The British Softball Federation Executive held its annual face-to-face meeting in London over the weekend of 15-16 October. Below is a journalistic account of the main discussions and decisions.
Attendance
Present: Stella Ackrell (President), Laura Burkhardt (Treasurer), Lesley Morisetti (Administrator), Jana McCaskill (National Teams Officer), Steve Getraer (General Officer), Mike Jennings (General Officer), Chris Moon (BASU Representative.
Apologies: Liz Graham (Tournaments Officer).
Guests: Bob Fromer (BSUK), Simon Wareing (BSF Representative on BSUK Board).
Structural Review​
The Executive spent the first part of the meeting on Saturday 15 October talking about the potential merger of the BSF, BBF and BSUK into one organisation, as recommended following the Structural Review that has been looking at arrangements among the three organisations over the past two years.
Should the merger go ahead, the new organisation would in some ways resemble the World Baseball Softball Confederation, the recently-formed international governing body for the two sports, where members of baseball and softball “Commissions” look after sport-specific activities. In the case of the BSF, a Softball Commission would primarily look after domestic league and tournament competition, National Championships and national teams.
Softball would also have two Directors representing its interests on what would be an eight-person Board, the same proportion it currently has on the 12-person BSUK Board.
The BSF Executive is behind the merger concept, and is likely to recommend it to members at the 2017 BSF AGM, which will probably be held on Saturday 25 February at a location to be determined in London or the South East. The Executive hopes that the merger can realise efficiencies in governance for the sports, and some economies of scale.
Should the merger go ahead, the new single organisation would not become operational until 1 April 2017 at the earliest, so the new BSF Executive elected in February will be in place at least until April, after which the need for some positions will diminish while others will carry on as part of the Softball Commission.
Should the merger not go ahead, because the membership of either or both Federations votes it down, then the officers elected at the AGM will remain in place to run the still-existing British Softball Federation.
However, as BSF General Officer Mike Jennings noted, even if the merger does not go ahead, there will need to be a new way of working with the BBF and BSUK; the status quo is not an option.
Mike also noted that for the BSF Executive to support the proposal at the BSF AGM, some details will still need to be ironed out, and an assurance given that sufficient funds will be ring-fenced so that the Softball Commission can carry out its functions.
In addition to the Baseball and Softball Commissions, should the merger go ahead, there will also be a Congress, made up of interested volunteers from both sports, that will act as an advisory body to the Board of the new organisation.
Finances
Although accounts are not yet complete for the BSF’s most recent financial year, which ended on 30 September 2016, indications are that there will be a small operating surplus for the year.
The BSF maintains reserves of at least 75% of its annual income, but reserves will be higher than that going into 2016-17, so there will be some flexibility available next year for discretionary spending, mainly on competitions, national teams and development.
Accounts and a proposed budget for 2016-17 will be included in the AGM Pack and will be open for discussion at the AGM.
BSF AGM
British Softball Federation President Stella Ackrell will not be re-standing at the 2017 BSF AGM, and the BSF will seek applications for the position.
Applications will also be welcome for all other positions on the BSF Executive, but at least some of the current holders of these positions will be re-standing.
The BSF will increase the minimum term for all positions to two years, with a maximum term limit of six years (three two-year periods in office).
If plans to merge the Federations and BSUK into one organisation go ahead (this will be voted on by BSF members at the AGM in February), some of the positions on the BSF Executive will become redundant once the new organisation becomes operational (indicated in the list below). Other positions will continue within a new Softball Commission that will remain in direct charge of areas such as domestic and national competition and national teams.
The new BSF President elected in February will, if merger goes ahead, become the Chair of the Softball Commission and will also sit as a Director representing softball on the Board of the new single organisation. One other Director representing softball will also serve on the new organisation’s Board.
The following positions on the BSF Executive will be open for election in February. Positions that are or will be vacant at the time of the election are indicated, and those marked with an asterisk (*) are likely to become redundant if the merger goes ahead. Only the first five positions listed are Directors of BSF Ltd.
President (vacant)
Treasurer*
Administrator (vacant)
Competitions Officer
National Teams Officer
Technical Officer (appointed by BASU)
London Liaison Officer
General Officer
General Officer*
Anyone standing for the position of BSF President will be expected to have previous experience of softball administration at league level or in other softball capacities, and will need to submit a personal and softball CV at the time of application. Other positions on the Executive will require evidence of relevant skills.
National Softball League
BSF Tournaments Officer Liz Graham was unable to attend the meeting, but Lesley Morisetti reported on her behalf that all 12 places in both NSL 1 and NSL 2 appear to be filled for next season (with a further team on the waiting list for NSL 2). So the two leagues will operate in parallel next year, playing home-and-away fixtures on three tournament dates, with the top eight teams from each league qualifying for Premier and Platinum Nationals respectively.
Manchester Dodgers, who won NSL 2 this past season, have been promoted to NSL 1, and LNZ are the team that will be relegated to NSL 2.
National Championships
The BSF is proposing a new system for Co-ed National Championships in 2017.
In 2016, all grades, including the Premier Nationals, were played at the same venue on the same day. In 2017, the BSF is proposing to have “League Co-ed Slowpitch Nationals” – for all grades under Premier and Platinum – on the weekend of 12-13 August at Farnham Park. It’s not yet clear how many grades of play this may involve when competitions separate out after round-robins on Saturday.
The Premier Nationals for NSL 1 teams and the Platinum Nationals for NSL 2 teams will be played concurrently at Farnham Park on the weekend of 2-3 September. There is a possibility that this event will take place alongside baseball National Championships, but this is not yet confirmed.
Among other advantages, moving the “NSL Nationals” to early September will avoid conflicts with female fastpitch teams wanting to play in European Cup competitions.
One idea that the BSF is considering is to invite teams or All-Star teams from developing leagues such as the London Charities League or Architects League to play an exhibition game or two at the Nationals but, more importantly, to soak in the atmosphere and level of play as a means of encouraging them to join the softball mainstream.
League Heads Forum
The 2016 BSF League Heads Forum will take place from 11.00 am to 4.00 pm on Saturday 12 November in the Pavilion at Moor Lane Sports Ground in Perry Barr, Birmingham, where the Single-Sex Nationals are played.
Invitations have gone out to League Heads and others. The new plans for the National Softball League and National Championships will be among the topics discussed, along with preparations for the BSF AGM, the implications for softball of the proposed merger with the BBF and BSUK, BSUK’s new coaching course offer and more.
Next meeting
The next BSF Executive conference call meeting will be held on Thursday 10 November.
Anyone with an issue or item to bring to the meeting should contact BSF President Stella Ackrell (stella.ackrell@britishsoftball.org).