A final decision on the shape of Co-ed Slowpitch National Championships for the coming season was made at the 2013 BSF AGM on Saturday, February 23 in Watford, ending several months of uncertainty. Members voted to keep the Premier Nationals separate from the Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze Nationals for one more year – though the BSF plans to combine them all in one weekend event in 2014 and beyond.
Other highlights at the AGM were approval of BSF requirements governing the use of under-18 players in adult teams, unchanged affiliation fees in 2013 (provided teams pay on time!) and the fact that all but two positions on the BSF Executive were filled by election or co-option.
Forty-nine people attended the AGM, representing 14 leagues and 26 clubs or teams. A total of 20 people were present at morning workshops on safeguarding and risk assessment presented by BSF Administrator Vicky Hall and BSUK Joint CEO Jenny Fromer.
Apologies were received from BSF Tournaments Officer Liz Graham, Youth and Schools Officer-elect Claire Waldron, Manchester Softball League Head Harry Somers, Bristol League Head Brett McIntyre and BSUK/BSF Softball Programmes Manager Stan Doney, who is at World Championships in New Zealand with the GB Men's Fastpitch Team.
Co-ed Nationals decision
Following the approval of Minutes from the 2012 AGM, the meeting got right down to the one contentious issue on the agenda – whether the BSF decision to merge all of the Co-ed Slowpitch National Championships into one weekend tournament should begin in 2013 or wait until 2014.
The discussion was based on a motion submitted to the AGM by former GB Slowpitch Team player and coach and long-time Slammers captain Bruce Saunders calling for all of the Co-ed Nationals to be combined in 2013.
A poll conducted by the BSF in November 2012 among League Heads and teams that participated in Co-ed Nationals last year had indicated a small majority in favour of doing this, but complications over dates had thrown the question back up in the air.
The discussion opened with a presentation by Bruce Saunders, whose work background is events management and delivery. Bruce had submitted a plan to the BSF Executive late in 2012 to make a combined Co-ed Slowpitch Nationals into the outstanding tournament event of the year.
“The Nationals have lost atmosphere and intensity in recent years,” Bruce said, “but the Nationals belong to all of us, and they should be the most competitive tournaments of the year that every team wants to play in and win.”
Bruce's plan, based around holding the combined Nationals at Farnham Park with the new dedicated pitches constructed by BSUK, included on-field features such as gazebos to create dugouts on every pitch, bat-racks in every dugout, official scorers for every game using GB youth team players and full fencing, backstops, bunting and Hollywood bases on every pitch, with all fields named after members of the BSF Hall of Fame.
Off the field, Bruce proposed to have high-quality catering with deli bikes to service every pitch, family BBQs on Saturday night, a tournament radio station broadcasting live from every pitch, portaloos for far-flung fields, opening and closing ceremonies and more.
The meeting was clearly receptive to this vision of what the Co-ed Nationals could be – but in the discussion that followed, it was equally clear that there was a majority in favour of Paradise postponed.
BSF BASU Representative Chris Moon said that BASU might struggle to provide enough umpires for a full combined event this year, and that the use of two-man systems for Premier Nationals games might have to go, but that BASU expected to have more qualified umpires in 2014.
Representatives from the Manchester Softball League, which would probably be most affected by a combined Nationals in terms of the number of players that would have to choose between playing for their weekend Premier team or mid-week league team, asked for one more year of status quo to prepare for the change.
When it came to the vote, 21 members voted to keep the Premier Nationals separate from the rest for one more year, nine voted to combine them this year and there were five abstentions.
So the 2013 Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze Nationals will be played on the weekend of August 10-11 and the 2013 Premier Nationals on the weekend of August 31-September, both at Farnham Park.
Bruce Saunders indicated that he would not be interested in delivering his plans to enhance the Nationals on the basis of a split event, but might still be willing to help; and the BSF has set aside money in the 2012-13 budget that should enable some improvements, if not the full vision that Bruce had presented.
President's Report
Reports from BSF President Stella Ackrell and BSF Tournaments Officers Liz Graham and Lesley Morisetti were included in the AGM Pack, which can still be downloaded from the BSF website.
