Our focus is FUN, participation, and learning the game
Aimed at players aged 6-14, Edinburgh Giants is the Juniors programme of Edinburgh Baseball Club. We are always delighted to welcome new players, no matter their prior level of baseball experience.
Weekly sessions (combining baseball training and practice games) take place Sundays from April to September, at Warriston Playing Fields (just off Warriston Crescent, EH3 5LB).
To get involved, or for more information, please contact our Juniors Coach, Scott Hames, at edinburghgiants@gmail.com
As part of Edinburgh Baseball Club, Giants Youth Baseball is affiliated to BaseballSoftball UK, and follows its Safeguarding Policies and Procedures. This means that our volunteer coaches are subject to vetting and police checks (under the Scottish PVG system), and must undertake relevant safeguarding training which is also completed by club safeguarding officers.
Edinburgh Juniors Club History
Baseball has been played in Scotland since 1870, though its modern roots in Edinburgh date from the 1930s, influenced by the presence of US Air Force bases in the local area. Junior teams have been part of the picture since 1991, thanks to the work of volunteer coaches such as Gordon ‘Wolfie’ Dean and Nick Clark, two pioneers of Scottish youth baseball.
Upper: Gordon ‘Wolfie’ Dean, still to be found umpiring at Warriston;, Nick Clark demonstrating his swing
Lower: the first Edinburgh (and Scotland) junior team to play in a UK competition, circa 2004
Dean ran youth teams and leagues in Edinburgh and Fife throughout the 1990s, sparking two generations of Scottish baseball. Clark was aged 17 when he established a Junior team in Edinburgh in 1991 at the Jack Kane Centre in eastern Edinburgh; in 2024 he became the first Scot inducted into the British Baseball Hall of Fame, honouring his long commitment to growing the game. Since 2010, coaches Rit Zbikowski and Neil Wardrope have kept the pipeline of baseball talent flowing, with many players progressing through the ranks from Edinburgh Juniors to representing Scotland in international competition.
Coaches Zbikowski, Clark and Edinburgh Junior ‘graduates’ playing for the Scottish national team
Edinburgh Juniors teams have also competed under the names of the Blue Jays, Braves, Dodgers, Cardinals, Ospreys and Marlins. Introducing the game to younger players is key to the sport’s growth and development. From grassroots fun to elite competition, ‘home grown’ players are vital to the future of baseball in Scotland and the UK.