my Storm shirt I had recently acquired sort of fit in with their jerseys). No appearances in 2025 sadly, though they’ve come back even stronger for their season this year.

I also rang for them in the Windsor tournament (looking to get some pitching time). We played Cardiff, the undefeated team, looking for our first win of the day. We managed to beat them! After a couple of drinks, it was agreed I’d ring for them on the Tuesday, and the game ended up being against the Fuzzy Ducks! To add to the awkwardness, on the Monday after the tournament, the Fuzzy Ducks had asked me to play for them! That led to some tension on the field… for about two minutes. All was swiftly forgiven.

Part of the Pimlico group, with many of them also playing for Blitz; I bunched these two groups of teams together on the map. The Pirates are primarily found in the Pimlico/Blitz complex, primarily on Line 15 and Line 18, with a few more stations on the southern end of Line 15.

Reading are a great bunch, but not shown in this photo is my soul slowly dying inside after fouling out 100 times.

Mainstays of Farnham and consistent opponents, this team in baby blue is amongst the most iconic, with some incredible players representing in NSL 1, 2 and 3 (Tigers, KKs and fOXes). A substantial club with three teams in the Windsor and Maidenhead league, known for having some of the most passionate players in the country. It felt like every single player in the club showed up to Windsor Lastball in 2025.

Tracy organises one of the most popular tournaments of the year, the Windsor Invitational. I remember getting a scolding when I forgot to join the captain’s group for Windsor 2023. Early morning rain delayed the tournament by an hour, but I didn’t know until the entire team got there! At least my team didn’t hold it against me (with the mad dashing to catch Ubers and all that).

I have familial ties to Reading town. My half-brother and his mum moved up there a decade ago. I’m trying to convince him to take up softball, he could be donning the blue jersey (he’d be amongst a friendly crew), and I could hit home runs over his head.

I played just once for Reading at the Single Sex Championships in 2024. Woefully this was right in the middle of the fraught period of time where I had to relocate from my favourite flat I’ve ever lived in due to a Section 21 issue. Insistent on not missing a single tournament, even with the ultimatum of not having anywhere to live by the moving out deadline fast approaching, regardless I headed to Farnham for the weekend. I was inevitably spooked, and my batting was an ignominious disaster, fouling out an embarrassing number of times. Though the outfielding was solid for most of the weekend, I just completely lost it when missing a catch towards the end of the tournament, after enough dejected returns to the sidelines upon strike outs from foul balls. Yet, with my dismal batting, the rest of the team did incredible and brought home the trophy. Reading lads, I promise, I’m a decent player. I swear.

Line 6A received the longest extension so I could fit on more Reading (and fOXes) players onto the line. Annoyingly it’s coloured pale green though, that can’t be helped (and I’m not changing it to light blue).

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Teams I've Played Against

In the top three teams that I would like to ring for. I’ve had a few opportunities but had already secured a team before they asked. One day, it will eventually happen. After all, there is an Asteroid named ‘Jean-Jacques’ (close enough).

Everyone expected this outcome. The Asteroids had long been regulars at tournaments: the purple team that can’t stop winning. I had a strong will to beat them. The wins were constant: Prague, the cups, the Codebreakers tournament. Many times, I was on the losing side, standing cheering as they scooped up the first prize (let’s face it, the team is full of great people on and off the field).

They planned their move from the Advertising league to become an official LSL team. They’d sternly be told ‘no chance you’re entering in Div 6’. Teams have the option to enter the league in Div 3 if they’re experienced enough. The Div 3 regulars were sort of dreading this, and what was expected of the Asteroids came to be.

Imagine the regular tournament team, plus several strong players who abandoned their own ships to join the belt. Literally unstoppable. They stomped us (I barely played a single inning against them for our LSL match ups) both times and went on the beat the other Div 3 contenders twice for a perfect, undefeated season, the only LSL team to do so in 2025. Straight up to Div 2 without breaking a sweat; I think they could finish in the top half of the season in their new home next year.

Raiders Blue’s tournament team would face the Asteroids at Farnham Park too, still unable to get a win. I don’t think I’ve ever played a game against the Asteroids and won, though our games at tournaments were closer.

Rumour has it that the Asteroids will be entering NSL 3 in 2026. Likewise with LSL Div 2, I am certain that they’ll be steaming through the league.

A little bit of movement on the map: I moved the Asteroids to the western end of Line 2, it fit better with the map. There are some stations scattered around in Zone 1 around Line 2, in squares D3, D4, E3 and E4. Originally, the Asteroids were placed on Line 16, which was initially coloured purple on the map. Unfortunately, the line colour was too similar to Line 8’s shade of purple so it was recoloured brown (and Raiders Indigo had to take priority). Orange instead of Brown, not getting much closer, but can’t fit every team to their respective colour.

Not in the familiar purple here, but the TV/B-Sides mashup at Solent was brill.

Also in the top three teams I want to ring for! With origins from Nottingham University, this purple squad must have the youngest median age of all tournament teams (apart from Nottingham University’s own in-house softball team). No wonder they are so full of enthusiasm for the sport, they improve consistently. There was one game where I was pitching against them, it’s not very often that I’ve had so many line drives hit off me. Had to swallow my pride in that game (especially with Kate striking me out by way of a third strike foul ball).

When we first heard of them, I was very impressed when their captain showed up to the pre-game captain’s call with an impeccably dyed pair of purple baseball trousers. I was a little jealous, having wanted matching trousers to match my uniform for years. Screw Boombah and their minimum order, Liam declared, just do it yourself. Let me find some green strips of fabric, dye my mud-stained old baseball pants jet black, and finally learn to bloody sew.

They have a such loveable reputation, that even Stephen sternly demanded that the B-Sides should get a spot in the Raiders tournament. You didn’t even have to ask.

They have become somewhat of a subsidiary of Thames Valley; many players play for both teams. Generally, the oldies stay in TV Red whilst the young’uns are part of the purple crew. Often the teams are mashed up, for the Solent tournament this year, we had a stunning blend of TV and B-Sides and had a stupendous weekend, even if the barbecue didn’t work out as planned!

B-Sides may see themselves as a B-team, but they are brimming with skill. I’d love to punch my purple card in myself soon. They’re such an effervescent, ambitious group of players.

The B-Siders needed a larger section on the map, so they have moved away from Line 4, letting the Mob as sole inhabitants on that part of the map. The B-Sides now invaded the southern end of Line 6, close neighbours to Thames Valley’s section on Line 7. Sadly, Line 6 isn’t coloured purple; I was half-tempted to swap the colours of Lines 6 and 8 (which is the purple line), but Raiders Indigo does have to get the priority. Not all the purple teams can get what they want (sorry Asteroids!)

One of my favourite games ever was against the Banditos, a team which used to be based in Kingsbury, north-west London (at the same school as indoor softball’s replacement venue this year). Almost every other team dreading having to make the journey to almost the country end of the Jubilee line (I didn’t mind so much, any excuse to ride a 1996 stock train that far was OK with me). Softball space is scarce in London, as we would be reminded after nosy neighbours drove us out of Colliers Wood.

Reminisce to my first season with Orange, the day of our away fixture against the Banditos. It was a glorious, beaming evening, though Richie wasn’t as jovial when an outfielder dropped out last minute. Only 9 players would be making the voyage to the far-flung ends of the borough of Brent. I was first to arrive, blocked by the combination lock at the gate. Banditos captain, also a teacher at this school, Pete let us in for the game.

We had to play just three outfielders, so I was now de-facto centerfield. C’mon baseball outfield! The Banditos were getting those hits alright, certainly scoring more than we were. A lot of those hits were flyballs in my vicinity. I caught almost every single one of them, much to the chagrin of Pete. This was a monumental game for me, my baptism of fire as dedicated outfielder in both softball and baseball. Ashley from my days playing baseball at university was correct, outfield was my true calling. Infield was never my destiny. Props to ya, Ashley.

It was a bit of a downer to lose the game, at the mercy of an auto-out handicap, but it was a close one. Ever cheerful, we celebrated a jolly day at the Kingsbury Wetherspoons on curry night no less; Ali and Raj hurriedly got their orders in.

Games against the Banditos thereafter were rare as they had moved up the table whilst I remained in Div 6. I thought I was one of their enemies after all those outfield catches, but they seem to like my posts on Instagram quite often. Give us a wave if you read this.

One thing I’ve pondered, a possible case of the Mandela effect. There’s the Mescalitos and Mezcalitos Ninos (which I’m unsure if they are affiliated or were so in the past). I distinctly remember the Banditos as the Mezcalitos Banditos – part of the club with the Ninos. Somebody please clear this up, I’d love to know if I was completely misremembering.

Banditos have a small section of map on the southern end of Line 11A.

“I would put money on Bangers & Smash being division champions in 2025”. The payments are rolling in. Are we even surprised? Not only division champions, but almost undefeated. It all came down to the last game, against the Tecumsehs, who were in second place overall (mind you three years ago the Tecumsehs were in Div 3). Losing the last game of the season and bragging rights of being an undefeated team must be frustrating, but it must have been more heartbreaking for Swamp Monsters, whose chance of promotion to Div 5 were dashed due to that loss. (Mind you I won’t be too shocked if they just pull the Swamp Monsters up to Div 5 anyway as an 11-team division would lead to a 20-game season for each team, a bliss dream for the most avid softballer but passes the limits of feasibility).

The passion Bangers & Smash have for softball is unrivalled, they train all year, through the winter in Victoria Park to prepare for the season. I’ve long wanted to join the odd session but just couldn’t find the time. They also took part in the comp divisions of indoor softball. A roster with such talent, I won’t be surprised if they followed in the Fly Ballers footsteps, dominating a new division each year. If I continued my betting, I’d place some coins on B&S in the top two of Div 5 in 2026.

They averaged over 28 runs per game in the 2025 season, which is impressive, and tops the entire London league. Conversely, they’ve only allowed an average of just over 8 runs per game.

They take part in many a tournament (I wouldn’t mind a weekend wearing those awesome teal unis, but their roster is full of keen players). They all love the game, and it shows. I do have a long-time connection with a B&S Kingpin, tournament captain Ravi himself, who I’ve known since 2012 (the person on this map I’ve known the longest), all the way back to the very beginnings of my baseball/softball life.

Stations are found on the northern end of Line 14, which sports a similar mint colour to their jerseys. Ravi gets the premier station.

LSL’s most jolly team, by a long shot. Booze, dancing, parties and an exuberant Instagram feed. Thrashing Raiders Blue twice in 2022 (both close to a mercy), then celebrating with a good ol’ can or three, with the inevitable shots. They would be our problem no longer until we had caught up in Div 3 in 2024, where we did manage to split our series with one win and one loss each. This year was a little less successful, we lost both times (if only Pippa wasn’t in right field at the time, I should know better than to hit to a Fuzzy Duck).

This team play hard and love each other’s company, it’s truly infectious. How can you even be miffed even if they win definitively? My only bone with Base Invaders was in 2024, where they extended my anxiety by a week as they lost to Bat Intentions to artificially remain in Div 3 (they are more than capable of making it to Div 2 as they are a talented squad, but most of them prefer to bide in cozy Div 3), meaning our last game of 2024 was a relegation battle. In 2025, they pulled the same stunt, only this time we ended up in a promotion battle for our last game as a result.

Stations can be found on the western end of Line 16. A few Base Invaders also play for the Fuzzy Ducks NSL team, if that’s the case they will be found on the western half of Line 11.

There was a time when Base Jam were a super eager team. Often, almost half of the Sunday Softball sign-ups were Base Jam players. A team full of characters (including one unassuming player who got Alan in a worse mood than usual for throwing his bat away the wrong way after getting a hit), they were one of the softball 101 graduate teams. Now, their appearances at Sunday softball are no more, apart from captain Eric, and occasionally, Jonathan (who incidentally has played for my university baseball team).

I’ve only played Base Jam once, during the Cotswolds 2024 tournament (where only three Raiders ultimately turned up after constant dropping out). It ended up a tied game.

Base Jam players have their own section of map real estate – primarily on the eastern end of Line 12.

There’s something about this team that makes me skittish. Whether it’s the fact that the Base Jumpers has one batter who can absolutely nuke a softball, making the outfielders look like mere peons, no matter how far back they stand. This particular fellow, Miguel must be the biggest hitter in the LSL, not even some of the feared Div 1 players have smashed a ball that far at Regent’s Park.

It’s not just Miguel, the BBHs of the Base Jumpers are fearsome; a couple of lefties who take every advantage of hitting right field.

We underestimated them a little when I was first due to play against them. With Raiders Red being undefeated and the Base Jumpers near the bottom of the table at the time, we were expecting to continue our streak, but they gave us a hell of a game. They’ve been regular opponents ever since, missing out on promotion in 2023 but eventually securing it in 2024. In 2025, we managed to beat them twice, very hard-fought wins. I’m a little surprised they ended up demoted, especially with the power they have, but I think they’ll bounce back next year (I expect the Base Jumpers and Battitude to gain the promotion spots next year).

A few of the Base Jumpers can be found on the western end of Line 2. There is also one somewhere on Line 10 in the Breaking Bats complex...

Ever since I was on Raiders Blue, Bat Intentions were ceaseless rivals. We always tended to split the results, getting one win each per season. We never were able to beat them at their home ground at Boston Manor, which many of us were much loath to travel to.

In 2023, both Raiders Blue and Bat Intentions were promoted into Div 3, there was a close race for the top spot and the coveted place in the BSF Nationals tournament, but Blue ended up as champions. Curse that David, but we fought hard for a place at this exclusive tournament.

With both of us in Div 3, our rivalry culminated in a relegation battle for the very last game of the 2024 season. A nail-biting game, Raiders Blue came out on top, sending Bat Intentions down to Div 4. I played my hardest, as having both my LSL and NSL teams demoted in the same year would be utterly devastating!

