Billy Parsons prepares for European season with Hluboka Baseball Club

The 21-year-old had originally planned to play in a German league during 2021, but after COVID uncertainty surrounded the season, he switched and signed to play with Czech team Sokol Hluboka.

"It wasn't too tough to decide with the uncertainty on whether the German season was going ahead this year," Parsons said.

"Hluboka were so forward with everything which made the process very easy."

Parsons arrived in the country last week after a monster journey all the way from Bendigo and has wasted no time in getting acquainted with his new team.

"I landed Thursday afternoon in Prague and we had our first training the next day where I met all the guys," he said.

"Luckily I was able to get over the jet lag quickly."

Parsons heads into the 2021 summer season with Hluboka on the back of a big year back home in Australia which saw the pitcher play in the Australian Baseball League with the Canberra Cavalry, in addition to playing with the Sunshine Eagles in the Victorian competition.

The experience came at the perfect time and has given Parsons plenty of confidence to continue developing his skills.

"There's a lot of things I learnt from the veteran guys at Canberra that I will definitely exercise this season whether it be warm-up drills or changing things mechanically," he said.

Upon arrival in the Czech Republic Parsons wasn't too certain of what to expect in terms of game-play, but in just a short time he's more than impressed with what he has seen of the European players.

"The dudes here that I've seen are pretty good, we've got some national squad guys on our team who have been very impressive," he said.

"We've also got myself and two other imports so I'm excited to see what the competition is like here."

Joining Parsons as another of the team's imports is New Zealander Jimmy Boyce who last year also played with the Cavs in the ABL.

The season in Europe starts next month and all that's left for Parsons to do is continue with his top-form from recent years, allowing him to take that next step closer to his ultimate goal.

"I would definitely like a chance to one day play in the United States," he said.

Meanwhile, back here in central Victoria the Bendigo Baseball Association is preparing to launch its 2021 senior and juniors season which begin in the coming weeks.

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