Farnham Park ‘Renamed’ for Weekend to Honour Volunteers
Fri 18 Dec 2020
This week, iconic sports venues and stadiums across the United Kingdom have been temporarily renamed to honour those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty during lockdown. Supported by The National Lottery, sites such as The Kia Oval, Twickenham Stadium and The Geraint Thomas Velodrome have all seen 24-hour name changes, highlighting local heroes.
Inspired by their example, BaseballSoftballUK (BSUK) is proud to announce that the UK’s only dedicated baseball and softball facility at Farnham Park in Buckinghamshire has been renamed the Warner Konsap Eddyvean Baseball & Softball Complex for the weekend to recognise the amazing work of volunteers Liz Warner, Mikki Konsap and John "Eddy" Eddyvean, who stood out amongst the crowd thanks to their dedication and willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty.
Liz, Mikki and John, all members of the local Windsor and Maidenhead Softball League, performed many tasks around the facility, ranging from field maintenance to helping make the site COVID secure. All three spent countless hours at the Facility over the summer, and their help was vital in enabling BSUK to keep the site open as often as possible and welcome small groups of players, under the restrictions.
Liz said, “What a year to give back! I had no work, so I decided to spend my time volunteering at Farnham Park rather than staying at home. There was nothing more rewarding than giving back to the softball community that has given me so much over the years.”
Eddy added, “I was happy to help out and make a difference to the sport I love. I was out of work for most of the summer and being out, being around friends and helping out at Farnham Park gave me a lot of enjoyment.”
Samuel Haslam, BaseballSoftballUK’s Events & Facilities Manager, was effusive in his praise of the volunteers.
“A lot of work is required to maintain the grounds of our 19-acre facility. Due to national restrictions, we thought we had to initially scale down our operations; however, thanks to Liz, Mikki, and John, and all our other volunteers from the local area, we were able to keep the park open and well-maintained!
“There were many others that volunteered during the season and we are also very thankful for their assistance. I would like to extend our thanks to Mario Rosenmayer, Julie Spittle, Fred Pintaldi, Aaron Joyce and many others from our Friends of Farnham Park group.”
The Warner Konsap Eddyvean Baseball & Softball Complex will retain its name throughout the weekend.
BaseballSoftballUK, like many grassroots sports across the UK, is proud to be supported by the National Lottery through funding received from Sport England, including funding distributed to both the GB National Baseball and Softball programmes. For more information on baseball and softball in the UK, or to get in the game, click here.
