Home British baseball Pat Doyle appointed as Head Coach of the Great Britain Senior National Team

Pat Doyle appointed as Head Coach of the Great Britain Senior National Team

by Matt Smith

GbHlSqGreat Britain’s preparations for this summer’s European Championships have been boosted by the appointment of Pat Doyle as the new Head Coach of the Senior National Team. 

Doyle is a highly respected coach who brings a considerable amount of experience to the role.  He has coached in the U.S. college system for over 23 years, been part of the Team USA coaching staff and has served as the Global Coordinator of the Major League Baseball Envoy Programme for the last twelve years.

Doyle takes over from Stephan Rapaglia, who led Team GB to the unprecedented achievements of a silver medal in the 2007 European Championships and a second-round showing in the 2009 IBAF Baseball World Cup.  Rapaglia is a tough act to follow, but he has every confidence that Doyle is the man to take the team forward.

“We are very fortunate to welcome Pat to the GB programme”, said Rapaglia. “Pat is an extremely well-respected coach with a wealth of high-level experience and, frankly, we couldn’t have hoped for a better fit”.

Doyle will now put together his assistant coaching staff for the European Championships, which takes place in Germany between 23 July and 1 August. 

The new GB management structure

His appointment is the second major addition to the GB management structure after Jason Greenberg became the new Great Britain Senior Baseball Team General Manager in March. 

These changes came about after both Rapaglia and former General Manager Alan Smith resigned from their posts earlier this year.  Thankfully their experience and dedication to the national team effort is not being lost, with Rapaglia serving as Performance Director and Smith being a Special Consultant. 

The new Great Britain Senior Baseball Team management structure only bodes well for the future of both the senior team and those involved in the GB Youth Programme. Doyle’s coaching experience at college and international level will ensure that he immediately commands the respect of his players and will give them every chance to fulfil their potential.

Meanwhile, his work as Global Coordinator of the Major League Baseball Envoy Programme, as part of which he is responsible for recruiting and facilitating a team of more than 30 MLB coaches working around the world for the betterment of grassroots baseball, means he is perfectly placed to carry on his predecessor’s efforts in helping the development of the next generation of Great Britain baseball players.

Further details about the appointment will be published here at BaseballGB in the near future.

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