There were no questions on either report, but Stella highlighted three items from her report: special thanks to Lesley Morisetti, who is stepping down from the BSF Executive, for her work over many years; the success of the GB Slowpitch Team tour to Holland in May 2012 (a first-ever slowpitch league is starting in Holland this year); and the efforts that Kate Page-Smith and the Birmingham Tourcats have made to initiate international recreational co-ed slowpitch competition across European borders.
National Team reports
Reports on the 2012 competition season were submitted for the GB Women's and Men's Fastpitch Teams, and for all of the age-group fastpitch teams: the GB Junior (Under-19) Women, the GB Cadette (Under-16) Girls and the GB Minime (Under-13) Girls plus the Under-13 Development Team, the London Cubs.
There were no questions on any of these reports, which can be found in the AGM Pack.
Finances
BSF Treasurer Mike Jennings took the meeting briefly through the 2011-12 BSF accounts and the projected budget for 2012-13 (the BSF financial year runs from October 1-September 30).
As has been the case at recent AGMs, the membership was happy with the Federation's finances and there was little discussion.
Mike emphasised that the BSF has healthy reserves and wants to spend its money for the good of the sport rather than have it sit in a bank, but the aim is always to end each year with at least £30,000 in reserve.
The BSF has three major areas of discretionary spending: marketing and events (including National Championships), development and support for GB national team programmes. The meeting agreed to approve the 2012-13 budget on the basis that £52,000 is currently allocated against those three spending areas but that the Executive is committed to trimming this to £45,000.
The job of doing so will be made easier by decisions made and discussions held at the ESF Congress on February 14-16 in Slovenia, which will allow the BSF to reduce budgeted commitments in some areas.
Elections
Roles on the BSF Executive have been slightly changed for 2013 to reflect current needs, and candidates were standing or re-standing for all positions except that of Welfare Officer and Membership Officer (both new positions for 2013) and General Officer (up to two can be elected).
The BSF is currently advertising to fill the position of Welfare Officer, since this is regarded as a key post from a governance point of view. The work of the Membership Officer, if no one can be co-oted to take this on, will be carried out by other members of the Executive.
New candidates included:
Fiona Thorley from the Oxford Softball League, standing for the position of Tournament Officer/Logistics vacated by Lesley Morisetti.
Claire Waldron from Manchester, who is not a current player but has a professional background in sports development, standing for the position of Youth & Schools Officer which was vacant last year.
Alan MacFarlane from the London Advertising League, standing for the new position of London Liaison Officer, a position that the BSF has established because the London Softball Federation closed down at the end of 2012.
All candidates were unopposed, and all were elected with 100% of the votes cast, which means that no votes were cast in any case for “None of the Above”.
At a BSF Executive meeting immediately following the AGM, Mark Munnery from the Cardiff Softball League, who had volunteered his services, was co-opted as a General Officer.
So the BSF Executive for 2013 currently looks like this:
President
Stella Ackrell
Administrator
Vicky Hall
Treasurer
Mike Jennings
Tournaments Officer/Logistics
Fiona Thorley
Tournaments Officer/Statistics & Administration
Liz Graham
National Teams Officer
Beth Perkins
Marketing & Communications Officer
Mark Wigington
Youth & Schools Officer
Claire Waldron
General Officer
Mark Munnery
BASU Representative (selected by BASU)
Chris Moon
Welfare Officer
This post is still to be filled
London Liaison Officer
Alan MacFarlane
All members of the Executive except for the Welfare Officer and London Liaison Officer are also Directors of the British Softball Federation Limited, a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee.
Motions to the AGM
There was only one motion to the AGM from the membership – the motion from Bruce Saunders that all of the Co-ed Slowpitch National Championships be combined in 2013. This motion that was discussed and then defeated in a vote at the beginning of the meeting.
There were two motions from the BSF Executive, neither of them involving Constitutional change.
