The BSF Executive held its latest monthly conference call on the evening of Thursday 23 April. Below is a journalistic report from the meeting.
Attendance
Present: Stella Ackrell (President), Mike Jennings (Treasurer), Liz Graham (Tournaments Officer), Mark Munnery (General Officer).
Apologies: Beth Perkins (National Teams Officer), Claire Waldron (Youth & Schools Officer), Chris Moon (BASU Representative).
Guest: Bob Fromer (BSUK).
New involvement
BSF Treasurer Mike Jennings told the meeting that he is very keen to persuade the non-affiliated London Charities League and the new London Universities League to create All-Star teams to play in a BSF competition so that they can experience softball within the BSF community and perhaps be more inclined to play under the BSF structure in future.
The first target for this to happen was the GLSML First Ball, but as that tournament is full, efforts will now be concentrated on finding other opportunities.
National Softball League
BSF Tournaments Officer Liz Graham reported that all 14 teams playing in this year’s National Softball League (NSL) have now registered and rostered their players (with some help) and some have paid affiliation fees early (the deadline is 31 May).
All of the organisers from tournaments that will host NSL play this year are on board, although the Diamond Series has not been able to allocate the number of pitches for NSL play that the BSF had requested, and there has also been some dissatisfaction on the part of NSL teams over the proposed schedules. Hopefully, these issues can be resolved by the time the NSL begins play at the first Diamond Series tournament on 9-10 May at Farnham Park.
Liz also reported that it looks like there could be a large increase in the number of non-NSL independent tournament teams affiliating to the BSF this year.
Finance
BSF Treasurer Mike Jennings reported that while cash flow is now around its lowest point, because a lot of expenditure has been incurred while fees are only starting to come in, he is satisfied that BSF finances are where they should be at this time of year.
Co-ed Slowpitch Nationals
This year’s Co-ed Slowpitch National Championships, with all five grades of play fighting for trophies on the same weekend in the same location, will take place at Farnham Park on 22-23 August.
The BSF would like to clarify with BSUK exactly what services are provided at Farnham Park in return for pitch hire fees and what additional services can be provided for additional payment. This should be sorted out at the next meeting of BSUK’s Farnham Park Committee on 30 April, which will be attended for the BSF by President Stella Ackrell and by Steve Getraer.
One outstanding issue is that the BSF has been invoiced for a deposit for pitch hire for the Co-ed Nationals, presumably based on the number of pitches required, but the BSF won’t be able to determine how many pitches are needed until entries are confirmed, which will take some time.
BSF Executive positions
The BSF has been operating since the AGM in February without an Administrator and without the position of Tournaments Officer (Logistics) being filled.
These are both key positions, and the BSF will be re-doubling its efforts to find volunteers who would be willing to take these posts on, or at least to help share the workload.
Anyone who would be able to help should contact BSF President Stella Ackrell.
BSUK Committees
Members of the BSF Executive represent softball on various BSUK Committees and the tri-partite Commercial Committee, and report back on meetings of these Committees at each BSF conference call.
There have been no meetings of the BSUK Governance Committee and Development Subcommittee since the last BSF conference call.
BSF Treasurer Mike Jennings reported that a special meeting of the Finance Committee on 21 April approved the proposed BSUK budget for 2015-16, which was then sent for consideration by the BSUK Board at a meeting on Sunday 26 April.
General Officer Mark Munnery reported on a conference call among members of the Commercial Committee in early April, which is likely to result in the name of the Committee being changed to the Commercial and Marketing Group (CMG). The main topic for the call was to tie up details on the deal which will see high-quality softballs stamped with the BSF logo available to BSF leagues and teams this year at an excellent price. These balls are now in the country and should go on sale by the beginning of May.
BSF President Stella Ackrell had attended a meeting of the Farnham Park Committee on 18 March, where the main topics were the Phase 2 programme that will include the creation of another baseball/softball field and the conversion of a house on site to a clubhouse for baseball and softball, and budget projections for the site through to 2020.
BSF Development Grants
The Executive approved a grant of £250 to a new team in the Edinburgh Softball League, the Haar Hitters, to enable them to buy starter equipment. Previously, the ESL had kept a stock of equipment to loan to new teams, but the league has recently reduced this stock and is encouraging new teams to get their own kit.
An application from the East Midlands Fastpitch League for money to train fastpitch umpires will be considered further after feedback from the East Midlands Softball League and from BASU.
The BSF is developing a new application form for development grants which will be posted on the BSF website shortly.
Diamond Finder
Recently, a few teams have asked if they could be listed in the Diamond Finder feature on the BSF website, which at the current time only shows the location of softball leagues.
Given the number of softball teams, however, and the fact that new players looking for teams are better off contacting leagues, the BSF has decided that the Diamond Finder should continue to show leagues only, and that the link from each league, even where multiple playing venues are shown, should be to that league’s page on the BSF website.
Defibrillator
It has been suggested that the BSF might look at purchasing a defibrillator for storage and use at Farnham Park, especially since the latest models can, at least in theory, be operated by people who have not been specifically trained.
The Executive will research costs and consider the idea further.
Next Meeting
The new BSF Executive conference call will take place in May on a date to be determined.
Anyone with matters to submit to the meeting should contact BSF President Stella Ackrell on: stella.ackrell@britishsoftball.org.