The BSF Executive held its most recent monthly conference call meeting on the evening of Thursday 15 September. Below is a journalistic summary of discussions and decisions.
Attendance
Present: Laura Burkhardt (Treasurer), Jana McCaskill (National Teams Officer), Liz Graham (Tournaments Officer), Steve Getraer (General Officer), Mike Jennings (General Officer), Chris Moon (BASU Representative).
Apologies: Stella Ackrell (President).
Guests: John Walmsley and David Hurley (BSUK).
Development grant application
The BSF has received a request for a development grant to help establish a new co-ed slowpitch team in Eastbourne. The Executive will look into this further and make a decision.
Face-to-Face Meeting
The BSF Executive will hold its annual autumn face to-face meeting on the weekend of 15-16 October in London.
Structural Review
The BSF Executive has been provided with details of the proposed structure for a single organisation to replace the current arrangement of two Federations plus BSUK. Executive members were asked to consider how this would work for softball and to provide feedback on the proposed Sports Commissions for softball and baseball that will have some of the functions in the new structure currently exercised by the Federation Boards.
BSUK Chair John Walmsley provided some additional background information and explained that it was important to work through the plans so that both Federations were taking the proposal to their AGMs in full support of the changes and with enough information to enable the members to make an informed decision. The final decision on the proposals will be made by the memberships at BSF and BBF AGMs, which may be held on the same date in either January or February 2017.
The effective start date for the single organisation, if approved, would be 1 April 2017.
It was reiterated that many of the ‘market-facing’ brands in softball, such as the National Softball League, the National Championships etc, will probably remain the same. It was also explained that there will be opportunities for participants to have a voice in the new organisation via a new advisory Congress. Additionally, members will be responsible for ratifying the Board Directors for the new organisation and four of the proposed eight Directors will be required to have experience of softball and baseball.
National Teams Officer Jana McCaskill confirmed that she has been working with Liam Carroll from the BBF on how GB Softball and GB Baseball national teams could be run within the single organisation and suggested that there could be potential savings through working in concert on items such as uniforms, equipment and logistics.
A combined softball and baseball organisation in Britain would mirror the World Baseball Softball Confederation, an umbrella body for the two sports at international level, and while the European Softball and Baseball Federations have not merged, they now work closely with each other. It was also recognised that external bodies such as Sport England and UK Sport will only work through a single agency with regard to softball and baseball (currently they work through BSUK), and that BSUK can provide the infrastructure, governance standards and levels of compliance necessary to receive government funds.
John Walmsley added that a single organisation would remove the confusion of multiple bodies both for external organisations and also for the playing membership. Baseball Softball United (a working title for the new organisation) would provide a one-stop shop for all customers and stakeholders.
UK Sport submissions for the 2020 Olympics
Jana McCaskill reported that with softball and baseball confirmed as Olympic sports for Tokyo 2020, BSUK is working on submissions from the two sports to UK Sport, the agency that funds Olympic sports and athletes. The submissions are due by 28 October.
The GB Management Committee has been involved in reviewing the case for softball and contributing to the supporting information currently being compiled. It is far from clear that we will be successful in accessing funding, given UK Sport’s policy of only funding medal winners or sports and athletes with clear medal prospects, but there are a number of ancillary benefits that could be achieved, including access to support services such as sports science practitioners and introduction to FTSE 100 companies for potential sponsorship.
BSUK funding application to Sport England
John Walmsley explained that BSUK would make its 2017-21 funding submission to Sport England at the end of October, following a series of consultations that have helped to shape the application.
There will be a final consultation meeting with members of the BSF, BBF and BSUK Boards on 12 October and the application will go to the BSUK Board for sign-off on 26 October.
Reports from BSUK Committees
A permanent agenda item at BSF Executive meetings is to review recent meetings of the various BSUK Committees on which BSF Executive members sit.
Finance Committee: The Finance Committee last met on 8 August, and reviewed the 2015-16 audited accounts for BSUK. These will be signed off at the BSUK Board Meeting on 25 September.
Development Strategy Committee: This Committee met on 17 August and reviewed a draft of BSUK’s Sport England funding submission as well as the 2016-17 “How we are Doing?” report for the first quarter of 2016-17.
Farnham Park Committee: This Committee met on 5 September and looked closely at the 2016 accounts to date as well as the details of the clubhouse refurbishment which has been ongoing during the summer. It was noted that while the clubhouse build remains in budget, delays in completing it have impacted on 2016-17 financial projections, which are being recast.
BSF AGM
Jana McCaskill confirmed that a date in January or February is being sought on which the BSF and the BBF can each hold AGMs so that a decision can be made on the proposal to move to a single organisation.
ESF elections
Gabriel Waage, ESF Vice President for Competitions, Events and Technical, is standing down from his position to run for ESF President at the ESF’s upcoming Congress in February 2017.
Great Britain’s Mike Jennings would like to stand to fill the Competitions and Events position that Gabriel will leave vacant, while also retaining his position as ESF Technical Director. This nomination will need to be supported by the BSF and will be discussed at the face-to-face meeting in October.
Next meeting
The next meeting of the BSF Executive will be its annual face-to-face meeting on 15-16 October.
Anyone with items to raise at the meeting should contact BSF President Stella Ackrell (stella.ackrell@britishsoftball.org).