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Photo courtesy Great Britain Softball
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – USA Softball and the British Softball Federation announced a two-game exhibition series to be played at OGE Energy Field at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla. World No. 1 USA and No. 13 Great Britain will face off on June 29-30.
Both national teams had previously announced a series of games against the Oklahoma City Spark, a professional softball team formerly of the Women’s Pro Fastpitch (WPF) league. Great Britain will play the second annual Royal Spark Challenge on June 27-28, while USA will take on the Spark on June 29-30.
“We are always looking for opportunities to test ourselves against the best possible competition,” said Great Britain head coach Tara Henry. “Playing the Spark and USA in back-to-back exhibition series gives our players the chance to test themselves against great competition as well as our coaching staff a great opportunity to evaluate and assess our team in live situations.”
Selected Women’s Elite Team athletes will travel to the Softball Capital of the World® to showcase their skills at the U.S. Women’s National team camp beginning June 26 and will cap the week-long training camp with two exhibition matchups against world-ranked No. 13 Great Britain. The two-game series is set to take place at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium – OGE Energy Field and will begin on June 29 with a second matchup to follow on June 30.
Great Britain and the United States last faced off during the WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup Group A playoffs in Balbriggan, Ireland last summer, with a spot in the World Cup Finals on the line. USA defeated Great Britain, 7-0.
Team USA will use the games as preparation for the WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup Finals in Castions di Strada, Italy, from July 15-21, while Great Britain will use the exhibitions to prepare for the European Softball Championships in Utrecht, the Netherlands from September 1-7.
In addition to the back-to-back matchups against Great Britain, the world-ranked No. 1 U.S. Women’s National Team will go head-to-head with No. 2 Japan in a three-game series that will take place July 4-8 across three Japanese cities — Nagoya, Fujinomiya and Yokohama. The Japan All-Star Series has provided an experience for softball fans since its inception in 2016 where over 31,000 fans packed the Tokyo Dome while 2017 saw 15,000 fans in the stands at Yokohama Stadium.
Kicking off the action on July 4, the U.S. and Japan will face off at Vantelin Dome Nagoya (Nagoya City) followed by a second matchup on July 6 at the Mt. Fuji Stadium (Fujinomiya City) which hosted the 1998 Women’s Softball World Championship where the U.S. won gold with a 1-0 victory over Australia. The two international rivals will cap the three-game series on July 8 at Yokohoma Stadium (Yokohoma City) where the two teams faced off in the gold medal game at the 2020 Olympic Games. Most recently, Team USA suffered a 2-1 series loss to Japan at the 2023 Japan All-Star Series.
The Women’s Elite Team roster that will compete against Great Britain and at the 2024 Japan All-Star Series will be announced at a later date.
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