An Ulverston paramedic is gearing up to represent Great Britain on the global stage this summer and is appealing for support to get there.
Bethany Casson, 24, has been selected as centre fielder for the Great Britain Women’s Senior Baseball Team.
She will compete in the prestigious WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup Qualifiers in Tainan, Taiwan next month, where Team GB will face global powerhouses including Japan, Cuba, and Venezuela.
Balancing her demanding role as a frontline paramedic with the North West Ambulance Service in Barrow and South Lakeland, alongside studying for a Master’s degree in mountain medicine, Bethany’s achievement is particularly remarkable given Cumbria’s total lack of baseball infrastructure.
With no active baseball teams or batting cages in the county, she sharpens her swing in local cricket nets on weeknights.
On weekends, she faces a self-funded commute out of the county to train with elite regional clubs in Liverpool and Manchester.
“As a working paramedic and Master’s student, I am balancing training, work, and study alongside elite international sport,” Bethany said. “Any donation, no matter how small, makes a huge difference.”
Despite securing Great Britain’s first-ever European Championship title last summer to qualify, women’s baseball in the UK remains entirely amateur.
Bethany must self-fund £5,300 to cover flights, accommodation, and training camps.
Her ambulance trust colleagues in Ulverston and Barrow are supporting her with flexible shift scheduling, while Bethany uses hiking in the fells and paddle-boarding to unwind.
She said she hoped her journey inspired other Cumbrian girls to try the sport.
She said: “The path from a Cumbrian beck to a stadium in Boston or Taiwan is entirely possible.”
To support Bethany’s World Cup journey, donations can be made via her GoFundMe page.