A few of their strongest team members left the fold before the 2025 season, one moving to the Coyotes, the other Boston Manor based team. Bat Intentions have struggled in Div 4, winning only one game in the entire season. Div 4 has become that much more competitive compared to a couple years ago.

I wish them the best in Div 5, but the Blue-Bat Intentions rivalry may not be restarting for a while yet…

Stations for Bat Intentions players can be found at the very western end of Line 11A.

Bat to the Future has been a constant Div 4/5 team. In all my time playing softball, it feels strange that there’s only been one season where my Raiders team was playing in the same division as BTTF, it seems they have been more constant opponents in my mind.

They’ve enjoyed a really successful season in 2025, getting promoted to Div 4.

Of note are many baseballers joining the cool side and playing slowpitch. Guess who joined the team? None other than my baseball captain/coach for my final two seasons in the game, Bruno (also known for his Brazilian barbecues on the Sunday evening after the baseball games are wrapped up).

I’ve moved BTTF to a full branch on the eastern end of Line 5.

Part of the Windsor and Maidenhead league, a group of teams who have the biggest love for the game. The Scorchers are present in virtually almost every single tournament in the calendar. It ain’t a softball weekend without the blue and orange about.

There’s also Bracknell baseball teams and a fastpitch team, many of the slowpitch players take part in the other games.

Bracknell have an NSL team, which was promoted to NSL 2 for the 2024 season. They joined the Fuzzy Ducks as we were both banished from the fancy fields into NSL 3, though we had some close games against each other (I hit one of my favourite home runs ever to liven up a very low scoring game)!

Strangely enough, until recently, the Raiders have always managed to beat Bracknell during tournaments (including the crazy Solent 2023 tournament where we lost all of our round robin games but beat Bracknell in the spoon semi final and brought home a trophy. The spoon, in fact, but a trophy’s a trophy). Softball is a mad game.

The northwestern end of Line 10 is the Bracknell area, a few more stations have been added to the section since the last version of the map.

The excellent city of Bristol has a considerable softball league, with three divisions. They also put on a few tournaments throughout the year, their own Firstball and Lastball, as well as Bristol Sommerball and Bristol Wreck. The Bristolians often make their way to Farnham Park too.

I decided to be more adventurous with softball tournaments after taking them for granted before Covid. First stop for 2021 was Bristol (by coach, with Liam; we couldn’t turn down a return trip for £2.80!) I met some of the Bristol teams and regular players here, of note we had a Bristol regular ringing for the Raiders!

Some of the Bristol teams include the Monkeys, with their celebratory cowbell, the Vandals, the Grandslammers (who have not hit one against the Raiders yet, touch wood), the Creamers (for those of us dirty minded and immature, we did giggle, but the name is based on Bristol Cream, a popular sherry), and the Greasy Mitts. However, one team in particular stands out – Bristol BAM, sporting one of British softball’s most iconic uniforms. The team is branded perfectly. They have my second favourite shirts of all time. Apologies, Storm has to take the top spot.

The team logo is brilliant, and they’ve gone for a comic book aesthetic. The shirts are brightly coloured and eye-catching, adorned with superheroes. Instead of numbers on the back of the shirt, players use the BAM acronym with words on the back of their shirt. B*** A*** M***. For example, ‘Batting Annihilation Machine’. Mandrews hilariously went for ‘Bad at Acronyms’. Close enough! A common topic of discussion, happening most notably with Thames Valley during the Labor Day tournament, is deciding what our BAM names would be, still haven’t thought of mine yet.

Bristol BAM! are always at the tournaments and are always a strong opponent. I always remain in awe at their shirts. I even came close to wearing one of them myself, after expressing interest in playing for the men’s Single Sex tournament in 2024, BAM were beaten by Reading in offering me a spot as they asked a little later, but the temptation to try on those amazing shirts was alluring! One of Bristol BAMs pitchers, Tom, is one of my most feared pitchers in the entirety of softball.

Bristol have their own NSL team, the Bees, who were part of our NSL 3 bracket this year. The fearsome Tom was part of the hive. The Bees were our closest competitors throughout the entire NSL 3 series, the Fuzzy Ducks and the Bees winning numerous games for the first two weekends. After the second weekend, the Bees were only two games behind us. With only one promotion spot, the race was on to achieve victory for the third weekend. We made it a little difficult for ourselves after a tough loss to a very strong Tempest II team, and anxiously refreshed the NSL standings to see how the Bees had done. Game 1 win for the Bees, this would be a close race. They got a couple of losses eventually, and by the end of the Saturday, the promotion spot was for the Ducks. The Bees have played brilliantly all season though, I would like to see them continue and gain the promotion spot next year. Bees, Southern Stormers, Game of Throws, I think any of those three teams could make it next year.

The Bristol BAM section is now a general Bristol section – BAM, Bees, you name it – primarily on the northeastern ends of Line 18.

I reluctantly accepted a request to join the Raiders team travelling to Cardiff Diffodil in 2022. Bristol, sure, Loughborough, fair enough. Cardiff? A little too far flung. The promise of ample pitching time, shared with Ali (who prefers not to pitch that much) drove me to booking train tickets and a hotel room and haul my arse to Wales. No regrets, this would be my favourite tournament of 2022 (with us making the finals!) Cardiff is also a fab city, and we enjoyed the weekend the Raiders way (obligatory night at one of the gay bars).

Cardiff has quite a significant softball community, but it was only there where I met some of the players of Wales. I don’t remember playing against Cardiff before them (though it was only around this time when I started to play Upper Rec tournaments). Yet ever since, they’ve been regulars down in Bristol and Farnham Park, making their way down the other end of the Great Western Railway (ah they probably drive, don’t blame them).

I haven’t been back to Cardiff since, though some Raiders have returned for an LGBT tournament. There’s often clashes with other tournaments on the same weekends. Perhaps next year.

Cardiff are a strong side to play against for sure, consistently placing well in the Upper Rec tournaments. They entered NSL 3 in 2025, I was anxious for them to be in our group as playing against them in Upper Rec tournaments was inevitably a challenging game. They ended up in the other bracket, but did manage to thrash us on the third weekend of NSL (I do believe we were mixing positions up a bit as we had already been promoted by this point).

I’m truly glad they did well this season, they even managed to place high enough in the table to be invited for NSL Nationals. Hope for more success in NSL3 for this amicable team.

Cardiff also helped the Raiders out in a couple of tournaments. For a lot of Raiders softball fatigue happens late in the season. Players tend to not sign up for the September tournaments. The Welsh enthusiasm is not so easily quelled. Two great players helped out for Codebreakers (for a team half-Raiders half-ringers), where we managed to place second in the entire tournament. They were willing to fill in for the later Cotswolds tournament where we brought a grand total of three Raiders (the Panthers saved my arse that weekend).

Some players for Cardiff have ended up on the western end of Line 18 (with Bristol), though there is another more dedicated section for them at the southern end of Line 8.

Another softball club who are a regular at tournaments. Not much to say, though I did have a tiff with one of their players when I ran into him whilst rushing to second base as the batter behind me hit a weak infield grounder. I don’t like to slide as it has caused my injury in the past, and I’m usually quick enough. I don’t intend to play dirty, but I refuse to miss even a small part of my softball season.

MK might be in this section too. MK Diamonds were the other NSL 3 winner this year: we’ll be seeing them next year, on the fancy fields this time.

There is a small section on the western end of Line 11A.

The Finsbury Dazzlers (now based in Blackhorse Road) bumped down to Division 3 for the 2025 season (I remember that relegation battle vividly). A few players wanted to stay in the top divisions so left the Dazzlers for other teams in Div 1. Still, we were very apprehensive to face this team of talented softballers, and they gave Raiders Blue some of most memorable games this season.

A decent start against them in Firstball, an eventful game. I was thrown out at home by an insane throw from the outfield; I think it was Travis. I umpired a Dazzlers game beforehand and called him out for touching the base runner ahead of him, a silly thing to do, mind. Throwing me out must have felt amazing. I also had my best ever right field hit in this game. The Dazzlers would end up beating us, but scores were marginal. They subsequently annihilated us for our first official LSL game, so we knew it was battlestations for the second match up in Blackhorse Road, and it would turn out to be unequivocally the tensest game of softball I have played.

We started off incredibly well, getting lots of hits, in the third inning, almost batting around the order twice. This looked like a game which would be a mercy after four, downright payback after being mercied by them in Regent’s Park. Some easy plays could have achieved this, and yet the Dazzlers managed to avoid a premature end. In the sixth inning, the Dazzlers just kept on hitting and we couldn’t seem to stop them. Derek couldn’t take any more, so I walked to the pitcher’s plate under duress. Our incredible lead had been closed and the Dazzlers would have won, if it were not for Emma, the hero of the game, making with a clutch catch in right centre for the final out of the game. 35 to 35. 70 runs in total. This was the highest scoring tied game in LSL history. An iconic game for so many reasons, a lot of them just… wrong.

We’ll be facing the Dazzlers for round two in 2026, hoping the games will be just as exciting. My only wish would be for us to win both this year. Move over Bat Intentions, the Dazzlers have already become my favourite rivalry thus yet.

The Dazzlers who have remained on the team this year can be found on the southern end of Line 3.

The new team of 2019, they entered the league with notoriety. First impressions were abject, to say the least.

The LSL is a self-umpiring league, and all teams need to chip in with providing umpires. Each team has a set number of games that they will need to umpire. Raiders Orange escaped this in 2018, as a team is exempt from this requirement in their first year. 2019 – no more hiding. I was the player with the most experience and the only one willing to stick my neck in the parapet.

First assignment: Diamond Dogs v Brew Jays. We played the Brew Jays, a jolly bunch, I mean Canadians are almost always marvellous. How bad could the Diamond Dogs be?

That evening was one of my worst experiences in softball. One player gave me endless grief as I lacked in confidence behind the plate. After calling out a player on three strikes, he angrily shouted in my face and slammed his bat on the ground. How typical that the game should end in a tie, aggravating the situation further.

I learned very quickly: as an umpire, you cannot take any shit. I’ve umpired many more times since and haven’t had any games anywhere close to as unpleasant as that one. This is why I don’t give BASU umpires (well, all umpires really) any trouble. What’s the point?

The team promptly mellowed out, and I’ve grown to really like the Dogs, a team of friendly faces (apart from a player nicknamed ‘Mathenroe’, they should kick him out). This liking may be replaced by rivalry in 2026 when they enter Div 3 for the first time. They’ve done very well, one of softball’s successful teams.

My co-worker plays for this team. Frankly I cannot have him overtake me in the London League, so Raiders Blue need to make sure we win both our games against the Dogs next year.

The Diamond Dogs can be found on the northeastern end of Line 6, with stations continuing along the line into Zone 1.

I started a little wary of this team. Stephen, one of my softball best friends, had his origins here, part of the team in its fledgling years. With Game of Throws being highly competitive with some truly driven players, whereas Stephen wanted to play the game for fun, there was some contention involved. Stephen eventually found his way to the Raiders, and I am endlessly thankful for that. His new home is a much better fit for him, he’s a captain and pitcher now.

No shade to Game of Throws, of course, a team who I enjoy playing in league and tournaments, a swell bunch. They’ve reached the highs of Div 2 but have now settled in Div 3 (there has been a lot of switching and changing recently). The gap between Div 2 and Div 3 is relatively steep, mind.

The team made their launch into NSL 3, in our half of the league! The NSL team has some familiar additions and gave us some close games. It’s fantastic that they’ve done really well this year in a tough division, finishing third place. Next year, they’ll conquer even more.

The LSL team has stations that happen to be in the Blitz/Pimlico complex – your best bet to find them is on Line 1, Line 17 and Line 18. For NSL, which is generally a different team to the LSL, the stations are scattered about. It's a good idea to look for your respective LSL team instead.

One of the best tournaments in 2024 was the trip to Dublin. Two Raiders teams crossed the Irish Sea to play the Brodball tournament, an LGBT affair to kick off pride month. Ireland has a couple of LGBT teams themselves, the Stoneballerz and the Queens of the North in Northern Ireland. With most teams in the tournament being LGBT, the organisers made a true event of the weekend: free goodies, parties at LGBT bars, it was glorious. I regret booking my flights for the Sunday instead of the Monday, another party adorn with drag queens was organised for the Sunday night. The nights out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday were glorious, I met some really amazing people.

Given the success of the tournament, the organisers wanted to run tournaments in 2025, including one in Regent’s Park (sadly it was eventually cancelled, it’s quite a laborious journey for the Irish teams). The other tournament in Ireland was in Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. This would have been an arduous journey to make for us Londoners. It would have been a breathtaking backdrop; the island looks positively magnificent. One would have to make it to Galway, either taking a ferry from there or travelling to Connemara Airport which serves the islands. London – Galway does not look easy either, direct flights seem to be rare. Brodball would ultimately be entirely cancelled, and the Raiders are hoping that in 2026, the tournament can return to Dublin. I’ll surely be back.

For players I met during this trip, there are stations on the Seven Rivers branch on the northwestern end of Line 7.

KKs – short for KamiKaze. The team in all grey. It’s a mix of strong players with some Reading presence. They were fellow competitors in NSL 2 in 2024, where we had some close games. Now the Fuzzy Ducks are returning to NSL 2 for the 2026 season, I look forward to our rematches.

One of the KKs is an honorary Raider for sure. Tim, a brillaint pitcher, has rang a few times for Raiders at the Bristol Wreck tournaments. As soon as he joined us in donning Britney Spears costumes for the Sunday, he instantly became the club's favourite ringer.

Stations are generally found just outside of Zone 1, on Line 6A, Line 13 and Line B.

The Knights are one of two teams who still play at Finsbury Park. Baseball is ever increasing in popularity, and with more people taking up the sport, there’s few proper fields for baseball in London. The Mets were able to place a small diamond next to the main field; so small that even I could hit a baseball over the fence. I mean, if I can do that, come on…

There’s another lonelier corner of Finsbury Park with a neglected softball field in place. A small backstop fence is installed, far shorter than the fences in the main baseball field. The ground is atrocious, this part of Finsbury Park is notorious for cracking during a spell of heat.

