almostwitty

Pretty much on a whim, I thought I'd pop along to the practice session for a London softball team. After all, I played rounders when I was 11. How hard can it be?

So after finding the practice venue (on a gloriously sunny day in Hyde Park), I discovered that there were:

a. actually rules to softball
b. weird bits of technology and kit (eg the oversized glove)
c. requirements of being able to catch and throw a ball
d. I never got to bat. Once.

There were also quite a few Americans on the team. Which actually became an advantage when in the outfield, since their voices would carry far more than the equivalent British person.

Then it's off to the pub afterwards, where it turns out that the team is sponsored by the Masons, but the team captain takes pains to reassure everyone that the Masons are mainly a charitable organisation who do lots of good work in the community. Oh, and despite the fact he sounds American, he's actually an European man who went to an international finishing school in Switzerland, is dating an American woman, and is in fact a potential Conservative parliamentary candidate in a very Tory part of London. Other softball players hail from Los Angeles, Dublin and Scandinavia. I mean, really, just how much more international can you get?

Towards the end of the evening, I am reassured that I am utterly crap right now, but if I stick at it, I will improve to the point when I'm quite average within four to five games. For which, I have to pay a 30 quid subscription fee...