You have arrived at the website of the Brighton Beachcombers Softball Club, a Recreational softball team based in Brighton, UK.

Here you can find information about what we do, where we do it, when we do it and how good we are at it.

And remember: softball is not just for the summer: we play indoor in the winter too!

If you are looking for old news items that have been removed from here, they're all conveniently stored under Old News.

Softball is a bat sport derived from baseball. It is specifically meant to be faster-paced and easier to play for beginners.

There are different varieties of softball: fastpitch, slowpitch, single-sex and co-ed. In Brighton we play co-ed (men and women play together) slowpitch (the ball is pitched at the batter slowly so it's easier to hit) at the Recreational level.

If you want to find out how to play, check out our Idiot's Guide; if you want to find out what it looks like, you'll have to come out and Play Ball!

The Brighton Beachcombers started life as the Brightonians in 1999 with help from a couple of dedicated London and Redhill players and the support of the British Softball Federation. Since then we've changed our name and have increased our player numbers year by year, playing regularly through both summer and winter seasons. We are privileged to have two Great Britain national squad players as coaches.

In the summer season we play in Brighton at Preston Park. We also play in the Solent Softball League and enter many one-day and weekend tournaments in the South-East and as far as Bristol, Manchester and Ireland.

Most softball in the UK is of the co-ed slowpitch variety. There is also some fastpitch (especially women's), and some single-sex. There are three divisions:

• A: Also known as Comp-A, it is the top competitive level of the country. It is mostly based around a number of weekend tournaments throughout the UK.
• B: Also known as Comp-B, it is the intermediate level. Many weekend tournaments include both A and B competition at the same venue.
• C: Also known as Recreational or Rec, it is the entry-level division where most of the fun happens. It is key in making the sport accessible to new players. There are many Recreational leagues all over the country, and many one-day and weekend tournaments during the summer season, sometimes combined with A and B competition.

The Brighton Beachcombers are a Recreational team, although for one or two tournaments in the summer season we enter as a Comp-B team and field our very strongest side.