I’ve only played against them whilst I was on Red, when Magda was still on the team as their main pitcher. She started her own Finsbury Park team which has become a more successful, though the Knights enjoyed a top season, finishing at the top of Div 5 and gaining promotion. The Knights commonly make appearances at indoor softball.

Stations for Knights can be found on the western end of Line 18.

LNZ stands for London New Zealanders, freshly promoted to LSL Div 1 and near the top of the table of NSL2. Those Kiwis sure know how to play (though not all of team is from New Zealand, mind).

There’s quite a lot of overlap between LNZ and Thames Valley, for many of the tournaments where I played with Thames Valley in 2025, there was considerable LNZ presence.

I will always be a little bitter about what could have been one of my best right-field line drives ever hit, being nabbed by their second base. That play replays in my nightmares, confound that man. If only I could hit to right-field that well more consistently. Usually, it’s a hit-or-miss affair when I aim for the right side (I mostly make it on base, sometimes only due to my speed!)

Close to the Thames Valley area in the south, most players can be found on the southern end of Line 13A (if not on Lines 6 or 7).

The Mafia are one of the official Clapham teams. The famous Mob is the other. They’ve been common division competitors, as recently as 2024 with both Raiders Blue and the Mafia in Div 3, though they are moving to Div 5 for the 2026 season. It just goes to show how competitive Div 4 has become!

The Mafia team is very similar to an exclusively tournament team, the Furies, many of the Mafia are seen in the classic Furies jerseys at tournaments.

Hence the section for the Mafia is also shared with the furies – squares E7, F7 and F8 – Line 11, Line 13, Line 13A and Line 18.

Maidenhead are one of the mainstays of the Windsor and Maidenhead League, obviously. Lovers of the game, and invariably present at every Farnham Park tournament. The club also organises several tournaments: Chicks with Sticks, Let the Boys Play (both the outdoor and indoor series) and the Hit & Run tournaments that open and close the Farnham calendar. Don’t forget the Not Jingle Balls charity tournament that bookends the year (might have to travel to Rickmansworth to take part!)

Maidenhead have had sporadic appearances in the NSL league, as late as 2024 where they competed in NSL 3, unfortunately ending up relegated (many players found other teams to play for in the subsequent year).

Maidenhead stations can be found on the eastern end of Line 10.

One of the best and most respected teams in the London league, they take softball very seriously and play in a very disciplined fashion. They play hard on the field, but they are certain to party hard too, it’s one of captain Dan’s main expectations. I’ve played against them in Prague and in indoor, and my team have always lost. I watch dejected from the pitcher’s plate at Prague as David, predictably, hits a home run over the fence to win the game. What a walk-off!

One of my most memorable games was a showdown against the Mescies. I was ringing for Mouse Rat, as pitcher. That was where my closest call as a pitcher occurred: one of their players (by accident, of course) sent a line drive straight towards my head. I ducked just in time; I had my mask on as I knew I would be facing some of the strongest hitters in London, but that was what eventually pushed me to finally getting a full-coverage Easton Hellcat helmet.

I did have an opportunity to ring for the Mescies after that monumental game, one of their pitchers was not available and asked me directly to cover in his absence, a damn shame I wasn’t available. What an opportunity that could have been!

Many Mescalitos play for the Chromies (if not The Mob or the Fuzzy Ducks). Mescalitos players (and Chromies) can find themselves on the eastern end of Line 1. A couple of Mescalitos are also part of the Fuzzy Ducks NSL team (so find themselves on Line 11 instead).

The Ninos - the Mescalito kids. There doesn’t seem to be much association with the Ninos and Mescies though; one spells it with an S, one spells with with a Z. They are seemingly two separate teams. Next year, they’ll be reunited in Div 1.

(I could have sworn the Banditos were also part of the Mezcalitos empire, though I may be misremembering).

Just twice I’ve played against the Mezcalitos Ninos, one average game in Regent’s Park when ringing for Gold. Gold came close to winning but the Ninos fought back hard. In contrast, the other game was remarkable – LSL Firstball 2023, one of the most iconic tournaments ever. As Raiders Blue, we ended up in a higher grade than expected, having to play Div 3 and Div 2 teams (we were a Div 4 team at the time). Mezcalitos Ninos was the Div 2 team which would be our toughest contenders. Note that we did have quite the handicap (two runs extra per inning), but we managed to give them a good battle, where we won by more than eight runs in the four innings we played! The handicap wasn’t even required for the win! It just goes to show how iconic the 2023 Blue team was, and this great achievement really was a forecasting for becoming division champions have very year.

I know quite a few Ninos players, by way of the Salty Seamen. Much of the men of the Ninos are proud members of the Salty Seamen crew, so I have played with many from the team.

For this reason, most of the Ninos players on the map (bar one) are found on western half of Line 9, which is also the official domain of the Salty Seamen.

Dana has led this team from strength to strength and eventually, to the big leagues. The Mob now find themselves as solid mainstays in both LSL Div 1 and NSL 1. I remember playing against them when they were in LSL Div 2, near the end of their campaign to reach the apex division. Ringing for Raiders Gold, The Mob’s slow start gave us false hope, but they ultimately defeated us. Two years later, I rang for Div 1 for the Fuzzy Ducks… and they thrashed us in 4 innings. Outfield against them sure is fun though, with all their huge hitters. It was just a shame the game took place at Regent’s Park, with a Beavers v Swamp Monsters showdown happening behind us, both outfields were overlapping. Outfield is multiple times harder with obstacles like that, so I couldn’t catch everything.

One of the inaugural teams of the newly created NSL 3, they have worked their way up to become one the top four teams in the country.

For Version 3, the B-Sides have relocated and vacated their old domain, so the southern end of Line 4 now solely belongs to The Mob – both for LSL and NSL players.

The Naturals are a team mostly comprised of Londoners, with a few players from the Solent League or the Windsor League.

A few current and ex Raiders have played for the Naturals in 2025: Jo and Rach are rostered players, Taryn will hopefully become official next year, and Cora made an appearance in the third weekend! Let’s get Caz to NSL as well. With some Raiders: Andy, Lexi, Tony and Brian also playing for the Manchester Dodgers, it’s awesome to see more Raiders presence in NSL. I would love to see the Raiders return to NSL eventually (though right now I can’t leave the Fuzzy Ducks!)

A game against the Naturals became one of the most memorable NSL 2 games for me, where I would be pitching. This game was quite pivotal; we would have to win the game for a chance to survive elimination from the division. With huge hitters like Adam and Oli on the team, my pitching palm was sweaty. The game was very close, however with help from an Adam bomb, the Naturals got the W, and the ducks were cooked.

You can’t keep a good duck down, though, and I’m so excited for our games against the Naturals in 2026.

There isn’t a section per say dedicated to the Naturals, stations for players are placed in areas for the other teams they play for regularly.

Since I moved out of the Div 6 mix, the Pimlico conflict doubled. The Buccaneers have been foes since 2021. They fight hard and always display excellent fielding and power; our games are inevitably close. A brief respite from Pimlico happened in 2024 as we had just been promoted, but dearly missing the Raiders, the Buccaneers pulled off a fantastic season in 2024 and joined the majors.

They have improved since as we fought against them in 2025, in one of the most frustrating and low-scoring games of softball I’ve ever played. 8-5 win for the Buccaneers. Their fantastic fielding, especially in the outfield (Gena and Kathryn were the stars of that game, halting both my hard-hit line drives, and many other fly balls). The Buccaneers finished the 2025 season slightly above us in the table. Apart from the Asteroids, the next four teams were very close indeed, similar to last year, with one or two points at most separating the placements. It’s on for 2026, which will be a tougher season for sure.

Part of the Blitz/Pimlico complex, stations are found on Line 8, Line 11A and Line 15.

A familial team and true characters in the Windsor and Maidenhead league. It’s inevitable that they turn up to every tournament in Farnham Park. They used to have a bit of a reputation for wanting to dominate Lower Rec, when they’re more than competent for Upper Rec. They can hit, and the young’uns are especially great hitters.

They’ve been moved to the other end of Line 5, on the north-western branch, with some overspill on the nearby Line 10.

Oh, how we underestimated them in 2024.

The year prior, Raiders Blue were watching closely at the drama of Div 3, hoping to be promoted imminently. They had survived the division, only just, so Kat and Derek identified them as a key team to beat next year.

In 2024, I never got to play them, being my turn to sit for the first Private Is clash, and on holiday for the second encounter. I still come down to watch when I can even though I’m not playing, and I got to witness Raiders Blue batting at their absolute best. We gave them a real game, even with their strong offense (some of the biggest hits seen in Clapham, you’d need an exceptional outfield to stop them in their tracks). 29-26 is a respectable score against a team that would eventually be promoted to Div 2, they finished with an explosive inning to re-gain the lead. The second game was almost as good; a 28-19 loss.

Promoted to Div 2 with Gold, we still gave them one more game at Firstball (surprising to see Brandon pitching), and I got to play against them finally. The game ended up another close loss. I’d finally witness a win against the PIs, who had lost a few strong players compared to last year (Sean joined the Asteroids, Dan joined Bat to the Future and Ben would move back to NYC halfway through the season). This time, ringing for Gold, I managed to achieve a walkless game, and Gold were the ones to send PIs back to Div 3, now opponents for Blue again next year. With Blue having improved, I think we could get that win next year against the PIs.

A small section on the northern end of Line 15 (generally around the border of Zones 1 and 2) are where some players from the Private Is can be located.

There was one team I hoped would not be in our bracket for NSL 3, the Southern Stormers. The race for the coveted promotion spot was arduous enough, it would be relentless with the Southern Stormers absolutely ravenous to move up. In 2024, they tied for first place in their bracket with the Shafting record wise, but lost on head-to-head, thus remaining in NSL 3.

Every single person on the team is a brilliant player. I would pay good money to have the prodigious batting consistency of Scott.

Thank goodness they were part of the other bracket; the Fuzzy Ducks could have a better chance of winning the elusive sole promotion spot without them in the way. We’d only have to play them once in July, and this was predictably a match of high tensions. They took the lead early on but locked into our goal with bees swarming dangerously closely behind, us ducks got ourselves together and pulled the game in our favour, earning victory. These Fuzzy Duck games always keep us on edge. This was the very game that secured our invitation to the NSL 2 party next year. Perhaps we celebrated too hard, cheering as the Southern Stormers walked dejected off Field 9. They had their own contest to deal with, against the very strong Milton Keynes Diamonds. The MK Diamonds took the other promotion spot and the Southern Stormers once again, so close, but no cigar, missed out. Second place again.

The Southern Stormers were out for some revenge in the NSL championships in August, where the six best teams of NSL 3 battled it out. Twice, we would have to play the Stormers. The first game was an event: 8 of their runs were due to one player hitting three home runs in a row over the fence. Nonetheless, Fuzzy Ducks did what they did best, good defence and a fighting comeback. For game two, the Southern Stormers got the victory.

It came down to the best two teams of the weekend. The Fuzzy Ducks and the Southern Stormers in the final. So special this game was, that we were finally let onto the dirt pitches with dugouts for the first time this season. Dair House School this wasn’t. Indeed, this final on Pitch 4 was a preview of what the Fuzzy Ducks had fought for. Back to NSL 2, and back to the premier pitches full time.

The Southern Stormers were remorseless in their hitting, with great defence, and got another early lead. We put up a good fight towards the end of the game, but it wasn’t enough to take it back. The Southern Stormers ultimately won a very hard-fought title repeating last year’s achievements. Dan would lament after the game: “We always win the national championships, but it doesn’t mean much as we can never get out of NSL 3!’

My money is on them to win their NSL 3 bracket next year. I would love to see them go up to NSL 2, they are a talented, friendly team who seem to really appreciate each other, and they certainly would deserve it. Here’s to them making it in 2026 (now we don’t have to worry about them anymore!)

There is a Southern Stormers section on the map, but here they’re more of the Eastern Stormers this time, found on one of the eastern branches of Line 5.

SPAM have been around for quite a while, playing in both LSL and NSL, which makes it more of an unfortunate shock when they were demoted out of NSL 3 after many years in the league. I hope their return to the National League is prompt.

I have not played for SPAM (I was offered once but couldn’t take the opportunity due to clashes). Putatively, it seems that I have played against SPAM countless times in the LSL, more often than not when I ring for a Div 2 team it is against SPAM. Almost always, the team I play for ends up losing. The SPAM curse. One of those games was at Morden, a long journey to the end of the Northern line. Only for me to pop up three times to shortstop. Shouldn’t have bothered to turn up…

For LSL players, stations can be found on the northern end of Line 7. NSL is a little trickier, as there are a few players that play for the BBG Muppets in the LSL, which have their own section on the eastern end of Line 13A.

I have a habit of wearing this shirt at games where I really shouldn't be...

As soon as I saw those beautiful sky blue and hot coral pink shorts at the Windsor 2022 tournament, I knew I wanted one. The players looked like softball royalty. They were everything I wanted to be as a softballer. You could see those intense colours from the other side of Farnham Park. The word ‘Storm’ flashes across the shirt, the names and numbers in a font which looked like they were freshly spray painted. Blue and yellow seemed so gauche by comparison.

I asked - if I improve as a player, will I eventually have the privilege of wearing such cool unis? That pretty much kick-started my exit from baseball and my conversion full time into slowpitch softball.

Blue and pink wasn’t the only Storm colour scheme, the shirts also came in a purple and pink variation, which was just as stunning. I can’t decide whether I prefer these shirts to the pink and blue ones. This was for the NSL Storm team, which I secretly was hoping to join. Later on, were the watermelon shirts, with a sweeter shade of pink mixed with a teal green, which were for the Storm women’s team. I got to see a special preview before they were released.

