At Softball

Betsy will be training, along with her teammates, in a Softball league throughout the Summer. We are at a sports ground called Richings Park in Buckinghamshire for the first session.

I'm sitting outside the clubhouse watching five separate games being played on an enormous field. Betsy getting selected out of the blue (after someone spotting her after a couple of sessions at an after school club) has led me to discover a sort of counter culture that I never knew existed. There are leagues all over the country, clubs everywhere, the training Academy, tournaments all over Europe, and hundreds and hundreds of players and coaches of all ages that are passionate about the sport. And the kit! Betsy drags around a huge wheeled Rawlings sports bag that holds gum shield, helmet, leather batting gloves, a huge catchers mitt and a great big metal bat. It's like she's going into battle.

Chris will be home this evening. He was partying until 4am. That's a bit more like it for the Film Festival.