Finding a Team Mascot

Number 1

Number 2


Number 3


In the couple of tournaments that we have taken part in so far, there has been a feeling amongst many of the team members that something has been missing. We have the softball equipment (including a new voodoo green team bat), we definitely have the team spirit, and since the GB Open we even have our spanking new team shirts (thanks Resh :-) ). The one thing that we have been missing (apart from the sacrificial chicken, but hey that's another story!) is our very own team voodoo doll as a team mascot!

So here is a quick survey of what is available online:

No. 1= High on the scary scale (it's face reminds me of the Batman villain Scarecrow) and due to it's woolen construction it's probably pretty easy to impale with a stick. Possible downside? With it's own hanging loop it looks like it might be tempting to hang it up on a car rear view mirror (instead of furry dice?!), which could get a bit distracting for team members who are driving to tournaments.

N0.2= Low on the scary scale, it in fact looks more like a Japanese Manga cushion cover. It definitely does gain plus points for being nearer to the Voodoo green we have for our team colour.

No.3= Highest of the three on the scary scale, due to fact that one can impale it with multiple knives all at once! However, there's no getting away from the fact that it's clearly designed for kitchen use, and it may be a bit excessive (and possibly illegal) to take that many knives to a softball tournament.

Perhaps we can have a team vote on what one to get as a team mascot (or if anyone else can find a better one, I'm open to suggestions)

Sonic Boom Nickname

I chose the Voodoo name 'Sonic Boom', due to my love of running around the bases in a speedy manner (although those of you who saw me at Indoor this winter may argue it's sometimes more Forest Gump style!). I got the inspiration from reading about a US Air Force jet, RF 101 C, nicknamed the Voodoo. At a spare moment at the library last week, I looked into the plane's history a little deeper and it turns out that it flew in the UK, at the RAF Upper Heyford base (in Oxfordshire). The base had its own crack, fast-pitch softball team, called the Upper Heyford Skykings. The players even had the holy grail of UK softball, a proper dirt infield. Lucky them.
Match report from 70's

Voodoo's 3rd/4th @ GB Slowpitch Open

Seth Batting against Retro's


Jen Pitching against Thunder


Sonic Boom Taking Off after a hit


Baron Samedi said:

There were celebrations and smiley faces all round on Saturday 19 May, when the Voodoos notched up their best result so far this year, a fantastic third place in the C-grade Trophy at the GB Open tournament in Chiswick.

The team had a rocky start to the day when their first game against Raiders Gold did not quite go according to plan, with players missing and confusion and chaos reigning on the pitch. Even the sudden appearance of the long-awaited Voodoos shirts, which were hand-stitched by Haitian high priestesses and infused with magical secretions, failed to improve the game situation, although everyone looked much more attractive in the stylish lime green and white T-shirts. The game ended in a loss for the Voodoos, although there were many moments of outstanding play, such as Amy’s catches in left field and, er, some good hits and stuff.

The Voodoos’ next game was against the friendly Finsbury Dazzlers. Sneaky Agwe (a former Dazzler) was full of useful insider information on the team and individual players. The Voodoos batted and fielded well, and Camille made a spectacular tag at home plate to secure victory by one run for the team.

The final round robin game was against the unpredictable Common People. The Voodoos were ahead for much of the game, but the Peeps managed to hang in there and the game finished even stevens with a draw. The Voodoos finished second overall in their group.

On to the next round, and the Voods were up against the Retros, who to everyone’s surprise had resurrected themselves for the purposes of this tournament, and had hired two GB players to bolster their threadbare squad. Meanwhile, Voodoo shortstop Sonic Boom proved he was one of the greatest shortstops in the tournament with some fantastic plays. In the battle of the Greens v the Oranges, the Greens emerged to fight another day. It was a crucial game but the Voods were up to the task and played their most successful game of the day. The Retros’ fielding efforts were no match for the Voodoos’ batting power, and the team batted round the order, scoring at least nine runs or something in one innings alone. The game ended with the Voodoos thrashing the Retros by five runs.