A brand-new design, still retaining the important pink motif was introduced for the 2024 season (as alternative uniforms for softball). The graffiti writing still remains. I also saw some beautiful looking hoodies which must have been new apparel for the 2025 season.

(Might I add their team logo is really cool too)?

I improved my softball skills, aspiring to play for the Storm Men’s team. Alas it was a bit of a tall order, as they were the strongest team in the Let the Boys Play series (they won the series in 2023).

Storm Men’s sort of dissipated after 2023, when the Thick Boys came in and ended up taking a lot of the regulars. Storm Women’s and NSL have been highly successful, the NSL team went undefeated in NSL 3, and the very next year, finished in second place in NSL 2, so going from NSL 3 to NSL 1 in two years. Incredible work. The Women’s team consistently place in the top two for the Chicks with Sticks tournaments.

Ultimately, I ended up obtaining a long-coveted blue and pink storm shirt from the man himself who designed them (the very same fellow responsible for the Green Sox kit). He then burst into a fit of laughter as he saw me trip into a pitcher’s mound on Field 2 while I was trying to catch a very hard-hit ball in the outfield. First game with the shirt, straight into the mud. Christ, I only had it an hour. Nothing that a bit of Ariel gel couldn’t fix, thank the Lord he hadn’t given me one of those white Green Sox shirts instead! It’s now my lucky shirt (mostly worn when I ring for another team), and one of my favourite softball possessions.

That blue and pink colour scheme is reflected on Line 4 and Line 13, the area where they meet has a few players from the late Storm Men’s team. The colours of those lines were chosen for a reason.

In addition, there are also a few players on the Storm Women’s team who can be found on the northwestern end of Line 7.

My first meeting with the Travelling Dodgers was pure lunacy.

In 2021, after lockdowns, players were itching to get back to the game. I signed up for as many tournaments as there were available, newly willing to travel across the country to play (I tended to play chiefly in London or Slough prior to the pandemic).

First time playing Labor Day, first time visiting Loughborough, a quaint little town in the East Midlands. We brought a relatively mixed team to the tournament, captained by Derek and Laura, with players from all five Raiders teams. Labor Day, nevertheless, was one grade only, every team for themselves. It was scheduled, we were due to face an NSL 1 team. The Travelling Dodgers. Laura was aggrieved at the situation, as was the majority of the team, even the Gold players. It was a valid case of safety as we had players who had only started playing recently.

I, on the other hand, trouper that I was, approached the game with blind, naïve bellicosity. Come on Laura, if there’s one game I want to play, it’s against the Travelling Dodgers. I wanted to pitch, but outfield would truly be the real trial. Pitching wouldn’t have had any real effect, they’d crush everything. Fancy spins and flamboyance wouldn’t improve our chances.

I was assigned to right centre. Now, therein lied a literal stumbling block. On the field of battle, right where I was tasked to patrol, a football goalpost was plonked, hindering any chances of fielding fly balls. The Dodgers were wretchedly cheeky. Fly balls came my way, plenty of them. They locked in on the weakness and gunned it down with remarkable precision. Ensuring I didn’t run into a goalpost when trying to track the fly balls was almost inconceivable. I think I only caught one ball. Dickie could only stand and watch from left field. Had the goalposts been moved, the Travelling Dodgers would have been toast!

I had wished for a re-match ever since, but these days I’ve faced teams of a similar calibre, with no goalposts in the way this time. I’ve had the odd games against many of the Dodgers (but not as their full team), and a couple who played in my team at tournaments.

The Travelling Dodgers do get around, playing across the UK and making it to different countries too, hence the name. There’s a subsidiary team, the Thick Boys, a team that plays in the men’s tournaments.

Of note number of Travelling Dodgers are in the US Air Force.

In their words: Make Softball Great Again.

The Travelling Dodgers (as well as the Thick Boys and any US Air Force members) are found on the southeastern end of Line 11.

The Warriors were one of the many challengers in NSL 2, for the Fuzzy Ducks’ tough campaign in 2024. After fighting our way back to NSL 2, we’ll be back for sure to give the Warriors a tough battle.

There are a lot of Warriors scattered around the map, so the team is worth a mention. There is a tiny little section on the Sulcova branch of Line 7 with the biggest Warriors presence. (I played with the Sulcova twins for Thames Valley, but you can only stretch the Thames Valley part of Line 7 so much unfortunately…). There are others further along Line 7 and one on Line 17, close by. Oh, and one at the end of Line 16.

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Other Teams

The Base Bandits were LSL’s new team in 2025, another graduate of the Softball 101 program. They sport distinct white and black jerseys. I rarely slide anyway, but a fresh white jersey would make me even less likely to risk sliding.

They finished their first season tied in the table with Raiders Green, a respectable 10-8 record. They will only improve as they continue playing. It’s the curse of Div 6: just when Raiders Green get close to promotion, they must tussle with Softball 101 graduates as well as the teams that were demoted from Div 5, it’s hard to get out of there for sure.

For now, I’ve placed a few stations for Base Bandits along the north-western end of Line 10.

Whereas the Fly Ballers have shot up the ranks in LSL, Battitude have been close behind, but they remain in Div 4 for the 2026 season, having finished in third place. The Diamond Dogs halted their progress. Next year, all eyes will be on them to move up to Div 3. The question is, will the Fly Ballers/Battitude rivalry be revived in the 2027 season? If anything, I’d rather be up in Div 2 by then and watch the rivalry reignite from some distance. Div 3 will be that more challenging with both teams there!

I remember when they were the new team on the block, wondering… yikes, will they be the team that enters and destroys Div 6? The level of play for such a new team was impressive. Thankfully, by that time I was long gone from Div 6.

I’ve not yet played against the team, but that day may be coming. I’ve merely umpired them a couple of times. I’ve had the pleasure of playing with a lot of Battitude players in numerous tournaments, mostly as Breaking Bats.

Stations for Battitude can be found within the Breaking Bats complex. There are more stations along the Cammisola branch on the western end of Line 5.

Two teams find a home at London’s most cursed pitch, the higher team being the Coyotes. Their jerseys adorn one of my most beloved cartoon characters.

Down where only the Piccadilly goes, the sloped pitch gives nothing but woes.

Division 1 is so challenging, and it was a true scrap to secure places in the premier division. I’m glad that my Fuzzy Ducks survived, so sadly, the Coyotes now find themselves in Div 2 next year. If I end up in Gold, it’s a lengthy trip on the Piccadilly; perhaps the new trains will be in operation by then.

There are a few stations for Coyotes (and the odd ex-Coyote) in a small enclave, mostly on Line 16, in square E7, but there are others elsewhere.

The Sombreros have some of the most iconic characters in LSL, a true ijbol team that never takes themselves too seriously (heck, just look at their website). It feels strange that not once have I played against this team (though I have umpired them twice). Many of the players also play for Blitz in tournaments, who I have played, so that sort of counts.

Their Dia de los Muertos inspired jerseys are gorge, by the way.

The stations for Golden Sombreros are primarily on the southern end of Line 14.

The tidiest* team in softball, mainly as the team is captained by someone who takes not just team uniforms, but design in general far more seriously than even me. Those white unis, with the green stripes? Simple but elegant and suave. Why can’t I have a team hoody with my name and number on the back? The man responsible is always excited to show me the Green Sox’s future uniform designs on the train to and from Slough. I won’t spoil them, don’t worry.

The Fuzzy Ducks wear a similar shade of green, so the Green Sox captain teased a possible pair of custom black and green Boombah trousers for me, tacked on to their upcoming order of apparel. The Green Sox kit just keeps on coming, so passionate he is about keeping his team looking fresh. I’ve long dreamed of having matching trousers ever since I saw someone at the 2019 Windsor tournament in a flawlessly co-ordinated softball uniform. Trousers, jersey… even custom cleats. He knows who he is. That inspired me to eventually get my own custom cleats.

Almost 7 years later, one of my softball dreams could be realised. The question is… will I look like a douche if I start wearing trousers? I’ll only be a lowly NSL 2 player after all, one could say I’ve not yet earned my pants (and I have no intention to go to NSL 1, I’m nowhere near competent and consistent enough for top level ball). Still, I look in awe at those matching trousers; I’ve been wanting to also have my own pair, for years imagining how cool the Raiders would look in full geish whilst I conjured up some blue and yellow trousers on the Boombah website. Minimum order of ten, only one other Raider expressed interest in donning some trousers. The Raiders are almost exclusively a club of shorts wearers.

*Tidiest… apart from their pitcher who wears a bizarre wig under his helmet when he’s pitching. I haven’t ever seen anything of the like in softball. That wig looks eerily like my hair when I take my braids out after 6 weeks. God knows you’d want to not have all that hair around you when you wear those sweaty masks.

If I had known the Green Sox were short for Edinburgh, I could have tried on one of those stripey unis. Well, if you’re short next year… oh I’m a delusional queen, let’s face it.

My green lines have already been taken by Raiders Green and the Fuzzy Ducks… and Reading (who wear blue...) So, the Green Sox are on the northern end of Line 4 which is coloured… blue (with some stations on the northern end of Line 13). I’m not changing the colours or stations about, because Line 4 and 13 were coloured for a particular reason as early as the first sketches of the map on paper. Well, if all fails, there's always Tramway T1B.

How ‘bout them Volts baby? There are a lot of baseball players on this team, notably I’ve seen my own teammates from baseball playing the so called ‘lesser sport’ with High Voltage.

The High Voltage Instagram has some very comprehensive match reports on Instagram, the most detailed of any team in the league. Softball joy.

High Voltage’s stations are found on the western end of Line 16.

The Legends are an NSL 1 linchpin, remaining in the UK’s crème de la crème since available records began. Podium positions in 2022, 2023 and 2024, and a respectable fifth out of twelve in 2025. NSL 1 softball is truly something to behold, I’d crumble in that high-pressure environment.

The team is almost congruent to Secret Agents: MI 6. On the map, all the Legends are on the same part of the map as MI 6, as in the northeastern end of Line C and a couple nearby on Line 1.

I have played for an Odd Sox team before. It was a glorious, last-minute decision and I’m glad I trekked to Milton Keynes on a grey muggy day. Getting to pitch the entire tournament doesn’t happen very often and a veritable treat when it happens (there’s always a pesky other pitcher or three in my teams usually! ;P )

Oh, wrong Odd Sox. That was MK Odd Sox (loved subbing in for you). Nah, we’re not talking about the Oxford Oddsox either.

London Odd Sox. I know so many of the players, but surprisingly I cannot remember every playing against them, or even umpiring their games. Many players are true characters in the London softball community. Many of them play for Blitz too (mostly Havoc) and are regulars in the indoor league (mostly as the Designated Drinkers).

Hence, players can find themselves in the Blitz/Pimlico complex in Zone 1, or on the southern ends of Line 14 and Line 17.

Through Andy, Lexi and Katie’s leadership the club has gone from strength to strength and new players have been abundant. With six teams in 2024, new interest would lead to an oft-predicted seventh team.

Seven teams. The most Raiders have had ever since I had joined the club in 2016. Nonetheless, we couldn’t have a rerun of the 2024 season, with four teams in Div 6 again. Div 6 in 2025 would also be challenging with the rise of the Swamp Monsters, Bangers & Smash and the competitive Tecumsehs, who three years prior, were in Div 3. Raiders Orange and Indigo have had to face difficult teams to grab wins, now another Raiders team in the mix with new players? It would be a tough task for a brand-new team to win a game with such tough competition. A seventh team needed to be formed to allow more people to partake in the beautiful game. There was one year where we had a lot of budding newbies, who lost interest due to not being selected for a team. This is why Indigo was eventually resurrected. What to do? Overload Div 6 again?

The idea was genius: see if we can get a team into the Publisher’s league. This is a far more relaxed softball league. No divisions, no fighting for promotions and avoiding demotions; and not as competitive. Games occur on Wednesdays at Primrose Hill. This league organises their own tournament in September at Old Deer Park in Richmond, of which I’ve had the pleasure of playing twice. Any team that storms the competition is told to bugger off the following year.

The Publisher’s league gladly accepted the new Raiders team, christened Raiders Pink (a good choice to have the Trans flag represented in our team colours), and away they went. With some help from more senior Raiders, the team settled into the league well. I came to watch one of their games to offer support (mostly with base coaching). Raiders Pink were playing well, getting lots of good hits and consistently making it on base. Overall, the team bagged three wins off the nine games this season, putting on a good number of runs for each game. I expect some players may be drafted into LSL teams next year, but Raiders Pink seems to be the perfect way to introduce newbies to the game. The oft-planned Raiders Dev Squad just never made it to fruition as existing players had their own LSL campaigns to worry about; Raiders Pink was a sound, successful solution.

A few Raiders Pink players are placed on a strip on the middle of Line 18, coloured pink, with a few further stations scattered around that general area.

One of LSL’s elite teams, and mainstays in Div 1. Since 2010 they have been in the premier division, before that, Secret Agents: MI 5 were the consistent Div 1 going by readily available records, back to 2003 (to put it into perspective I was still in primary school then). MI 5 was disbanded after 2014. I assume a merger took place with MI 6.

Since then, they have consistently finished in the top half of Div 1, winning the entire division and claiming the title of London’s best team in 2022, 2023 and 2024. It was a bit of a shock to see them in the bottom half of Div 1 at the end of 2025, however I’m sure they’ll bounce back with a vengeance. It’s tough up there at the top.

There is another ‘Secret Agents’ team in the LSL, though they don’t seem to associate with one another at present, seemingly two entirely separate teams that happen to share a logo.

A couple of ex-Raiders have become part of MI 6, looking for an elite team to up their softball ambitions.

The Secret Agents have an NSL equivalent, the Legends, who have been one of NSL1’s competing teams since before 2013.

Secret Agents: MI 6 and the Legends (in NSL) are almost interchangeable, so there’s a ‘shared’ section for the two teams, on the eastern end of Line 1 and the northeastern end of Line C.

