Paul Stodart goes global with GB baseball

“Before every tournament starts, we have a closed-door meeting and go around the room asking, ‘what does it mean to play for Great Britain?’ No cameras, nothing’s recorded. And that session always brings the team together.” In the room are the players of Great Britain baseball and all the operations people who support them. One of whom is Paul Stodart, our Senior Manager for European Web Development & Content, a Brit who is now based at our Amstelveen office in the Netherlands.

They say that having children changes your life and, of course, it does. But it was Paul’s son who introduced him to a passion that has taken him around the world, using his camera to document the emotional rollercoaster of baseball at the closest possible quarters. “My introduction to Great Britain baseball came when one of my sons played for them as a teenager,” he explains. “Netherlands are the top team in Europe, so the facilities and coaching here are really good.” By the time his son was 15, the pair were travelling to Britain every month to join training sessions and tournaments. “He eventually moved onto other things, but by then I was already supporting with the European championships on the operations side, as well as photographing the team.”

If you think ‘operations’ is just a fancy way to say, ‘a bit of admin’, then brace yourself. A Canon veteran, with 30 years in the business under his belt, to call Paul’s role ‘challenging’ would be something of an understatement. He manages the systems that help to create all of our websites across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. And the volunteer work he undertakes for GB Baseball is like a whole added day job.

A world of tasks are required to prepare for a tournament and, most recently, this has been the World Baseball Classic, which saw the team playing against the USA, among others, in a sold out 40,000 seater stadium. “It's the biggest tournament we've ever played. Massive,” he says, like he can’t quite believe it himself. “Our team has players from the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and other Major League teams. These guys are amongst the best in the world.”

For Paul, this meant a level of organisation that would make even the best of us sweat at the thought and chartering a plane for everyone involved was the least of it. He made sure that everyone attending – around a hundred players, coaches, support staff and family members – all had a place on the plane, visas and hotels to head to when they arrived. He prepared practice facilities, making sure everything the team needed was ready for them on arrival. “Uniforms, training gear, bats and balls had to be arranged and delivered to the right place at the right time, he adds. “I’m Travel Manager before we go and then Equipment Manager when we arrive.” That even means cleaning players boots and sorting out the laundry each day!

Even though he has more time on his hands now his three boys are in their twenties, he still likes to make sure there is balance in his annual leave. This time, for example, he planned his trip to include a well-earned break, leaving before the rest of the team to take a tour round the Grand Canyon. “I’ve done so many of these trips, but I like to be a tourist too,” he says. “Plus, I now find arranging my own summer holidays really easy, because it's just two or three people and not a hundred!” He has two further trips planned for this year – both with GB baseball – one to Nicaragua with the Under 23 team, followed by a trip to China with the men’s team.

Everything he does is for the love of the sport, which becomes crystal clear when he starts to talk about his third role – that of team photographer. As an insider, he sees the things others do not and is close enough to every GB baseball team (women’s, men’s, youth and blind) that each photograph has the magic of the natural. “The ones people remember aren't typical action photography,” he says. "Lots of people can get those, but they can't be in the dressing room or there when the team are boarding the plane – those are the ones that are unique to an official team photographer.”

Because, while his images have been featured on the BBC and used by Major League Baseball, with all the prestige that carries, it’s the comments from players and their families which make Paul’s work worthwhile. “That's what brings me a lot of joy – to be able to capture memories for them and when they use them on their social media with pride.” He’s been volunteering for GB baseball now for over a decade, so when everyone sits in the room ahead of tournaments – hearts on sleeves – there is a sense of real trust. A feeling of family. “Volunteering has meant I’ve been to amazing places and worked with amazing people,” he smiles.” “It’s just great.”