Team Italy is ready for the Women’s European Softball Championship
The 24th edition of the Women’s European Softball Championship begins Sunday, September 1, 2024 on the diamonds of Utrecht, Nieuwegein and De Bilt in the Netherlands. The Italians, having claimed 12 Euro titles to date, hope to recapture the crown which was last won on their home turf of Friuli Venezia Giulia in 2021. All 2024 Women’s European Softball Championship games are live streaming on softballeurope.tv with paid subscription.
Less than a month and a half after the Azzurre placed eighth at Softball World Cup Finals in Castions di Strada, Team Italy is seeking redemption in the XXIV edition of the Women’s European Softball Championship on the diamonds of Utrecht, Nieuwegein and De Bilt in the Netherlands from September 1-7, 2024.
The Italian national softball team has won three of the four Euro competitions hosted by the Dutch in Bussum (1992), Amsterdam (2005) and Rosmalen (2015). The Kingdom of the Netherlands won the 1981 Women’s European Softball Championship in Haarlem. This year Team Italy will compete in at least the first five games at Utrecht’s Sportpark de Paperclip, the site where the late and great manager Enrico Obletter led the Azzurre squad to qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Of that team today remain the players Ilaria Cacciamani, Elisa Cecchetti, Marta Gasparotto, Giulia Longhi, Alice Nicolini, Erika Piancastelli and Alessandra Rotondo, in addition to the current manager Federico Pizzolini.
Team Italy softball skipper Federico Pizzolini reminisced, "These are indelible memories not only for what concerns the sporting aspect, but above all for the emotional one, but you don't live on memories. Certainly having won those qualifications brought us a lot of enthusiasm and we want to repeat it at the end of this European championship."
The 2024 edition will see the participation of 22 teams divided into six groups, two of three teams (Group A and Group B) and four of four teams (Groups C, D, X, Y). Team Italy is in Group Y with Great Britain, Greece and Israel, to which will be added the winners of Groups B (Belgium, Malta and Poland) and C (Bulgaria, Finland, Slovakia and Hungary). Tthe winners of Groups A (Denmark, France and Switzerland) and D (Austria, Croatia, Sweden and Hungary) will join Group X with Germany, Spain, the reigning champion Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
The format of the tournament provides for the top three ranked teams of Groups X and Y to compete in a third phase, which is decisive for access to the medal challenges. The top two ranked teams will compete for gold, while the third and fourth will fight for bronze.
The Italians seek revenge against Great Britain in their Euro debut on Sunday, September 1st at 3 pm (local time). The Brits defeated Team Italy2-1 in the 2022 Women’s European Softball Championship and went on to win the silver medal, while Team Italy settled for the bronze after a 4-2 victory over the Czech Republic.
Team Italy manager Federico Pizzolini said, "You have to play against all the strongest teams and win against all the strongest teams so it doesn't matter if you meet them immediately or later. They will be battles with close scores but we are ready also knowing the strength of Great Britain."
The Azzurre roster includes fifteen of the sixteen "sisters" who competed in the recent Softball World Cup in Castions di Strada World Cup with the addition of Felicia Di Pancrazio and Silvia Torre. Federico Pizzolini concluded,"I believe that the Italian softball movement is producing talented young players who deserve to be involved in a larger project, then it's up to them to demonstrate their value also in important competitions such as the European Championship."
Team Italy manager Federico Pizzolini will be assisted by coaches Giulio Brusa, Nancy Evans and Maristella Perizzolo, team physician Dr. Alessandro Maria Buttà, physiotherapist Giada Valle, federal officials Daniela Castellani and Roberta Soldi and delegation manager Isabella Dalbesio.
All games will be broadcast live on softballeurope.tv, the official OTT platform of WBSC Europe.