So, so close. They just missed out on a possible promotion to Div 5. They’ll be back with a vengeance next year for sure, eyes on the prize. Their lime green uniforms are instantly recognisable, they’re in love with the game, and some Swampies have even played in the fiercely competitive NSL 3 league.

The teams formed from the Softball 101 camp have almost always been solid, the Swampies are indeed one of the graduates of this programme.

As mentioned before, due to many players playing for Breaking Bats, in NSL 3 and/or Edinburgh, stations can be found in the Breaking Bats complex, with some more Swamp Monsters on the western end of Line 5 (High Tower branch).

The Thick Boys came into the scene in 2025, mostly comprising of players from the Travelling Dodgers. Donuts adorn their uniforms. Magenta and black is one of my all-time favourite colour schemes, so it’s no surprise that I’d love one of those shirts. Their obese mascot looks excited to stick his bat into a giant donut, oo-er. The Thick Boys crew has become the new in-vogue team. There’s now even a B-team for the men’s tournaments, that’s how big the donuts have become.

Jonny did offer me a chance to become a Thick Boy, though we were both drunk at Piano bar in Edinburgh, so I’m not sure if anything will come of that. I’m not a very big fan of country music (sorry guys, I’ll give you Song of the South by Alabama though, that’s a good tune). Likewise, I doubt the team are fans of Chappell Roan or Ariana Grande. Perhaps it wouldn’t be the best fit for me after all. It could be an interesting experience though, wearing the pink and black. I’d need to figure out how to hit more goddamned home runs over the fence though, many of the Thick Boys do so in consistent fashion and I’d need to keep up (would love some tips, lads).

The Thick Boys love their softball, with capital letters. One thing this team is also known for is their grand tour. They play across Europe, certainly not confining themselves to the UK. I’m somewhat envious, it would be terrific to find a group crazier about softball than myself (and that is a rare breed). I’m still working on the Raiders and trying to get them more international. The Salty Seamen are also looking to go more international, but I’m not sure if I would be good enough to play with them (mind you it’d be the same with the Thick Boys).

Most of the Thick Boys are also Travelling Dodgers – and there are a considerable number of people from the US Air Force on both teams.

P.S. I’d like a shirt please.

The Thick Boys/Travelling Dodgers are all grouped at the south-eastern end of Line 11.

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Miscellaneous

The beautiful game, in particular tournaments, cannot occur without our dedicated BASU umpires. Many of them rarely play if at all but play such an important part of the game behind the plate (and sometimes on the field). We may decry their decisions, but it is a tough job making calls and keeping track of the game in front of two dozen driven players.

I sadly don’t know too many names, but for those I do know (primarily people who don’t really play softball), have the southern section of Line 17, though the softballers are invading that line right now.

Raiders is one of the country’s largest softball clubs, though we have many long-term members (a few being part of the club for over two decades), there are some people who naturally have to part ways as they move elsewhere, or simply don’t have the time or interest to play anymore.

Part of the club are numerous pool players, who aren’t rostered to a team but are willing to play when one of our teams are short, as well as taking part in the odd tournament.

Hence, many of these Raiders are scattered along the map. For those I was closer with, they receive stations in Zone 1, in some cases interchanges. There are a few areas in which I have placed other Raiders – Line 1 (SW), Line 2 (NE), Line 3 (N), Line 6 (NE), Line 8 (NE), Line 11A (W) and Line 15 (S). As other teams’ areas expand for version 4, the map will change dramatically, and I can see some of the stations outside of Zone 1 relocating.

Thank goodness for Sunday Softball, without it I would surely go insane during the long winters. I need a break after a long season but usually return to playing by December or January.

There are two Sunday Softball groups on either side of the river – Regent’s Park (organised by Alan/Sophie) and Clapham South (organised by Claire/Adam/Kirsty/Jon). I’ve been to both, though being a North Londoner I opt for the Regent’s Park crew (it does take me about the same time to get to both sessions). The Clapham South group has exploded in popularity, as there’s generally more softballers in South London compared to North London.

The Salty Seamen were formed from a bunch of regular Sunday Softballers, and most of Base Jam used to show up every weekend back in the day.

I’ve reserved the eastern end of Line 9 for people who are Sunday Softball regulars, but don’t have an official team just yet.

Baseball

Baseball has always been a huge part of my life, and is inevitably intertwined with softball. Without it, I wouldn't have made it into the softball community. From my first training sessions in Autumn 2012, I've met many fellow players, some who have become good friends. Though softball is the focus of the map, I can't forget what an influence baseballers have had on me. The Tramways of Zafarnia are dedicated to the baseballers, though they can be relocated to a Metro station if they also play softball. One appearance guarantees an upgrade!

Each Tramway has a particular assignment dependent on which group/team a player falls under, but this is not as set in stone as it is for softball teams.

Tramway T1A and Tramway T1B

Tram stops on these lines, known as the premier peripherique, are reserved for people who I was closest with during my time with the London Mets Baseball Club, in particular, teammates from the teams I played with: Mercenaries, Musketeers, Mustangs and Minotaurs.

London Mercenaries

Photo from 2016. Near the right in this photo, but never to be seen in right field.

My exit from baseball, nearing the end of my time at university wasn’t the prettiest ordeal. Though I loved the game, I left the Falcons rather embittered. Truthfully, I really enjoyed training and hanging out with my fellow club members, yet I rarely enjoyed the games themselves. Playing during the winter doesn’t enamour you to the game as much.

University over, adult life now in full swing, I needed to find an activity and new social group. Returning to baseball would be perfect. I would eagerly sign up for winter sessions for the London Mets that January (held at Middlesex University), falling back in love with the game and meeting some new people.

Selected from the draft after a noteworthy performance with my college team… showing competent fielding skills and some decent batting, two teams approached me offering a spot on their roster, the Musketeers and the Mercenaries, London Mets’ new team. Having spent more time with the Mercenaries after training, and taking a liking to Cole, the team’s captain, I decided to join them (sorry Musketeers!) It felt like a better fit. Most of the Mercenaries were graduates from the Baseball for Beginners (B4B) program from the previous year, a successful program still going on to this day to turn enthusiastic fans to novice baseball players. I’d hang out with them at the pub, and we spent an evening or two at Boulevard, the nearby curry house. I made more of a connection with the Mercenaries, and I’m glad I chose them, as nice as the Musketeers were.

We had good games and good times (though the less said about Leicester, the better). I fondly remember my first Mets team, and this is where I truly began to appreciate the outfield and playing full games, in the heat of summer no less. Much better than freezing my arse off whilst a light flurry of snow was falling in the arse end of Croydon. This is how softball should be enjoyed.

Ironically, after years of being stuck in right field with the Imperial Falcons, from the start with the Mercenaries, I was assigned a brand-new position. I was now exclusively in left field. In fact, I did not play right field once in a league game until 2021 with the London Minotaurs, where Gabi and Tom wanted to mix things up occasionally to account for other team members’ requests to try different positions. I had no objections to the odd appearance in right field and even made some catches there. You see, had the captain of the Falcons played me more in left field at Imperial, even in the friendly games (oh believe me, I’m still not over that), I wouldn’t have whinged consistently, quite frankly, because it’s now my favourite position in baseball and softball.

One player on the Mercenaries would tell me all about the London Raiders, an LGBT+ softball club which him and his girlfriend played for. It’s like that club was waiting for me all this time (the Raiders actually date before I was even born). I joined instantly and am still a member almost ten years later.

London Musketeers

Photo from 2017. Gerrod brought his camera for some professional pics, as well as individual shots. (Mine looked ridiculous).

Club politics led to the team structure being re-organised before the start of the 2017 season (these committee meetings for the Mets last about five times as long as the Raiders ones do). The original Musketeers, which I had initially passed over, would be merged with the Marauders in double-A; and the Mercenaries would take the Musketeers name, as fate would have it (I always preferred the original name). Gabriele took over captaining duties, he brought a much stricter approach to the games compared to the relaxed Cole. Admittedly, as we all trained and improved, the team performed better. Gabriele took a break, and Gerrod took over captain duties in 2018, much more outwardly mellow but still as strict (you don’t want to anger Mr. Taylor). It was at this time I would move to center field, though my hitting started to slump around this time. With softball, still my secondary sport, Discoball 2018 happened, and this was the official beginning of the transition from baseball to softball full-time.

The Musketeers themselves, now the Marauders, were the stronger team (so me being on the Mercenaries was a better fit). Still, we saw them very often as we would both train at the same time on Wednesday nights at Finsbury Park. There was nothing quite like the evenings at the Finsbury (most of us getting the pizza and beer deal) after a summer evening training, those were the days. The Marauders made it up to Triple-A before being disbanded/renamed (you never know with this club!) The Metros are now the AAA London Mets affiliate, there are players from the original Mercenaries and Minotaurs still continuing to play who have made it onto the team.

London Mustangs

Here's me in one of only two appearances for the Mustangs in 2019.

After a tumultuous 2018 season (complete with a mental breakdown), I had to move on with a new start in 2019, now with a brand-new team from the then Baseball for Beginners programme. With Gerrod’s goal of getting the Musketeers to Double-A at the end of 2019, my poor batting in 2018 and my propensity for playing softball instead led to him making the decision to release me to the Mustangs, giving space on the team for stronger players. Though absolutely the correct decision, I bore no ill will, but I would miss the players who I had shared many good times with over the past three years. I was still pleased that Gerrod led the Musketeers to a fantastic season, winning 23 out of the 24 games!

Adding some experience to the team would be beneficial for the Mustangs, captained by Liam, the new Mets Single-A team (the Musketeers were off to Double-A, I was not up for the challenge). A cordial squad, I didn’t get to know them all too well as I only played a grand total of two games with the Mustangs. I instead would be found playing more softball at Farnham Park, so most of my weekends were now taken. Discoball really changed the game, thanks a lot, Stephen. I played more baseball with the Mustangs in 2020; only baseball was available as the LSL cancelled the softball league due to the pandemic and no tournaments were held at Farnham Park that year, no matter how hard the organisers of the Diamond tournaments tried (and failed).

The Mustangs were eventually looking for something greater, following in the Mercenaries/Musketeers’ footsteps. The goal was now promotion to Double-A around 2021/22, so now as a semi-regular player, and far from a key member of the Mustangs, playing for the Minotaurs was a much better fit for me. The Mustangs saw success and inevitably became London’s newest AA team after a fantastic season, finishing top of the league table. Eventually, the team got disbanded too (or renamed to the Meteors, which I believe was the youth team in my day).

London Minotaurs

Forever #55, joining Matsui, Lincecum and Martin - sorry, Noah, I was #55 first. (In addition, I wasn't a fan of the new font used for the numbers on the jerseys)

I had a choice whether to remain with the Mustangs or play with the Minotaurs for the 2021 season. With softball returning, both league games and tournaments, I couldn’t fully commit to a competitive baseball team, especially one with the goal of promotion into Double-A. I wasn’t totally close to the Mustangs, admittedly, being a no-show for much of their inaugural season. Out of the 24 games in the season, I played a grand total of two. Influencing my decision to play for the Minotaurs was my desire to try other positions, such as third base and pitching. What sealed the deal was having Gabi as team captain, she was brilliant, and we became good friends (she would often give me lifts to the games as we lived quite close to each other at one point). The Minotaurs were for the most part, a team of affable, warm and encouraging people.

I would play with the Minotaurs for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. These two years were my happiest ever playing baseball, I loved our team. My hitting vastly improved, I was getting batting averages I didn’t know I was capable of. I struck out very rarely. I even got to pitch a few times, seemingly exclusively in the sweltering heat. I would have loved to continue learning the art of pitching, nevertheless the Mets never really invested any time in giving me a chance to develop my skills. In contrast, the Raiders were very much open to allowing me to learn pitching as soon as I expressed an interest. Club politics, I guess. Bruno would come down to captain the team in 2022, heading down from Double-A, as the Minotaurs continued to improve. Knowing him since 2016, an effervescent character, it was great to have him on board, plus he provided the much beloved Brazilian barbecues after the games (he’s playing softball now, for the Turtles and Bat to the Future).

Of note, the Minotaurs were the first team with more than one woman on the roster (with one as captain), having their energy on the team really made the experience more relaxed and enjoyable. The Mustangs had Adela who was wonderful, but before then, I had not played on the same baseball team as a woman. The Falcons scared off a woman after we broke her nose. You could tell that the Mercenaries/Muskies was all lads, we were treated to something in particular on WhatsApp on Friday mornings… I won’t divulge (though he did accommodate for me occasionally, mind! Love ya).

By 2022, softball tournaments were now in full swing, and I had signed up for ten tournaments that year. Hence, I would play fewer baseball games overall compared to 2021, a grand total of just six weekends. For 2023, I was planning the ‘Year of Softball’ where I would sign up to as many tournaments as possible. Windsor 2022 truly did a number on me. My commitment to baseball was severely waning. I could only make four baseball weekends at a maximum. At this time, the sport was becoming increasingly popular, with record sign-ups for the B4B programme. With that came an entourage of fervent new players hoping to join a team. A roster spot would be wasted on me.

Generally, softball allowed a full weekend of the bat & ball, with seven games guaranteed of play, much more game time compared to baseball, where two games would be played on Sundays. Sometimes I would only be in the line-up for one of these games. More playing time was one of the reasons for my move to softball full-time. That being said, I do miss the game somewhat and wouldn’t mind returning to baseball every now and again, though I’m not as energetic as I used to be.

The Minotaurs are still playing in Single-A, now the Mets’ premier A team, though the wonderful Gabi has moved on to play for Herts instead. I really do miss her; I hope she’s doing okay these days with her new team. She now plays double-A and for one of the women’s teams, her love for the game is admirable. (Of note she made an appearance for Mouse Rat, hence she’s one of the baseballers who got a huge upgrade on the map).

Tramway T2

Tram stops on this line are reserved for the Imperial College London Falcons. Generally, players who I was closest with during my time at university are located here.

