Capital baseball team The Edinburgh Rays

Edinburgh Evening News

One of local baseball team The Edinburgh Rays city-born players Christian Smolnik speaks about why he got into the sport more popular in the USA than Scotland and why he thinks more locals should join the team.

Transcript

00:00I headed along to a practice session of local co-ed community baseball team, the Edinburgh Rays.

00:08The club holds regular training sessions at Morgan Plainfields and Holyrood Park.

00:13I spoke to one of the team's Edinburgh-born players, 43-year-old engineer Christian Smolnick,

00:19who explained why he loves representing his city at baseball.

00:23I just like the community aspect of it and actually just getting out there, meeting new people,

00:27and basically trying new things.

00:29As I say, coming back from my football background, this was all new to me at the start of the year,

00:34and as I say, every week's just been a learning curve, so I've been really enjoying it.

00:38Cool. And you want to carry on in the sport?

00:41Yeah, yeah, as I say, I've been coming twice a week to train and getting better every single time.

00:47There's always progression and stuff to learn.

00:50The Rays were formed in 2022, initially as a travel team in their first year,

00:55and are affiliated with the North East Baseball League,

00:58a regional league formed in 2023 to promote baseball in Northern England and Southern Scotland.

01:05The Edinburgh Rays are also proud members of the British Baseball Federation.

01:10While the Edinburgh Rays are a relatively new addition to the Scottish baseball scene,

01:15they are part of a broader baseball tradition in the city,

01:17with Edinburgh's baseball history dating back to at least 1986 when the Edinburgh Royals were established.

01:25And Christian would like to see more Edinburghers join the team.

01:28Do you know what, if you're just looking for something a bit different, out of the ordinary,

01:34and you want a bit of meeting up, a bit of community spirit, it's a great sport.

01:38Especially when the weather's with you.

01:41For more information about the Edinburgh Rays, including training schedules and how to get involved,

01:46visit their official website, edinburghbaseballclub.co.uk

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