The BSF Executive held its monthly conference call meeting on the evening of Thursday 12 June. Below are highlights of discussions and decisions.
Attendance
Present: Stella Ackrell (President), Darren Prouty (Administrator), Mike Jennings (Treasurer), Liz Graham (Tournaments Officer), Mark Wigington (Marketing Officer, Claire Waldron (Youth & Schools Officer), Mark Munnery (General Officer).
Apologies: Beth Perkins (National Teams Officer), Fiona Thorley (Tournaments Officer), Chris Moon (BASU Representative).
Guests: Bob Fromer (BSUK).
Action Points
As usual, the meeting began with a review of action points and matters arising from previous meetings.
Video analysis equipment: The BSF has set aside £500 to purchase hardware and software for video analysis of players that can be used by GB national teams and at the Academy and High Performance Academy. BSUK has now agreed to match this amount, and BSF National Teams Officer Beth Perkins will consult with BSUK National Development Manager Will Lintern on what to buy.
Fastpitch Development Plan: The BSF presented the outline of a strategic plan for fastpitch development at a meeting of BSUK's Development Strategy Committee (DSC) on 9 April, and some feedback has now been received from BSUK. At the next DSC meeting, later in June, the BSF will request that a meeting and a Time-Limited Working Group be convened to refine the plan and create an action plan for it.
More containers at Farnham Park: Following requests from both the BSF and BBF for more storage capacity at Farnham Park, BSUK is moving two containers that have been sited at Riverside Lands in Chiswick for the past several years to Farnham Park. However, allocation of the additional capacity has yet to be decided.
Single-sex slowpitch tournament: A men's single-sex slowpitch tournament will go ahead at Farnham Park on Saturday 21 June with participation by three American masters teams, but a women's tournament that was meant to run alongside it has been cancelled due to lack of confirmed entries.
BSF Communications Strategy: The BSF is keen to develop and execute a communications strategy based on wider use of social media, and will put together a Working Group for this purpose.
BSUK update: BSUK sends quarterly reports to the Federations on its progress towards meeting Sport England targets, and the BSF has received the report for the first quarter of 2014. There are currently 765 teams and 13,843 people playing slowpitch softball in the UK, up by 326 teams and 5,460 players from 2008-09. Marketing Officer Mark Wigington, who is a member of BSUK's Development Strategy Committee, reported that BSUK will have met its participation targets for the first year (2013-14) of the current Whole Sport Plan.
Financial matters
BSF Treasurer Mike Jennings reported that 2014 affiliation fees have now been received from all BSF leagues, plus all National Softball League teams and most other independent teams. Fee income this year will be around £50,000, slightly down from the projected figure. Overall, the number of affiliated teams is roughly the same as in 2013.
Mike has made a proposal to the Executive that where teams developed through BSUK programmes affiliate to the Federation, affiliation fees for the first couple of years should be shared between the BSF and BSUK, in recognition of BSUK's work in bringing those teams into being. This will be discussed further with BSUK.
Mike Jennings also reported that this year's project to supply high-level coaching to B-grade and C-grade teams through the GB Slowpitch Team has gone extremely well, with excellent feedback from teams taking part. Most sessions have now been delivered, and the project will come in under budget.
Finally, Mike told the meeting that the take-up has been less than expected on the BSF's offer to share the cost, up to a maximum of £20, with adult slowpitch teams that need to purchase helmets and a catcher's mask because they have players under 18 years of age. As a result, the BSF has agreed to open this offer to all affiliated slowpitch teams, regardless of whether they have junior players on their roster. Teams interested in taking up the offer should contact Mike Jennings on: mike.jennings@britishsoftball.org.
Development Grant application
The Executive approved a grant of £240 to help the Greater London Softball Mixed League (GLSML) with its annual summer development sessions, held on Monday nights in Regents Park for 12 weeks from June through early August. These sessions have introduced many people to softball over the years and have resulted in many new teams for the GLSML.
The grant will be used to support travel costs for the coaches who deliver the sessions.
National Championships
Tournaments Officer Liz Graham confirmed that the Single-Sex Slowpitch Nationals, scheduled for the weekend of 12-13 July in Birmingham, were over-subscribed, with all 32 places in Comp and Rec divisions for men and women filled.
With regard to the Co-ed Slowpitch Nationals for B-grade and C-grade teams on the weekend of 9-10 August at Farnham Park, invitations have gone out to divisional and league winners from last season in BSF leagues. A few have already declined, a few have accepted and responses are awaited from the rest. So far, only three tournament teams have signed up, with eight places for tournament teams available.
Last year, the BSF decided that invitations would only be extended to league or divisional winners, but a decision was made at the meeting to extend the offer to second-place teams if a first-place team declines.
The Executive also confirmed that with the Premier (A-grade) Nationals separated from the Co-ed Nationals once again this year, there will be no restrictions on players playing for teams in both competitions providing they have qualified for both teams in terms of playing dates.
The BSF is looking at the possibility of hiring a mechanical Rodeo Bull for the Single-Sex Nationals. The money charged for rides will be donated to the GB Slowpitch Team.
Insurance question
A baseball team has asked whether they would be covered by the BBF's insurance if they played a game of softball, and the insurers have apparently requested a premium for this coverage to be effected.
BSF Treasurer Mike Jennings will check to see whether the BSF can offer a low-cost option for teams in this situation.
Next meeting
The next BSF conference call meeting will be held on Thursday 10 July. Anyone with items to bring to the meeting should contact BSF Administrator Darren Prouty on: darren.prouty@britishsoftball.org.