Imperial College Falcons

Photo from 2013. College baseball was tough, it made me the player I am today. Just desparately needed a haircut. Thankfully by this photo I got baseball pants that didn't look ridiculous.

Imperial College was my university team, and my introduction to baseball. Regrettably, I have not remained in contact with any of my uni teammates, apart from Ravi, now a player for Bangers & Smash. I wonder if any of the others still play any baseball or softball. Nevertheless, this group represents a very influential period of my life, without them I wouldn’t be playing softball to this day!

Loving softball in secondary school, the one half-term (always the first half of the summer term) where I truly enjoyed P.E. and didn’t consider bunking off, this was the only team sport I was any good at. Football was a pain, of course the UK’s favourite sport, so the people playing took it excessively seriously (calm it people, this is P.E. we’re talking about, and besides you’re in the lower set, so pipe down, would ya?) just made it unpleasant. Rugby? Imagine me, a foot shorter and half as heavy. Do you think I looked like a rugby player? For some reason, I was always placed in the scrum. Knowing barely anything about this sport, wouldn’t you put the strongest, biggest people in a scrum for the best chances of retrieving the ball? Perhaps they all foresaw at school that I was gay (I didn’t come out until I was 21, mind) and would enjoy a scrum the most. Hockey? Absolutely awful, no thanks.

Softball was a loveable mess, and I enjoyed every chaotic second of it. We didn’t have any proper bases, bits of metal with numbers sprayed on were used instead. Barely anyone used gloves, we caught with our bare hands. There were a few available but they were cheap and stiff; barely usable. It’s clear the school didn’t take this sport seriously; I would have adored a school softball team for certain.

I was able to hit and pitch. (my pitching debut was actually in 2006!) My catching still left a lot to be desired. I loved Rounders in primary school, though it was deemed a ‘girl’s game’ by the P.E. teachers. Softball was better anyway, your run scored even if you only made it to first base (none of this half-rounder and rounder rubbish), and best of all, if you get out, you’re not chucked out from the game, you get another go! All the crap rules from rounders scrapped, could there be a more perfect game?

Still, this led to me signing up for the baseball society at Imperial, having researched potential societies to join before university, in my excitement to start a new life chapter. Finally, I fulfilled the wishes of my father who wanted nothing more than a sporty son. A rounders society also existed, though membership levels were paltry, with less than half the membership of the baseball society. Coincidentally, my housemates in third year were part of Imperial’s rounders club, but when I showed up with them to play, we never had enough people for a game. Usually, it was me, my two housemates and two exasperated club members who just wanted to play.

Baseball now was my main sport. First session with the Falcons was on the Saturday morning. There, I saw the full baseball kit and I wanted nothing more. It looked so classy: white pants, an Imperial jersey with your name and chosen number in the classic varsity font. They knew what they were talking about, far more than the nonchalant P.E. teachers back in secondary school. I’d stick around, not only for properly learning the game and officially becoming an athlete, but also because I knew I wanted a jersey. My first ever sports shirt, with my name on the back. I really enjoyed the training, batting, throwing and catching; and took part in the odd friendly games, having purchased a pair of baseball pants to start my new sporty look. The pair I bought were horrendously baggy, and with the slim fitting baseball jersey I was lent during the games, I looked a right doofus. Present me would be horrified, as someone who takes uniforms seriously.

Having never played for an official sports team in my life, I was initially terrified of participating in the competitive games in the National University Baseball Championships, electing to not attend for the October series. I was mostly afraid of being shouted at and denounced for any mistake I made, which was my experience when playing sports in P.E. and football in Corsica. Football in Corsica could get savage, I was always held prisoner as goalkeeper as I was a poor sap anyone could shout at without repercussion. I eventually somewhat became decent at goalkeeper, mind.

I swallowed my fears and signed up for the spring championships. I had to earn the jersey somehow. Bitterly cold on an early March day, I anxiously travelled to Croydon to play my first official game. It wasn’t my shining moment; I couldn’t hit a thing, and in right field, I let two ground balls through my legs. Hajime was frustrated and made sure to express this, but I needed it to learn that it’s not that bad to be shouted at from a distance. Hajime demanded me to move to left field. (Plus, I looked a fool in my horrendous baseball fit).

My jersey finally arrived, in April, after the university baseball season was over! No biggie, I still have four more years to go. It was beautiful. J. D. Smith, #33, my very first sports shirt. I’d wear that thing everywhere. I’d walk around Hyde Park with it on, I’d wear it to parties, I’d take it to Corsica, I loved that thing. I now had a more suitable pair of baseball pants that fit properly, so my look was much refined, ready for next season.

With many key players leaving after the 2012/13 season, due to having graduated, there was a chance for me to make it to infield. In particular, I had my eyes on second base. I avoided the outfield in secondary school, perceiving outfield as the place where they stick the worse players. Right field wasn’t all that fun during the university championships, especially standing around in the cold waiting for something to happen. Ashley, also affectionately known as Zoltan, would join the team this year, progressively becoming the new Falcons captain. As much as he led the team well, unfortunately I was consigned to right-field for the remainder of my time with the Falcons. Nothing aggravated me more than being placed there for every single game, especially during friendly games, where my wish to play second base was only granted when Rhys was willing to swap with me for an inning. I expressed my frustrations, but he was having none of it, even calling me out in front of fellow team-mates to appreciate the position more. Still, for a friendly game, why not move me somewhere else? I would accept playing right-field in the games that actually mattered. In the greatest irony, second base is now one of my least favourite positions on the field, whilst I absolutely adore outfield.

Still, I wasn’t particularly enjoying the games, including an infamous weekend at Norwich which was a rather discouraging experience. Stuck to right field, it felt a little demoralising being lent to an opposing team that was lacking players, though it did mean that I got to play the infield positions I always wanted, so that was a redeeming factor. A successful weekend for the Falcons, on the van drive back up the M11 on the Saturday night, they were in jovial spirits after some games well played and wins secured, but I just didn’t feel part of that, playing on another field for a team of strangers who finished much lower in the rankings. I was considering letting the team know that I wouldn’t return to Norwich for the Sunday, though a man sitting next to me on the bus home encouraged me to head back to play, mentioning that you’ll never know what could happen tomorrow.

I left the club with bad blood, when the team was being selected for the championship in March at Farnham Park. This would be my last chance playing for the Falcons. At this point, my degree did not go as well as I had hoped, abruptly being declassed from a five-year course to a three-year course due to poor results in my second-year exams. Receiving a new jersey and my new custom cleats arriving (Romin, been doing this longer than you have), I wanted to show my full, fresh new kit off at Farnham Park more than anything. I would not make the cut (and understandably so, there were better players available). Still, I was crestfallen and devastated. Jealously, I’d see all the posts on the Facebook group about their escapades at Farnham Park. This helped to facilitate a period of depression and apprehension for the future. Mapping was a huge help to get through it. I didn’t do too badly in my final year exams, gratifyingly, but it just wasn’t enough to push me up to a 2:1 in the end. Hoping to have a year break to work and fill out my CV, my plan was to return to university, preferably Imperial, to gain a Master’s degree as initially planned, and return to playing for the Falcons. Ashley graduated in 2015, so if I returned, I could escape right field this time. This plan would be derailed (or in bus terms, curtailed). I eventually commenced a career in transport, found a new baseball team, moved to left field, started softball and have not looked back since. Higher education? I’d rather get paid.

Still, there were many good memories at Harlington fields, the old batting cages at Northwick Park, and the rare visits to Goldmine, one of our favourite Chinese restaurants in London. Usually, though we aimed to head there to share their scrumptious Cantonese style roast duck, driven by fatigue, the collective vote often was to give in to spending the evening at the dowdy Eastside bar instead, much closer to home, or the union bar, primarily for the much beloved curly fries, much to my chagrin. I’m still shocked with how I managed to stomach the sickly-sweet toffee apple cider that they sold at Eastside.

The Falcons also re-introduced me to softball, properly. I had my issues with Ashley and the politics of baseball lineups, but he was a fantastic leader for the club, intent on expanding the club to accommodate softball. We would officially participate in softball a couple of times at the National University Softball Championships at Farnham Park in 2014. Officially, my very first softball tournament. (I’m up to 88 played tournaments at this point!) This was my first time at Farnham Park, newly built that year, and a place where I now travel too all too often. I was in awe of the facility, as were my teammates. Farnham Park looked a little different then, the present Field 1 had not been constructed, and Home Plate wasn’t open for business. This is where I would first meet Liz Knight, one of UK baseball and softball’s most important people. These two tournaments were my happiest times with the Falcons. It was clear that softball suited me a lot more, and Ashley made note. It was here where he finally let me loose into the infield; well, only because he deemed outfield more important in softball, and I was able to get some solid hits too on the fancy dirt pitches.

All in all, the Falcons were an important introduction to baseball and a key part of my bat & ball story.

Tramway T3

Tram stops on this line are reserved for players in the London Mets club which did not make it onto Tramways T1A and T1B – these are mostly players from Single A and Double A who I did not play very much with.

London Marauders

The team I snubbed for the Mercenaries would end up playing in Triple A before they were disbanded. I most likely would not have moved up the baseball leagues with them. Still, they would train with us on Wednesdays at Finsbury Park, so I knew a lot of them quite well.

London Mercury and London Mastodons

With the Mustangs now in Double-A, the Minotaurs were now the primary Single-A team, so a new development Single-A team would be formed in 2024, captained by ex-Minotaurs Bex and Emily, looking to start a new team with the multitude of enthusiastic new players from B4B. There seemed to be more of a focus on the lower end of the club by this point, which was very positive.

Single-A (and the odd Double-A ballers) were quite a tight knit group. There were a lot of events organised outside the club, including birthday parties and evenings at the pub, as well as live music gigs. I was still invited to many, even now fully transitioned to a softballer, and to reconnect with my baseball community, I attended several. These seemed to have died down since.

In 2025, a new Single-A team would be formed, the London Mastodons. Now almost fully separated from baseball, at this point I don’t know much about what is going on in the Mets club. Still, there are names I recognise from the Mastodons roster, and there are a few stops here and there for players.

Tramway T4

Tram stops on this line are reserved for players in the London Mets club which did not make it onto Tramways T1A and T1B – on this line, it’s mostly players from the Canal League and some from Fall Ball.

Canal League

Canal League squad. In this photo, 12 budding new baseballers and one old fart.

I could not commit to the Minotaurs in 2023, as my focus was now primarily softball. With many promising players from B4B possessing a stronger desire to play, we reached a mutual agreement that a roster spot was better given to one of the enthusiastic and talented B4B players instead. Mind you, the Minotaurs lost a lot of sass that day.

Gabi, now on the committee at this point, worked hard to aid the development of another option for players looking to play the game. MLB London Series events boosted the popularity of the sport, and B4B sessions were becoming so crowded that it became increasingly difficult to manage. There were not enough teams (and fields) to accommodate everyone. The Canal League, introduced in 2023, was a recreational league for developing new players, not quite at Single-A level. Three teams were formed for the league’s inaugural season, the Grand Union Smugglers, Erie Early Birds and Suez Tomb Raiders. Canal league, canal teams.

I would join the Grand Union Smugglers, the team in bright yellow shirts, for the season. Baseball was still there for me when I was available. An experienced baseballer on the roster would be great for the team too; I could sort of act as a coach for the less-experienced players. Alas, I could only make three weekends, which was whittled down to just two appearances in total when I made it onto an NSL team in June. My brief return to baseball was enjoyable though, everyone was just excited to be playing and of course, there was a chance to do some pitching too.

The Canal League continues to run to this day, a brilliant way to introduce people to competitive baseball.

Tramway T5

Tram stops on this line are reserved for players that were higher up in the London Mets club, generally people from the NBL London Mets team and the London Capitals (which have now become the Herts Toucans).

London Mets and London Capitals

Whilst I was a regular member of the Mets club, there were two NBL teams, the London Mets and the London Capitals. There seemed to be some animosity between the teams, from how I perceive it. Of the two, I vibed a lot more with the Capitals, which were overall a rather more personable bunch. The Capitals would sometimes train on the Wednesdays, so we saw them more often than we did the Mets.

The Mets are the premier team, inevitably winning the NBL league. Each year, the club pays for a player from abroad to bolster their roster, earning their keep by maintaining the fields and clubhouse through the season. I believe that one of those guest players made it onto Love Island Australia…

Herts Toucans

Club politics, you simply can’t avoid it. Some drama must have taken place (I had long hung up my baseball cleats by this point), as the London Capitals left the Mets organisation for pastures anew at Herts.

Herts is a huge baseball club with a lot of history, similar in size to the London Mets. They have two fields, one in Hemel Hempstead (Grovehill), and one in Basing Hill Park, near Golders Green (where a team called the ‘Herts Londoners’ was once based. Love a team name based on an oxymoron). Incidentally, the Capitals rebranded themselves as the Herts Toucans, needing to select a bird to seamlessly fit with the trend of the other Herts teams (including the Cardinals, Hawks, Eagles and Ravens).

Two of the Toucans/Capitals would be my Fall Ball captains for 2019 and 2020, they were my favourite captains in all my Fall Ball seasons. They both fully understood that Fall Ball was all about mixing things up and trying new positions. I got to pitch plenty, and even got a chance to catch too. Louis would show me the ropes, and I even managed to throw someone out at second. I thoroughly enjoyed it, a chance to do more of this position could entice me back to baseball part time. Hold your gay baseball jokes, people.

Tramway T6

Tram stops on this line are reserved for more players from the London Mets, mostly acquaintances, as well as several teammates from fall ball.

London Mets Fall Ball

Photo from 2018, after an exciting final against the Mudhens, who I would play with for 2019 and 2020.

The London Mets organises Fall Ball after the baseball season is done in dusted, which starts mid-September until the last weekend of October. Heck, the club is still using a photo of yours truly as the face off Fall Ball, on said section of the Mets’ web page.

