Any UK firefighters looking to play should register since there will be a UK team playing


Softball will have an international flavour at the World Firefighter Games

The World Firefighter Games is coming to Merseyside from August 24 to September 2 this year, and the softball tournament, to be played in co-ed slowpitch format, has already attracted entrants from six different countries.

The WFG Softball Tournament will be played on Tuesday, August 26 at Halton Baseball and Softball Club, and the Games have enlisted the services of BSF Tournaments Organisers Liz Graham and Lesley Morisetti to help run the event.

Softball entrants currently include full teams from Venezuela, Canada and Holland and enough players from the UK (Nottingham Raiders), Australia and South Africa to make up two additional teams. Individuals rather than teams generally enter the competition and the entry fee allows people to play as many sports as they choose (providing clashes can be avoided). So more softball teams may yet emerge.

The Games are being staged by the Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service and will be a highlight of the city's Capital of Culture year. A programme of over 70 different events will include football, table tennis, golf, fishing, triathlon, dragon boat racing, track and field, chess, boxing and a cook-off as well as softball. A real highlight will be the Toughest Firefighter Alive competition, testing the stamina and strength of competitors to the very extreme.

More than 5,000 competitors from across the world are expected to arrive in the city for the 10-day spectacle. The Liverpool Echo Arena will effectively become the Games Village, and an Olympic-style opening ceremony will officially launch the Games, with live music from Merseybeat legend Gerry Marsden, who will sing “Ferry Cross The Mersey” and “You'll Never Walk Alone”.

For more information about the World Firefighter Games visit World FF Games