Great Britain's women's softball team will play two exhibition matches against US professionals Oklahoma City Spark in July ©britishsoftball.org

Great Britain’s women’s softball players will take on the professional Oklahoma City Spark team boasting some of the world’s leading players in a free two-game exhibition series this summer.

The Royal Spark Challenge is due to take place at the National Baseball & Softball Complex at Farnham Park in Buckinghamshire on July 6 and 7 and will mark the first time a professional softball team has played in Britain.

The event is part of the British preparations for their World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) World Softball Cup Group A matches in Ireland later in July.

The Oklahoma City Spark are part of Women's Professional Fastpitch (WPF) in the United States and will be competing in their inaugural season in 2023.

The team’s roster features some of the best players in fastpitch softball - the format used in the Olympics - including USA Softball’s Jocelyn Alo, Keilani Ricketts and Michelle Moultrie. 

The traveling roster for the Spark will be announced closer to the series.

Great Britain's women softball players will prepare for their WBSC World Cup Group A qualifying matches in July with two exhibition games at Farnham Park against top US professionals Oklahoma City Spark ©Getty Images
Great Britain's women softball players will prepare for their WBSC World Cup Group A qualifying matches in July with two exhibition games at Farnham Park against top US professionals Oklahoma City Spark ©Getty Images

The exhibition series will be a part of preparations by the Great Britain Women’s Team

Great Britain are scheduled to play Group A qualifying matches in the WBSC Softball World Cup at Balbriggan, County Dublin in Ireland, from July 11 to 16, taking part in the opening match Australia.

Groups B and C will be played later in July in Spain and Italy as 18 of the top softball countries in the world compete for eight places in next year’s WBSC Women’s World Cup Final.

The full Great Britain roster will be announced in June following trials, and further details about their training camp and preparations for Ireland will be announced shortly.

Both games against the Oklahoma City Spark will start at 6.30pm.

Commenting on the Series, the GB women’s team head coach Tara Henry said: "To beat the best, you have to prepare against the best.

"The Royal Spark Challenge gives us that opportunity and is just the beginning of a long-term partnership between Great Britain Softball and Oklahoma City Spark

"In preparation for the 2023 Softball World Cup, we could not think of a better training partner to prepare our squad to compete against some of the best teams in the world.

"We can’t thank the OKC Spark enough for making the journey over to Great Britain to further grow and develop the sport of softball, not only in the United Kingdom but in Europe and across the rest of the world."

Leading players such as Jocelyn Alo could be on show for Oklahoma City Spark when they play two exhibition matches against the British women's softball team on July 6 and 7 ©Getty Images
Leading players such as Jocelyn Alo could be on show for Oklahoma City Spark when they play two exhibition matches against the British women's softball team on July 6 and 7 ©Getty Images

Tina Floyd, owner and general manager of the Spark, said, "To get the opportunity to play Team Great Britain is so exciting for the Spark and our entire organisation.

"We feel confident that we will bring great competition with us when we head overseas.

"We are thrilled to get to showcase the talent of our team on an international platform."

In addition to the exhibition games, the Spark and Great Britain players will run a free fastpitch softball clinic at Farnham Park.