With Fall Ball, it’s a potluck with the weather. September weekends can be quite pleasant, but by October London can see a lot more rain, and the fields can become close to unplayable. Part of Fall Ball is helping out drain the fields before play. Curse that Finsbury dirt!

Of those who sign up, encompassing all levels of play, from B4B to NBL, everyone is mixed up to devise a set of balanced teams that play each other over seven weekends. On the final weekend, if the weather holds out (though the club makes every effort to make it happen regardless), the championships are played, to crown a winner, baby. It’s a great set up and a brilliant way to close off the season.

With teams not taking it too seriously until the championship weekend, it’s a chance for players to try positions they otherwise normally wouldn’t play. Playing exclusively outfield in league, I would have innings in the infield, and even as a pitcher or a catcher occasionally (though I would be replaced on the mound quite quickly if I allowed too many runs in one inning).

This was a chance to meet some more players, and fill out my tube map, of course. Stations for all at this point, think London in the 1970s, real estate is easy to come by and stations are given out like sweets.

The 2016 Fall Ball event was my first time participating, captained by Jan from the Marauders. Here I met Bruno, a great team-mate. 2017 Fall Ball was by far my least favourite. Look, the captain, Josh, from the states was a nice enough guy (albeit with strong Republican vibes). The atmosphere this year was a little stilted. He missed one of the main appeals of Fall Ball, a chance to play different positions. I’ll give it to him that there were a lot of young teens on the team (Fall Ball was open to 14+), so they should certainly be prioritised to choose new positions over the olduns. But this was a dreary return to my Falcons days, I was in right-field all the time again. Ashley must have tipped him off!

For 2018, I distinctly remember in the survey requesting to play on a team with as few teenagers as possible. Ideally, none. Nothing personal, kid. Also, Josh, I mean you’re alright, but… I’m paying for Fall Ball pal; I want to be everywhere in the field. I got my wish; David from the Capitals and the lovely Darren (who reminds me so much of Ben Woods from softball) gave me a brilliant season, where I had numerous appearances on the mound.

My favourite Fall Ball seasons were in 2019 and 2020. I would be playing for the Mudhens, which was a team ran by Louis and Pete, the club’s resident St. Louis Cardinals fans. They understood the most what Fall Ball was all about, relaxed baseball and a true mix up of positions. They were highly encouraging as well, willing to coach anyone interested in playing somewhere new. I was delighted when I was placed in the same team for 2020, Fall Ball in full swing as the pandemic temporarily retreated and it was safer to play outdoor sports. Here, I even got to catch for the first time, donning the full kit. Ashley would never…! Louis, an experienced player behind the plate, was happy to show me the ropes and I would catch for him in the game. First time, perhaps beginners luck, I was even able to throw a runner out at second. Ben, you know that’s right. For that, there’s a reason why Louis and Pete, both Capitals/Toucans, ended up on Tramway T1A/T1B instead of the team-assigned Tramway T5.

Xander, one of Scotland’s best, and a teammate I missed from my days as a Musketeer, would be our 2021 Fall Ball captain. With a lot of my ex-teammates on board, it was quite like the 2018 Muskies days. Antonia would be our 2022 captain for Fall Ball, keeping with the spirit of the event. It was at this point where Fall Ball was split into the higher divisions for experienced players and a lower division for players from B4B (I opted for higher). At this point, I was 80% softball and 20% baseball. Liam sternly warned me not to play baseball as that would mess up my softball swing completely. I still missed baseball unlike him, who was very happy to end his temporary return to baseball, the only sport available at the time, when softball resumed after the worst of the pandemic.

Gabri and Toshio ran the 2023 season, also an entertaining Fall Ball series, which I scarcely attended as I was playing softball tournaments well into October. When I could make it, I enjoyed my playing time (I even almost hit over the fence at Finsbury Park, on the main field, mind, something I had never done), though I had an argument with a player who threatened to drill me at my next at bat for stealing a base when we were well ahead. He did have a point but put it across in the worst way possible.

For my ninth Fall Ball season in 2024, I would be part of the Black Cats, a team run by the very enthusiastic Leonard. A lovely fellow, he was very willing to coach all of us when he could, he loved the game that much. At that point, I was now a bitter old grump who just wanted to play. With no desire to return to the game full time at that point, I just wanted to relax and reminisce of the old days of playing at Finsbury Park. I had a lot of enjoyment playing, but I wasn’t particularly willing to be coached by him and the other players (not to be rude, but a lot of them were in Single-A). When I could make it (I think only two weekends), I had a great time though, and Leonard did a fab job organising the team.

With me playing more softball tournaments than ever (20 in 2023, 21 in 2024, 17 in 2025), the cold hard fact that I’m getting older and losing my energy, plus my job getting more stressful as I advance in my career, by the end of September/start of October, at the end of a season of constant tournaments, competitive league games and a lot of travelling, I am very, very burnt out. You can tell by how poor my performance is at the final tournament of the year, noteworthy in 2024 and 2025. Plus, indoor softball allows me to continue spending time with the softballers. In 2025, I did not take part in Fall Ball whatsoever, for the first time. Right at this time, I can barely even bring myself to play Sunday softball, let alone full-blown baseball. This does mean I broke the streak of nine straight years of obtaining Fall Ball shirts.

Still, Fall Ball was a great time (apart from 2017) and a brilliant way to end the baseball season.

Tramway T7

Tram stops on this line are reserved for players from Richmond’s baseball club, fittingly connected to Metro Line 9 where there is already presence from Richmond players who also play softball.

Richmond Baseball Club

OK, they're all wearing the wrong jerseys but there's a fair few Richmond Knights in this photo.

Richmond, at the time, was London Mets’ closest club as the crow flies. My first experience with Richmond club pre-dated my London Mets days; turning back the clock to the Imperial era, Richmond would invite us on down to Connare and Flood fields, close to the Thames itself, for our team to join in with their winter training. This was extra practice for us, very much welcomed, though it was certainly a journey to get there. Of note, one thing that will stick with myself and the rest of the Imperial Falcons til the day we die: coach shouting ‘get your FUCKING glove on the FUCKING ground’. Still, ground balls go through my legs too often, I need this guy in the dugout shouting at me for making such an egregious error.

Now a Met, there wasn’t a year where we didn’t play a Richmond team. The field they play on is particularly remote, a decent 15-minute bus ride away from Richmond station. After each game, we would celebrate or contemplate at the local Fox & Duck pub. For certain, we had a little bit of history with Richmond, which could at times get very ugly. Bench clearings aren’t restricted to the MLB, they can also happen at a lowly single-A game right here in the UK. I cannot recall what gave rise to it, but there was a Musketeer-Richmond bench clearing right here at Flood Field. Cleats were in the air, punches were thrown, it was havoc. I stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do, I certainly wasn’t up for a fight. One of my teammates coaxed me into battle, unmistakably inspired by watching many a brawl in the MLB (all for one and one for all is the Musketeers’ motto after all), but we did risk getting kicked out of the league if the fight got particularly ugly. It wasn’t one of the team’s finest moments.

The year after, one of single-A’s most notorious characters was J.P., one of Richmond’s pitchers. Ah, the memes we made about him. No physical fights but oh how we loved to beat his team so we could get the one over him.

Post-lockdown, the Richmond-London rivalries were far more peaceful (maybe as the Minotaurs are a more chilled out bunch). It was definitely an interesting experience playing against Gaston, who at the time, was my LSL captain for Raiders Blue. Post-baseball, Gaston and I would again become rivals in the 2025 season, where he joined Game of Throws.

The biggest foe we faced at Richmond at this time was another pitcher. One person in particular. Oh, how I loathe him. The only pitcher I could never get a hit against. Just kidding. Sam, you’re alright.

I don’t know too many other names of Richmond players, but I know enough to create a Tramway. This line connects on to Line 9 for good reason, too. Most of Line 9 has been taken over by the Salty Seamen. Richmond players are far more partial to the game of softball compared to the Mets, who tend to snootily look down on the beautiful game. I think that all of the baseball players that play for the Salty Seamen are Richmond players (mostly for the Knights).

As I no longer play baseball, it is not likely that this tramway will be filled for some time. Still, returning to the game is something I had pondered. Some of the Richmond Knights were willing to give me a go on the team should I want to return, but let’s face it, I haven’t played regularly for a long time, and have never played Double-A baseball before, so jumping to the Knights is a very tall order. I have been thinking about joining one of the winter sessions, as I’d probably be in more familiar company with them than for the Mets right now. I miss baseball somewhat, throwing a baseball feels amazing and, in that aspect, softball just can’t compare.

Tramway T8

This line is currently devoid of any named stops. Line 14 has been extended slightly, already starting to absorb this tram line. Though free tram stops are limited in number, I’m no longer active in the baseball community so filling these spots will be unlikely.

In contrast to the future, here's a photo from the past. 2012. My very first softball game. God, those capris were god-awful.

The Future of Baseball

I do miss baseball. Evidently, softball is the more enjoyable game, and my happiest memories playing bat & ball are mostly through playing softball. Still, the many times at Finsbury Park, setting the field up, tons of drills, and ending up at the Finsbury until closing time are times I reminisce about to this day. Travels to the games (including the traffic jam on the M1 where we left the car to get some snacks at the service station, rushing back as traffic started to move quickly as soon as we made our purchases. We had the odd few parties at the clubhouse at Finsbury Park during lockdown. Times with the Minotaurs were a lot of fun, often we would stay all day at the field until sundown, being enticed by Bruno’s Brazilian barbecue. The community was more than just the game.

The question is, will I return? I ponder this all the time. On many occurrences have I declared that I wouldn’t mind some sporadic appearances at the baseball field. I do miss facing the speed of good baseball pitching, I’m quite good at hitting relatively speedy fastballs. It’s when they start messing with the pitches: curveballs, sliders, sinkers and breaking balls, where I falter.

Fall Ball is the obvious avenue for returning to the game, and I played from 2016-24. 2025 was the first year where I didn’t take part in Fall Ball, these days I am completely shattered after countless tournaments and travelling, that a few free weekends in a row after the season wouldn’t go amiss. Since 2022 I had only been able to attend one or two weeks in the Fall Ball season until I phased it out completely by 2025.

If I had a few free weekends though, a game or two of baseball isn’t totally out of the question. Bruno messaged me last year to see if I was free to play for the Minotaurs when they were short one weekend, however I was already committed to a softball tournament.

I could return to the Mets, currently with three single-A teams, however again, a roster spot is going to be wasted on someone who can only make a severely limited number of weekends. Canal League could be another option, though I felt the standard of play was a little too relaxed for my liking. This may have improved in subsequent seasons.

Some Salty Seamen players have invited me to play for their baseball team, the Richmond Knights. This would be far too intimidating for my liking. I have never played double-A ball in my entire baseball career, the league in which the Knights play, so my skills would not be up to par. Bear in mind that I haven’t played regular baseball for over three years. Sometimes when playing for the Salty Seamen, it almost feels that I can only just barely hit a softball, imagine a baseball! If I had to choose though, I would prefer to play with people who I know well. I know more people from the Richmond Knights than today’s London Minotaurs, Mercury and Mastodons. I’ve been interested in attending a few of the Richmond winter training sessions, perhaps in 2026 I may make an appearance.

Double-A may be a tad too demanding, so Single-A would be a more suitable league to return to. This league has exploded in size since I stopped playing. There are now 37 Single-A teams across the UK, three London Mets affiliates, the Richmond Barons and Dukes, Croydon Raiders (ooh, there’s a thought) and Odyssey, and the Finchley Capybaras. I have quite a bit of choice if I were to return.

It took me years to master having solid baseball and softball swings at the same time. My softball hitting was always better than my baseball hitting overall, though I was too inconsistent. I still am not as consistent as I’d like to be, as I am known for overswinging as well as swinging too early, which leads to a lot of pop-ups or weak grounders. I was never the best baseball hitter with a poor 2017 and dismal 2018 batting average, but I improved starting in 2019 with the Mustangs where I was able to get hits more often, with my strongest batting averages for the Minotaurs in 2021 and 2022. When I significantly reduced my baseball playing time and spent more time at the softball diamond, from 2023, that’s when I started to hit home runs over the fence at Farnham Park. Facing baseball and slowpitch softball pitching during the same time is difficult, especially when it comes to timing and bat swinging. From slow to fast takes getting used to. Baseball bats are heavier than softball bats too (I swung a 32-33 oz bat compared to a 25-26 oz bat in softball). I also use a completely different batting stance in baseball compared to softball. Few people can master both sports at the same time; of note, the Salty Seamen/Richmond Knights are exceptionally good at this.

It must be said, baseball has some rules which I miss, that softball does not have, as these rules can break the game. I love stealing bases, it’s one of the baseball skills I’m good at, though candidly it’s rare for anyone to be thrown out at second in single-A. Fouling as much as you’d like does help as at times, I was prone to foul out third strikes, though quite frankly if you can’t hit a softball cleanly after three swings, you deserve to take the walk of shame. I also prefer the size of a baseball field, more running is involved as bases are further apart. That won’t be popular with lots of softball players!

Trying out the batting cages at the 108, there is the option to face fastpitch softball pitching. Practicing for Prague with the Salty Seamen, we decided to test out fastpitch, on the maximum speed available. Though it took me a few pitches to get used to the speed, when I found my rhythm, I was able to hit almost everything. In the UK, though far less popular, there is a fastpitch league, with weekends dedicated to this sport occurring every so often at Farnham Park. Teams are separated by gender. Many of the ladies from Raiders have played slowpitch so we saw a number of them playing in the league.

In 2023, I ended up in a WhatsApp group for a fastpitch team called the ‘Strays’, after expressing some interest in trying the sport. I already spent enough time in Farnham Park, so for my sanity I did not attend any of the fastpitch weekends. However, in 2026, I’d be willing to give fastpitch a go. Slowpitch, rounders, fastpitch, baseball, even cricket! May as well cross out the entire list. What’s, next, a game of Finnish baseball? I’ll leave it to Antti to organise a game one day (if there’s any streams of water about!)