While the Retros walked off in despair and disarray, the Voodoos threw themselves into the Trophy semi-final against the mighty Clapham Thunder with gusto, although by that time they were one man down and had to play six women and four men. Pitcher Jen stepped up to the challenge and performed brilliantly. Alas, the excellent Thunderers eventually emerged from the battle victorious, although their nerve was shaken and they were bruised and battered from their encounter with such supernatural softballers.

That marked the end of the Voodoos’ day of softball, but they were happy with their performance and performed their customary ritual dance and chant (“I DO believe in Voodoo – I DO! – I DO!”) to thank the ancient Vodou deities for watching over them and helping them reach such dizzying heights of success. Thankfully the traditional Voodoo ritual of sacrificing the weakest player was deemed to be unnecessary on this occasion and the team went to the pub instead.

Seth said:

We arrived in Chiswick, killed some chickens and came third! We started in complete disarray with 9 players and lost to Raiders Gold, beat the Dazzlers 9-8, drew with the Common People, coming second in the group. We didn’t even need to use our ‘buy-back plays’ (too complicated to explain!). We beat the Retros in the qualifier by 5 runs (despite them playing 2 GB players!!!), much to Baron Samedi's delight, and finally lost to the Thunder in the semi.

So third place overall was a great improvement on Slough. Highlights were Camille tagging out the runner trying to score the tying run at home to get the third out, and end the game against the Dazzlers, Tee Hee and Jen pitching in the wind and changing balls, and Witch Doctor delivering the shirts.

Big thanks to Witch Doctor for getting and carrying the shirts and to Tee Hee, Witch Doctor, Mike, Mojo for lifts

Tee Hee said:

Apart from the first game, we put in a great performance at the GB Open. We just needed to get there on time and it would have been even better!

Agwe said:

We can’t really say we came third! There are two semi finals so there is a loser from the other semi and we should play them to see who came third – we were either third or fourth! - if being technical.

Mike said (after seeing himself in the team photo):

Hat hair! I need a haircut.

Miss Loco said:

I hope everyone enjoyed Chiswick on Saturday as much as I did, and can't wait for the next tournament. Big thanks to Witch Doctor for the best t-shirts ever, Sonic Boom for sending the pics and Seth for organising everything.

Voodoo's @ Diamond Tournament Series 1

Seth said:

Fellow Voodoo’s

We came we played we got wet. Very wet. For those that missed it the Voodoo’s time in the diamonds tournament was spent getting very damp especially on the Sunday. So wet that the last game was called off!!!

Overall we had some good moments mainly Res and Kristina keeping everyone sprits high during the rain and mud. A very strange triple play V the Lions, Luis hitting several home runs at ease, Jen getting a home run with her first at bat for the team and many other exciting moments. However the Voodoos gods decided that didn’t like us and for some reason we couldn’t seem to win a game - with the best result a draw V Raiders. Next time must remember to sacrifice some chickens.

Big thanks to Res, Mike, Stu, Lance, Gavin for the lifts

Tee Hee said:

Bad weather, bad results….but not a bad performance! Very unlucky not to beat Raiders Blue, ran the Dirty Dozen close and should have beaten Raiders Gold. If we can iron out those little errors then we’ll start to win some games. Our batting was good – Mike learned a new technique, Selma developed ‘cataracts’ and Morag made it home! Selma tried to catch the ball with her mouth and Seth tried to crawl (through a pitcher’s legs) to first base…some of the ‘comedy’ moments of the weekend.

As Sonic Boom says, let’s hope for better weather next Saturday – we’ll be looking good in our new kit and Resh, don’t forget the chicken! I’ve been told it’s a fun tournament so the memory of Slough will be long forgotten!

Mojo said:

I did not enjoy the Softball
I did enjoy the people, and we still had some fun

Sonic Boom said:

A hearty thanks to our pitchers over the weekend who had to put up with swirling winds and varying degrees of rain. Well done for hanging in there, in very tough conditions.

Guest Voodoo Tania said:

Hi all,
Just wanted to say thank you for allowing me to play. I had a great weekend. Pity about the rain on Sunday. Anyway, thanks and hope to see you on the diamond again soon.