BaseballSoftballUK (BSUK), founded in 2000, is a national development agency created by and working for the British Baseball and Softball Federations, and receives funding from Sport England to carry out this role.  BSUK’s work has been defined by a vision of the sports as “Played in Every Park”, and a central focus has been to increase participation.  Ten years ago, around 10,000 people played the sports in the UK; today the number is over 24,000, with an age range of 7-70.

As well as programmes designed to grow participation, particularly among women and girls, members of the LGBT community and in the higher education sector, BSUK’s other areas of focus are coaching and coach development, facility development, bringing the sports to children and young people in and out of schools, supporting the development of clubs and leagues and talent development through an Academy and High Performance Academy structure.

BSUK also provides a range of additional services to the Baseball and Softball Federations, including communications and marketing support, insurance provision, governance and safeguarding.

The UK’s first-ever dedicated baseball and softball playing complex was built by BSUK with support from Sport England and the US-based Baseball Tomorrow Fund and opened at Farnham Park, north of Slough, in 2013.  It has since become the national centre for the sports, hosting everything from development sessions to league and tournament play, National Championships and international competition.