I have indeed played cricket, where I started at the beginning of the year by attending the LGBT+ cricket sessions ran by Surrey Cricket Club, held at the Oval. A great introduction to the sport, I really enjoyed the alternative style of batting, though I again needed to get used to catching balls without a glove again. I played a game with the Graces (thanks Jonny for the invite). I didn’t get to bat, as batting rules are a lot different to softball and baseball, but I got to do plenty of fielding. I would like to continue playing the game for sure, the cricket community is also very friendly.

All in all, it is almost certain that I will not commit to a baseball team in the future, but watch this space, I may make a rare appearance on the baseball field soon enough.

Tramway T9

More Falcons

Photo from 2013. Most people here are on Tramway T2, just an excuse for another Falcons photo. I was wearing a Size 8 New Era cap, the largest size, my afro barely fits inside.

Tramway T9 is an overspill line as I cannot fit all the Imperial College Falcons onto one line. This tramway houses some of the less regular members during my time, plus a few new players who I met after my graduation. In 2015, before I started my first proper job out of university, I attended the odd training session with the Falcons. Later on in 2017, one afternoon, hungover, I was on my way to see my then boyfriend working at the Royal Albert Hall. Being early, I bumped into the Falcons training. I borrowed a glove to play some catch with the team, just for old time’s sake. Then came the batting practice. Sure, I’ll have a swing. What an embarrassing ordeal! I could barely make good contact. To think I’d convinced them I was playing for the Mets organisation. Rather mortifying, but perhaps everyone has a bad day every now and again. Ah well.

During my time, the club saw numerous people who showed up for a training session or two, then never turned up again. The most notable example was the first woman to sign-up (at the same time as my membership). Promising and skilled, she knew the game and would be a great fit for the team. Unfortunately, a mishap while catching a ball left her with a broken nose, and she never returned.

Even with people making a single appearance at a Falcons event, I was still making a note of their names, ultimately adding them to the St. Jacques Map. They were stuck on the end of Line G initially, until the Raiders banished them to Tramway T4. I had to fill the map somehow, hence they’re also here too! Not bad for people I had only met once, appearances on two maps!

There is one person on this map that I have not met before: Gary Lam, who has a stop on this line. Though I never met him, he was the Falcons’ most influential player, seeing as he founded the society. He had graduated the year before I joined, so I just missed him (he never returned, he had moved away from the UK at this point).

The Early Days

Even as someone with little interest in sports, bat & ball games intrigued me still.

Most men want nothing more than their son to take up football. My dad, a solid Liverpool fan (most of my family are, as we do have familial ties to the area), bought me a customised full Liverpool kit, with my own name and number, as well as a LFC branded football, hoping to spark something inside me. Truthfully, the only interest I showed in football was liking the fact that the players wore numbers on their shirts. If anything, that’s all I really wanted. I loved the shirt of course, with my favourite number, 11, at the back. In the garden, I played around with the ball, my dad smiling from his office as he watched me having a kick about. That didn’t last long.

I just couldn’t get into football. Even watching men in football kits isn’t enough to pique my interest (plus the acting like you’ve been shot when you trip up is a major turn off). Football is much akin to watching a DVD screensaver, waiting for the logo to reach a corner. Not for me.

The only sport I enjoy watching is baseball (as it follows a logical sequence, mostly… plus men in baseball pants). I don’t mind basketball (I love a good NBA kit) too much as it’s fast paced enough to keep me engaged. Football? Nah. (Nor rugby, for that matter, too beefy).

When it came to playing, team sports just didn’t appeal to me. Everyone’s out to win, and I just couldn’t muster up any shared ardour for it. P.E. was a drag; I’d rather be in the classroom doing sums.

That is until they got the Year 3s and 4s out for a game of rounders. It was a temperate spring day and being outside sure beat history class. Unaware of what was planned, I liked what I was watching and wanted to take part. Officially, this was my first spark of interest in sports. I waited anxiously for my turn to bat, and I managed to hit the ball first time! No points scored due to the game’s scoring system; I only reached the first post. The ball didn’t travel very far, but I was fast enough to make it before the throw was made. Same again for the second hit, though the threat of elimination got my nerves going. No half-rounders here. Finally, for the third bat, I missed the ball, and an accurate throw to the player at first sealed my fate. Though despondent from being eliminated for the game, I thought, ‘This is exhilarating. So, this is how the lads feel when they play football’. I wanted to play again, but it was straight back to class to see off the final hour of school. Shocker, a sport I actually liked! On the drive back to Marisa’s, a classmate whose house I would stay at after school every day before my parents picked me up, in total ignorance of Ciaran’s teasing and lost with my thoughts, I imagined Pope Paul forming a rounders club, where we would travel to other schools to compete. The footballers got to do it, why couldn’t the rounders fans?

In the chaos of the way back home to Marisa’s, the friend I would stay with after school for a few hours, (Ciaran would always be making jokes), I imagined a rounders club for Pope Paul school, where we could travel to other schools to compete! The footballers got to do it, so why couldn’t the rounders crew?

We’d play more and more in Years 5 and 6. Our Year 5 teacher was particularly prone to getting us all out to the playground on a pleasant day (usually to treat us for working hard in class), so we got to play plenty of rounders. I started to score half-rounders… and soon enough, full rounders. I would constantly be amongst the last players standing. Even if I missed, I was becoming far too quick, the fielder behind the batting square could never make an accurate enough throw to the first post fielder in time.

They need to put rounders on TV! When outside during lunch breaks with the ‘Sophia gang’ (my main group of friends at Pope Paul school), I was suggesting that we could play ourselves, but we didn’t have the equipment with us, and teachers weren’t willing to lend it to us, so that plan never got off the ground.

Moving on to secondary school, P.E. was on Period 2 on a Monday. This surely woke us up for the week. As P.E. was now split by gender, I was enjoying it less. We’d be focusing on different sports, whereas primary school P.E. was the odd bit of football, netball, rounders and simple athletics drills. Football first, everyone’s favourite (not me, of course). Rugby was next, in the freezing cold. I’m not the most robust-built person, but in Year 7, I was a full foot shorter and all skin and bone. Rugby was totally not my game. Tackling? No chance. Oddly, for some reason I was always placed in the scrum. I don’t know much about rugby, but wouldn’t you put your biggest and toughest in a scrum for a better chance of getting the ball?

Hockey was by far my least favourite of the sports, absolute carnage and I could not master using a hockey stick. I didn’t care too much for tennis, badminton nor ping-pong (when the weather was too rainy). Basketball was infuriating, I couldn’t stand being hounded as soon as I was able to somehow retrieve the ball. As the year went by, I wondered when we could get the posts out for a game of rounders. I asked Mr. Breeze, the head of P.E: ‘when do we get to play rounders’?

Mr. Breeze chortled loudly and responded: ‘Rounders is a girl’s game’. A girl’s game. Of course it is, why wouldn’t it be? My favourite sport was a ‘girls game’.

Well, let’s see the rest of P.E. through. For summer term, we would be playing softball. ‘What the hell is that’ was the collective thought of the entire class Bats and balls were involved, though, so this was looking quite promising. We’d practice sprinting to bases, throwing balls back and forth, and hitting softballs off traffic cones. No gloves, no tees, not even any proper bases! Crudely cut metal plates with sprayed numbers were makeshift bases. The cones made a decent tee, even though they weren’t adjustable. Eh, we only had our hands for catching, just like the cricketers. There were a few gloves available, discarded, constricting and generally rock-solid. The P.E. department clearly didn’t know how to care for and maintain a fielding glove. Most people went without.

With some training done, at the end of the lesson, it was time for a game! It was quite the anarchic experience. The infield and tons of outfielders. We played in teams of fifteen at least, so outfield was very much full coverage (just like Sunday softball before the numbers were eventually restricted). It was here were I wrongly assumed that infield was where all the best players play, a sentiment shared by most of the class. It was a rampage to claim the fielding positions as soon as an inning began; I ran to quickly claim my territory at one of the metal plates. A few times, I would also try my hand at pitching too (been pitching since 2006!)

If a ball was hit, it was quite unlikely that it would be fielded cleanly. Generally, if you hit the ball, you easily made it on base, no matter how weak a hit it was. Catching was a very rare occurrence, though in our defence we were playing defence without fielding gloves.

I forthwith realised that we were playing some form of rounders. Yes, we get to play the girl’s game. Indeed, for the first time, I was looking forward to P.E. lessons! The chaos was very entertaining. I was excited to pick up the bat have a swing. The batting order wasn’t gospel, no scoresheets, it was a free for all.

I had to get used to holding a bat with two hands, a change from rounders. Still, though the hits weren’t strong, I made contact with the ball, though barely making it past the outfield. Made it to first base, they couldn’t make the throw in time.

I would soon discover that softball was even better than rounders, due to three significant rule changes. First off, I eventually made it to home plate as the following batters got hits, advancing me around the bases. Wrongly assuming my run didn’t count, I was quickly corrected. I scored a run? Brilliant! None of the half-rounder and rounder bollocks. I couldn’t hit far enough to get a double unless the fielding was particularly poor, but now I didn’t have the pressure of trying to make it to second base now to get scores on the board.

The second rule change was having three strikes. Three attempts to hit a decent pitch. Admittedly, whilst adjusting to using both hands to swing, I missed the ball quite shockingly on my first swing, not making contact until the third strike. Like the no-ball rule in rounders, bad pitches could be ignored. A lot less pressure here; this made me a lot more relaxed at the plate. This was just like my prior favourite game, so I wanted to do well. Three chances greatly increased the odds.

The third rule change sealed it all. It completely transformed the game, making me figuratively push rounders well aside. Whilst waiting for my second bat, a prior batter who struck out re-joined the queue in the next inning. Tattling, I brought up that he had been eliminated so shouldn’t be batting any more. The teacher explained that this doesn’t apply to softball: if you get out, you get another chance later on. No eliminations!

Rounders with all the annoying rules struck out. Softball was the absolute perfect game. I found my sport! Each year, I would look forward to softball as a treat at the end of the school year. I trawled through football, suffered through hockey, got knocked onto the floor endlessly in rugby, and this was my reward. By Year 11, where I no longer had P.E. class due to taking fast-track French, I missed the summer P.E. lessons and getting to play softball.

Note that I enjoyed cricket as well, but we only played for one term in Year 9, if I remember correctly. Softball was still better, though I have recently got into cricket again.

Dame Alice Owen’s had a football and rugby team, and even a basketball team. The football team in particular was exceptionally successful. There was one day in school where most of the class travelled to watch them play in a championship final. One of the players in that team plays professional football in the US now.

Why not start for a softball team too? I could be playing in that for certain. My dad would be elated to see his son finally playing in a school sports team. Mr. Breeze noted me finally enjoying a sport. I suggested forming a school softball team to him. He appreciated my enthusiasm, but his response wasn’t reassuring.

The reality is, no-one really took softball seriously, from the students who were generally a lot more apathetic, treating softball as a mere respite from classes. No-one talks about the softball games on TV, seeing as they aren’t any airing. It’s all about football here in the U.K. The teachers also didn’t really know what they were doing either, they were all indifferent to the sport. This was seemingly a recess from proper teaching, where football, rugby and athletics were the sports that actually mattered. Roll out the makeshift equipment and just let the softball game play out. Perhaps ‘umpire’ for a short while before letting a student take over.

Additionally, we must have been the only school in the county who played softball. Which other schools could we compete against? The idea of a school softball team was a pipe dream. We could have initiated a softball club after school, another one of my suggestions, but who would stay after lessons had finished to play a game? (We’re a long way from me heading to Regent’s Park for a game after work here). Some students looked down on softball as well, seeing it as glorified rounders, the famed ‘girl’s game’. I don’t care what anyone says, rounders is FUN and people who try to ‘insult’ baseball and softball by calling it rounders does not offend me because I still love rounders. Heck, even my captain for the Fuzzy Duck calls softball rounders all the time. In truth, my classmates would rather be playing football; this silly little game was a waste of time when they could be having a kick-about. Come on lads, you’re playing football at every lunchbreak in the summer, let me have some happiness in P.E. for once, I’ve been miserable all year.

By age 15, my days in P.E. class were over, and I had a hiatus from bat and ball sports for just over three years. I thought of the memories still, a zeal for the game still brewing, but with a focus on GCSEs and A-Levels and getting into university, softball was long stewing in the backburner. Nevertheless, a new chapter in my life at university (getting into my first choice too) was upon me. As someone who didn’t like nightclubs and alcohol, but with a vehemence to be exceptionally social, sound advice was to join lots of societies for a varied and fulfilling social life at uni. I took this too far, becoming a regular member of three societies, probably why I ended up with a 2:2 after three years of studying. Whoops, still trying to recover my life from that!

Impatient to leave for university; secondary school now wearing extremely thin; 8 hours of maths, classes with a lot of people I didn’t fit in well with, the shift of popular students now on a completely different side of the year. I did my research on which societies I’d join. Afro-Caribbean society for sure, to keep a connection with my African heritage. Society representatives ended up approaching me on the first day, even before Freshers fair! Perhaps France society, to connect with other French people? What’s this? Baseball society? Imperial has a baseball club? It’s similar enough to softball. Oh, I’m definitely going to be joining this one. I missed the game; this was the perfect time to make a return. This would be the first stall I would visit at Fresher’s fair. I let them know I would be there bright and early for the first session on Saturday morning. I planned to head home for the weekend due to a touch of home sickness, but baseball practice would put a spanner in the works. No regrets, I was now back playing the game I loved, well at least something similar.

That is another story to be told, but for sure, this society and group was a cornerstone for life up until now.

Sorry to my Owenian teammates in P.E., and my teammates playing Rounders in Pope Paul, but you’re not on the Zafarnia Map. Take a High-Speed train from Gare Dyer to Napega Ezinne Gate, your search for your station will be much more fruitful.

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