Frequently Asked Questions
Richmond Baseball Club has a long standing tradition of always being open to new members.
As we can offer baseball across three of British Baseball Federation’s four divisions, we have members of all abilities; from seasoned veterans to complete beginners.
F.A.Q:
Q. How can I contact the club?
A. All prospective members should register their interest on our website. That way you get automatically added to our mailing list and receive our (mostly) weekly newsletters with information about the club, practices, games and other events. You will also receive an automated email with useful information about the club.
If you have further questions, please look through our website first as most answers can be found here, otherwise you can email the club and we’ll strive to get back to you as quickly as possible.
Q. What can you offer at Richmond Baseball?
A. Richmond Baseball Club currently runs a mixture of adult (for anyone aged 14 or older) baseball teams in the British Baseball Federations leagues. We also run youth camps during the summer school holidays.
Q. When do you practice/play games?
A. During the off-season and Spring Training our practice sessions run on the weekends, usually in the mornings for 2-3 hours. During the regular season the club holds midweek practices. We start at 6.00 till dusk, depending on light conditions.
Our league games are played mainly on Sundays (with the odd game on Saturdays depending on schedule). The British Baseball Federation’s league season runs from mid-April through August with play-offs and the National Baseball Championship in early to mid-September.
Q. Where are your practices held?
A. We practice at our facilities at Ham Playing Fields. Detailed directions can be found here. Our facilities are now second to none after the refurbishment of Connare Field. We have two diamonds and a dual batting cage with pitching machines.
Q. How much does it cost to join Richmond Baseball?
A. All prospective members are invited to try out the sport and/or the club for free. The first two sessions are free, after that all members are required to pay the initial Membership fee of £225. This fee allows you to practice all year with the club and play active games.
You can find out more about our fees on this page.
Q. Why do you charge annual fees?
A. Richmond Baseball receives no continuous funding support from any governmental or sporting institution. As a minority sport in Britain, we rely heavily on our member fees to run the club and develop our facilities.
Q. How do I become a member of the club?
A. Register your membership through this page. Once you’ve filled in your details, you will need to pay your fees through one of the options provided.
Q. What equipment do I need to play?
A. To participate in a practice session, normal outdoor workout attire is fine, shorts or track bottoms and training shoes. We do recommend shoes with good traction, preferably baseball cleats, but football shoes with rubber/plastic studs work too. Please note that round metal studs (as found on rugby and american football shoes) are not legal for baseball. Also, our new batting cages require flat soled or rubber studded shoes, metal cleats are not allowed as they rip up our artificial turf.
If you do not have your own baseball glove, the club has a small selection of right and left handed gloves you can borrow during practice. As fielding gloves are very individual and shape themselves around your hand after use we recommend that you get your own glove in the long run.
The club will provide bats, helmets, balls and catchers gear.
Q. What does Richmond’s uniform look like and how do I get one?
A. Our game day uniform consists of grey baseball pants, black socks, black belt, a Richmond Baseball jersey and cap. If you wear a long sleeved under-shirt, it should have black sleeves.
Game jerseys, batting practice jerseys and caps can be bought through club officials at the field. Please speak to any member of the management for information of items in stock. Gloves, pants and other baseball equipment are sold by a few vendors in the UK/Europe or on-line through US retailers.
We have limited quantities of caps in stock but a large delivery will arrive shortly. We have some pre-made jerseys and batting practice shirts in stock and our club shop also offers other Richmond branded gear.
Q. Where can I buy baseball equipment, shoes and baseball pants?
A. In the EU you can try the following vendors:
Comet Sports (UK)
The Baseball Softball Shop (UK)
Covee (NL)
In the US (please note potential customs charges)
Baseball Savings
Baseball Express
Ebay and Amazon also have some baseball gear that can be shipped to the UK.