Griff Brings the United Arab Emirates Vibe to Manchester
Cover photo: Emirates Softball League
From Bases Loaded 30.13.
On a brief visit to Manchester from their home in Dubai are our dear friends Mark “Griff” Griffin and Jo. Griff and Jo are well settled in Dubai, and particularly active in the Dubai softball scene, where the season has just finished. Griff tells Bases Loaded something about the set up there.
“We have two main seasons during the year, a Spring (February to May) and Fall season (September to December). The past few years we have started a Summer Scramble, similar in set up to Alex Hall where players enter as individuals and teams are formed from those entered. We have year-round outdoor softball which is a nice bonus.
Myself and Jo are part of the Emirates Softball League (ESL) Committee. Jo is in charge of the newly formed women’s league which is trying to train up a lot of players who are brand new to softball and hopefully get them to then take part in our co-ed league on a Friday evening. We managed to get the league rules changed to a minimum of three female players on each team, up from two which was the rule from its inception. My involvement is pretty much everything else: I do registration, fixtures, putting new players in touch with teams, organising umpires and was the tournament controller for the recent MESC tournament that took place in May.
“As it is quite a compact league the standard is very mixed. In the top co-ed league you have a mix of players that could easily hold their own on any MSL Div 1 team, but also on there will be players that would be at a Div 4 level.”
As for our teams, we play on the same co-ed team on a Friday called Falcons. It was the team I joined when I first moved to Dubai. The captain returned to Germany after two seasons and as I had plenty of experience the rest of the team decided I should be the new captain. I have been captain ever since. In that time we have been promoted to the Mixed A league from Mixed B and so far have managed one league title win. There is also a competitive single-sex league on a Monday evening in which I also play for a Falcons team and the spring season just gone was our first time winning the playoffs. The women’s league also takes place on a Monday evening.
As it is quite a compact league the standard is very mixed. In the top co-ed league you have a mix of players that could easily hold their own on any MSL Div 1 team, but also on there will be players that would be at a Div 4 level. The Monday competitive is of a higher standard as it is taken a little more seriously so you find some of those who are just Rec players prefer to keep to Fridays. The main drawback for our Monday league is that we play on a baseball field and, due to the owners wanting to protect the grass, we play with 90ft bases, ensuring plenty of low-scoring games.
We are both trying to bring over influences from our experience playing in Manchester. The Alex Hall style registration for the summer league is one idea we brought across. The MESC (Middle East Softball Championship)tournament will be including a Rec division in future years to make it more inclusive tournament for all players in the UAE.
We are both dedicated to getting the women’s league up and running to be able to run with a full league schedule and at least four full teams taking part. Then those players will have the opportunity to play in the co-ed league. Like in the UK, all of our friends come from the softball community that we have met while playing and are from Asia, North and South America, Europe, Africa and Australia, getting most of the continents covered. I also started playing in the Abu Dhabi softball league this past Spring, meaning I got an extra night of playing softball on a Thursday, just an hour’s drive away, but I do suffer when we have a 10pm game.”