The first motion concerned a series of recommendations that the BSF has drawn up to govern the use of youth players (18 and under) in adult fastpitch or slowpitch teams. These consist primarily of practical measures that should be taken to ensure that best practice is followed and monitored.
The meeting voted (with one abstention) to make these recommendations a minimum standard to be applied and enforced throughout British softball rather than simply voluntary guidelines. The full list of requirements will be available shortly as a download from the Documents section (under Resources) on the BSF website and will be announced in a website news story.
The second motion from the BSF Executive concerned affiliation fees for 2013.
The Executive proposed, and the meeting approved (with one abstention) that fees will remain the same in 2013 as in 2012 for all categories of membership. However, for adult co-ed slowpitch teams only (league or independent) paying full membership fees, the fees remaining the same will require payment by the deadline of June 1, 2013. For any teams that pay after that date, the fees will be £10 higher – an increase that the Executive will apply to all fees in 2014.
In addition, all late-payers, in whatever fee category, will face a late payment surcharge of £5 per team per week.
The full schedule of fees for 2013 can be found on Pages 30-31 in the AGM Pack.
Awards
Each year, the BSF gives out a number of award for the preceding season based on nominations from the membership.
For 2012, nominations were received for only four of the seven award categories, with no nominations for Adult Coach of the Year, Tournament Umpire of the Year and Tournament of the Year.
The following awards were made:
The Glover Cup
For outstanding and/or long-time service to softball
This award went to Lesley Morisetti, nominated by Manchester Softball League Head Harry Somers. Harry wrote:
“Anyone who plays softball in the UK will know of Lesley Morisetti as a key presence in the sport over many years. Actually, I have known her as a player since those pesky Scots kept coming to Manchester and winning our tournaments in the 00s, but of course Lesley has in more recent years been a major figure as an umpire and above all (with Liz Graham) as the organiser of BSF National Championships. As she steps down from this role, in which she and Liz brought a welcome professionalism to the BSF's highest levels of competition, it is high time her contribution was recognised. Lesley has also served as an active member of the BASU Committee and (again with Liz Graham) as a key organiser for the Edinburgh Softball League and the Edinburgh Festiball. In her playing days, she was selected as a member of the first-ever GB Slowpitch Team that played in European Championships, and was a stalwart on the Niners and other teams, including the Scotland team that plays at the World Series.”
The League Glover Cup
For the league demonstrating the highest development or competition achievements in the past year.
This award went to the Manchester Softball League, nominated by BSF Tournaments Officer Liz Graham, for their sterling and last-minute efforts to save and stage the 2012 BSF Single-Sex Nationals after the intended venue in Loughborough reported waterlogged grounds. A real community spirit and the help of many different individuals in Manchester ensured a successful event.
The President's Club Award
For the softball club or team demonstrating the highest development or competition achievements in the past year.
This award went to the Leicester Royals, nominated by the East Midlands League Committee. They wrote:
We nominate the Leicester Royals for their development success within their club and for the promotion of softball within Leicester – for which they were also nominated for a local sports award. The Leicester Royals also organise and run the East Midlands Labor Day Tournament, which has gone from being a one-day end-of-season local tournament to a full two-day national event. Last year the Labor Day Tournament became the first British tournament to run with an eco/green initiative, with coloured bins on each pitch which players could use to recycle paper, plastic, glass and other materials, and the tournament also set out to measure – and lower – its carbon footprint.
Youth Coach of the Year
This award went to former London Cubs and currently GB Under-16 Girls Head Coach Jeremy Thomas, nominated by Bob Fromer and GB Under-13 Head Coach Caroline Champion. Bob wrote:
Jeremy Thomas has been helpful to a number of GB youth programmes over the past few years, but he did an exceptional job under difficult circumstances last year to get a London Cubs team together and, as Head Coach, give those young players a rewarding experience at the ESF's Massimo Romeo Youth Cup, despite their inexperience. Jeremy is serious about coaching and the welfare of young players, and very conscientious in his approach to the game.
Any Other Business
Two items were raised under Any Other Business.
