Nottingham Thieves

Nottingham Thieves
League
Location	Nottingham, UK
Ballpark	Thieves Stadium, Grove Farm
Year Founded	2006
Franchise History	Nottingham Thieves: 2006 - Present
Nickname(s)	Thieves
Former name(s)	None
Former ballparks	None
Colors	Dark Green & White
Mascot	Robin Hood
Current Season	5-2
Manager	Adam Brown

The Nottingham Thieves (or University of Nottingham Baseball Club) are the official representative baseball team of the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK. They are currently not affiliated to any organised league but play several friendly fixtures and compete in tournaments throughout the season. They are current holders of the "Drunken Cup", the trophy awarded to the winners of the UK inter-university baseball championship.

Team history

The idea for a University of Nottingham baseball club was originated by two students at the university, Adam Brown & Oli Ross. In 2006 the two met and discovered their shared love for the game, together they decided to establish a university baseball team. The drive to recruit players began with a poster campaign throughout the university, and soon a base of players was formed. The team became affiliated to the university's athletic union later in the year and was now recognised as an official university sports team.

The Thieves played their first competitive match against another official club on the 28th October 2006 away against the Southampton University Mustangs resulting in a 7 - 1 victory for the Thieves. The club's first official home game (at Grove Farm) was played on the 4th March 2007 against national club side, the Manchester Eagles. The game resulted in a 9 - 5 victory for the Thieves.

The club continues to grow, increasing popularity of the game throughout the university. The team represents itself at university fairs in a bid to increase membership. Many of the team's active players are foreign students studying at the university.

Team Name

The name "Thieves" was chosen for the team for two reasons. Firstly, it is to signify the city of Nottingham's connections with the legendary Robin Hood, famous for his attempts at stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Secondly, it is a tongue in cheek reference to the baseball practice of stealing bases.

Team Structure & Management

The club's day to day running is overseen by an elected committee. The committee is elected annually at the club's AGM (usually held in April). The current committee positions available at the club are: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Fixture Secretary, Social Secretary, Head Coach & Webmaster. It is the job of the committee to arrange all fixtures and practice sessions; to organise the logistics of road trips; to keep the club's finances in order and to arrange social events for the members of the club. The current committee was elected at the AGM on 22 March 2008 are as follows.

Position	Name
President	Aaron Crute
Vice-President	Oli Ross
Treasurer	Luke Gill
Fixture Secretary	Mark Warren
Social Secretary	Jeremy Hinds
Head Coach	Tatsuya Yogo
Webmaster	John Irving

Current Season

The Fall of 07 saw Nottingham travel down to Southampton to contest the National University Baseball Championship also known as the Drunken Cup. Despite difficult weather conditions, the Thieves managed to secure the cup for the first time, going unbeaten through the competition. The spring of 08 season begins in March, and a busy fixture list is being planned. Winter training will start in late January.

2006/2007 Season

The previous season (calculated from October 2006 - July 2007) saw the Thieves win 5, lose 3 and tie 1 game. The first games of the season were played at the Drunken Cup, a tournament organised by and held at the University of Southampton. The Thieves played 4 games, winning 3 and losing 1, finishing 2nd in the overall standings. A home win against Manchester Eagles followed, and then a tie against Southampton and defeat against Bournemouth. Upcoming games include a road trip to Oldham and home and away games against Durham University

Versus	Date	Result
Southampton Mustangs	28.10.2006	Thieves 7, Mustangs 2 Venue: Southampton University WP: A. Brown
Southampton B	28.10.2006	Thieves 12, Mustangs 2 Venue: Southampton University WP: T. Yogo
Surrey	29.10.2006	Thieves 17, Surrey 1 Venue: Southampton University WP: A. Peel
Southampton Mustangs	29.10.2006	Thieves 5, Mustangs 8 Venue: Southampton University LP: B. Reinhart
Manchester Torrent	4.3.2007	Torrent 5, Thieves 9 Venue: Grove Farm WP: A. Brown SV: F. Funes
Southampton Mustangs	17.3.2007	Thieves 14, Southampton 14 Venue: Southampton University
Bournemouth University	18.3.2007	Thieves 13, Bournemouth 14, Venue: Southampton University
University of East Anglia	4.5.2007	University of East Anglia 13, Thieves 9, Venue: Grove Farm LP: T. Yogo (2-2)
Oldham North Stars	02.06.2007	Thieves 45, Oldham North Stars 6 Venue: Oldham WP: Adam Brown HR: J. Irving 3(3), P. Cho 2(2), A. Brown 4(4)
University of Durham Bishops	09.06.2007	Durham Bishops 10, Thieves 31, Venue: Grove Farm WP: Adam Brown (4-0) HR: J. Irving (4), P. Cho (3), A. Brown 2(6)
Bristol	27.10.2007	Bristol 7, Thieves 8, Venue: Southampton WP: Adam Brown (1-0)
University of East Anglia	27.10.2007	UEA 2, Thieves 22, Venue: Southampton WP: Adam Peel (1-0)
Southampton Mustangs	28.10.2007	Mustangs 2, Thieves 3, Venue: Southampton WP: Tatsuya Yogo (1-0) SV: Jared Vermilya

Hall of Fame

--2008--

• John Irving
• Adam Peel—2009--
• Adam Brown
• Aaron Crute
• Tatsuya Yogo

Team Roster

Nottingham Thieves Roster Adam Brown 18 Tatsuya Yogo  9 George Lintern 24 Adam Peel 25 Peter Cho 53 Patrick Igoe 51 Shannon Henry Catchers  1 Masakazu Togashi 53 Patrick Igoe 25 Peter Cho											Infielders  2 Andy Hall  3 Adam Brown  9 Aaron Crute 10 Jeremy Hinds 18 Tatsuya Yogo 19 George Lintern 23 Jake Charron 24 Adam Peel 37 John Irving ?? Jae Kang Lee Outfielders  1 Masakazu Togashi 13 Ashley Raine 22 Rowan Ellis 42 Mark Warren 77 Simon Pougher 88 Philip Longdin ?? Kartik Krishnan ?? Luke Gill		Outfielders 17 Lynn Kozak 22 Khalil Rhazaoui  7 Samuel Garcia  4 Alex Locatelli  8 Oli Ross		Coaches  3 Adam Brown (head coach)  2 Andy Hall 18 Tatsuya Yogo 60-day disabled list Currently vacant Suspended list Currently vacant

External links

• Team Website [1]