The London Archers Baseball Programme is an elite, private, and invitation only organization that promotes youth baseball development emphasizing fair play and sportsmanship. London Archers Baseball aims to support the growth of youth baseball by providing high-quality, year-round baseball training for youths that want to accelerate their baseball development and play competitively across Europe and in the world. The London Archers have no affiliation with any other club, team or academy in the UK or any National Teams programme.
Annual player nominations and team selections are based on local club input, try-outs, coaching input, and evaluations. The ultimate selection of a player for the programme is based on assessments of the player in the following key areas. The programme reserves absolute rights on selection of players.
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Requisite baseball skill level and potential
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Attitude and hustle of the player
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Commitment of the player and family
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Player and family fit with the values and goals of the programme
The objectives and goals of the Archers Programme are simple. We want to consistently raise the standard of youth baseball in the UK and to be recognised as a premier travel program in Europe. For our players, we want to play competitively in tournaments across Europe and in the world and to build technically sound, resilient athletes that play the game of baseball the right way. Our player development focuses on the following key areas:
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Baseball Growth – Developing players with a high baseball “IQ”, situational awareness, and proper baseball technique.
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Athletic Growth – Strength and conditioning with a focus on the development of core strength, balance, and agility.
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Mental Growth – Help players understand the importance of the mental game and teach them how to be competitive, mentally strong, and resilient athletes.
The program was established in 2017 to help increase the quantity and quality of playing opportunities for UK youth baseball players. It initially started with a single 12U team, but has quickly grown to also include 13U, 14U, 15U, 16U and 18U teams. Reflecting the diverse population demographic of southeast England, the program brings together a global group of players with many parts of the globe represented including, but not limited to, British, North American, European, and Japanese.
In May 2019, the 14U London Archers claimed the 2019 PONY European Zone Championship by defeating the defending champions from the Netherlands 7-6 in the championship game and earning a spot in the 2019 PONY World Series in Washington, PA. The Archer team made history as the first UK team to participate in the PONY World Series in its 68 year history.
In April 2022, after a 2 year hiatus due to COVID, the PONY European Zone Championship returned. In this edition the U14 London Archers again claimed the championship with a thrilling 6-5 victory of the NL Dutch Twins in the final to become back-to-back European champions. The team once again participated in the PONY World Series in Washington, PA in August 2022. The Archers finished 0-2 at the World Series, which included a hard fought loss in Game 1 to the host, Washington County team, 9 - 3.