Chris MacLeod from the London Angels Fastpitch Team wanted to know whether the Diamond Softball Series might be run in future in such a way that profits made could come back into the sport. Should this possibility be explored, Chris volunteered to be part of a committee that might take this forward.
Dan Armstrong, President of the Greater London Softball Mixed League (GLSML), wanted to know if the BSF intended to bring back the League All-Star Nationals, since the tournament has been dropped for 2013. For the BSF, Lesley Morisetti replied that the Executive had this under discussion, and the tournament might be run every other year in future.
BSUK session
Earlier in the afternoon, there was a brief presentation from BaseballSoftballUK (BSUK), the development agency for baseball and softball, made by Joint CEO Jenny Fromer, BSUK Chair John Walmsley and new National Development Manager Will Lintern.
Jenny Fromer
Jenny spoke briefly about the Whole Sport Plan award recently made to BSUK by Sport England for the period 2013-17. With many sports receiving cuts in their allocations for the new Whole Sport Plan cycle, BSUK's small increase, to a total of £3 million, showed approval by Sport England for BSUK achievements in the 2009-13 cycle and confidence that the agency could continue to meet its targets over the next four years.
Included in the award is more money for facility development in 2013-17 and, for the first time, money to help both sports with talent development – helping talented and committed players to develop their skills to the point where they can challenge for national team selection.
But the bulk of the award will still require BSUK to focus on increasing adult participation in the sports, though Sport England's primary target group has now been widened from 16-25 to 14-25.
Despite the slight increase in funding, Jenny told the meeting that the award was less than BSUK had hoped for, and there will be things in the Whole Sport Plan that the agency will be unable to do.
John Walmsley
John Walmsley took over as BSUK Chair from Geof Ellingham about 16 months ago, and he is currently focusing on a structural review of both sports and the relationship between the Federations and BSUK.
“This has already led to a number of questions that the sports will need to answer,” John said. “Is a Development Agency and two National Governing Bodies the right structure to take the sports forward?
“Having a single organisation is one possibility,” John told the meeting, “but there are other alternatives. We will be continuing our review this year and the outcomes remain to be seen.”
Will Lintern
Will Lintern, formerly BSUK's Regional Development Manager in the Midlands, took on the role of National Development Manager just over a month ago.
Will's brief will be a wide one, taking in the development of clubs, coaching, competition, talent and facilities for both sports.
Some people, Will said, may not be fully aware of the difference between the role of BSUK and the Federations. Generally, the Federations' job is to manage the sports on a day-to-day basis, including membership, competitions and national teams. “As for BSUK,” Will said “in addition to our development responsibilities, we can exert influence to get things done.”
BSUK's approach to development, Will told the meeting, is essentially “club-centric”. This means that individual baseball clubs and softball leagues – but sometimes softball clubs as well – each have a “Point Person”, a member of BSUK's development staff who is a point of contact and who knows the club or league's situation and can provide support as needed.
The Point Person can help clubs or leagues made contact with local agencies such as County Sports Partnerships, who can help in a number of areas, and BSUK Point People can help clubs or leagues to access local or national grants.
“For example, there are Sport England grants available both for facility development and general development projects,” Will said, “and Sport England would welcome more applications from baseball and softball, which are currently under-represented in terms of awards. BSUK can help to endure that robust applications for such grants can be made, and clubs and leagues can get in touch with their Point Person if they are interested in applying for a Sport England Small Grant or an Inspired Facility award.”
Leagues represented at the AGM
Edinburgh, Oxford, Manchester, Greater London, Leeds, Birmingham, Central Scotland, Brighton and Hove, Cardiff, London Advertising League, Bristol, GB Fastpitch League, Windsor & Maidenhead and East Midlands.
Clubs or teams represented at the AGM
Solent Mariners, SPAM, Gordy's, Birmingham Bobcats, Thunder, Mavericks, Knights, Maniacs, Slammers, Raiders, Brewers, H2O, Lions, Dragons, Chromies, Mescalitos, Pioneers, Mi5, London Legends, Guerillas, Oddsox, Blue Steel, Chalfont, Leicester Royals, Greensox.