Baseball: Not just rounders played by men... honest!

I would love to say that I am profiling the Imperial Baseball team as an oath of allegiance to Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry, the not-so-evil American who is replacing the most definitely evil American former-owners of my beloved Liverpool. How romantic it would have been, after all, to celebrate Mr Henry’s arrival on these grey shores by engrossing myself in anything and everything to with America.

We Liverpool fans love America, after all. We’ve always loved it. I for one certainly do not remember the hatred towards Messrs. Gillette and Hicks spilling over into anything untoward being said about their homeland. Any flags to the effect of ‘Yanks Out’ that you think you may have seen at Anfield over the last number of years were probably a figment of your imagination.

However, rather than being the product of a definitely-not-xenophobic football fanatic, this article was born through far more mundane circumstances. Somewhere between studying stochastic calculus and contemplating the ramifications of my own withering job prospects, I received a timely and cheerful message from my editor/superior, demanding I write something about baseball. Being the obedient subordinate that I am, I obliged.

Relatively speaking, the Imperial Falcons are a young club. Founded in the summer of 2009, the Falcons boast an impressive record of success, and have already won this year’s Fall Cup, which features the top six university teams in the country. The team remain undefeated this season and hope to follow on from the Fall Cup by defending their Southern League title.

The team trains every Wednesday, varying between Harlington, Hyde Park, and Northwick Park batting cages. Work on a baseball pitch at Harlington which will allow Imperial to host matches is nearing completion. The team is coached by the club’s senior members, several of whom are accredited coaches.

One Falcon, Kevin Ling, is keen to stress the inclusive nature of the club: “The club welcomes all, irrespective of ability. A lot of returning members, which had no experience with the sport before joining, are now integral parts of the Falcons and have earned starting roles.

“The team embodies the philosophy of camaraderie and team work. One of the winning factors the Falcons have is the encouragement that can be heard from the field and dugouts. We play because we enjoy being in a competitive team and have a collective interest in Baseball, whether acquired or not.”

The club owes a debt of gratitude to Sport Imperial, which it says have been very supportive of the fledgling Falcons. It provided the club with an equipment grant as well as helping to construct the club’s first pitch and mound at Harlington. Ling also cites support received from the Union and from the Harlington Grant as instrumental in the club’s success.

Although the club is still considered ‘new’, Ling says that they have had little difficulty in recruiting; there were over fifty attendees at their first ever training session last year. He is keen to stress that the club welcomes beginners. “No previous experience is necessary; the basics of the sport can be taught very quickly, all you need to do is turn up to sessions. Every single person on the team is learning all the time.”