One of local baseball team The Edinburgh Rays city-born players Christian Smolnik speaks about why he got into the sport more popular in the USA than Scotland and why he thinks more locals should join the team.
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00:00I headed along to a practice session of local co-ed community baseball team, the Edinburgh Rays.
00:08The club holds regular training sessions at Morgan Plainfields and Holyrood Park.
00:13I spoke to one of the team's Edinburgh-born players, 43-year-old engineer Christian Smolnick,
00:19who explained why he loves representing his city at baseball.
00:23I just like the community aspect of it and actually just getting out there, meeting new people,
00:27and basically trying new things.
00:29As I say, coming back from my football background, this was all new to me at the start of the year,
00:34and as I say, every week's just been a learning curve, so I've been really enjoying it.
00:38Cool. And you want to carry on in the sport?
00:41Yeah, yeah, as I say, I've been coming twice a week to train and getting better every single time.
00:47There's always progression and stuff to learn.
00:50The Rays were formed in 2022, initially as a travel team in their first year,
00:55and are affiliated with the North East Baseball League,
00:58a regional league formed in 2023 to promote baseball in Northern England and Southern Scotland.
01:05The Edinburgh Rays are also proud members of the British Baseball Federation.
01:10While the Edinburgh Rays are a relatively new addition to the Scottish baseball scene,
01:15they are part of a broader baseball tradition in the city,
01:17with Edinburgh's baseball history dating back to at least 1986 when the Edinburgh Royals were established.
01:25And Christian would like to see more Edinburghers join the team.
01:28Do you know what, if you're just looking for something a bit different, out of the ordinary,
01:34and you want a bit of meeting up, a bit of community spirit, it's a great sport.
01:38Especially when the weather's with you.
01:41For more information about the Edinburgh Rays, including training schedules and how to get involved,
01:46visit their official website, edinburghbaseballclub.co.uk