During what should be a time of Xmas cheer, it was depressing to read about the struggles the Great Britain baseball team is facing. 

Back in September, we covered the European Baseball Championships.  If Team GB had beaten the Netherlands in their final game, they would have won the tournament and immediately qualified for the 2008 Olympics.   Unfortunately they were defeated 6-1 (the Netherlands are the European baseball powerhouse, it should be noted) and the British team ultimately finished second.  This was still an excellent achievement and it left the door open for Olympic qualification via a tournament that will take place in Taiwan next March.

It looks like that opportunity is going to be taken away from the players though, as the British Baseball Federation cannot afford the £50,000 needed to pay for the trip.  Their plight was highlighted by the Daily Telegraph last week and I guess we can only hope that someone reads the story and will come forward and sponsor the team.  After putting in so much effort to qualify for the Taiwan event, it would be a real shame for their dreams to be dashed in this way.