The BSF Executive held its first conference call meeting of the new year on Thursday evening, January 3. Below are highlights of discussions and decisions.
Attendance
Present: Stella Ackrell (President), Vicky Hall (Administrator), Mike Jennings (Treasurer), Beth Perkins (National Teams Officer), Chris Moon (BASU Representative).
Apologies: Mark Wigington (Marketing Officer), Liz Graham (Tournaments Officer), Lesley Morisetti (Tournaments Officer), Julie Calver (Website Officer), Bob Fromer (BSUK).
Quorum
BSF Treasurer Mike Jennings confirmed that the BSF Constitution requires that three Executive members be present at an Executive meeting in order for the meeting to be quorate.
League Heads Forum
The BSF's annual League Heads Forum will be held on Sunday, 13 January from 11:00 am-4.00 pm in the Pavilion at Birmingham City University's Moor Lane Sports Ground in Sutton Coldfield.
BSF President Stella Ackrell will finalise an agenda for distribution to those attending. Some of the main agenda items will include league-based work with schools, guidance for Under-18s playing in adult teams, a report on European contacts made by the Birmingham TourCats, workshop issues for the AGM and forming a subcommittee of BSF Executive and community members to discuss Nationals issues.
During a time slot set aside for BSUK, those attending will hear from new BSUK National Development Manager Will Lintern and will receive information on the implications of Sport England's grant award to BSUK for 2013-17.
BSF AGM
The 2013 BSF Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday, 23 February in Watford. Morning workshop sessions will run from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm, followed by the formal AGM from 2.00-4.00 pm.
Topics for possible workshop sessions will be discussed at the League Heads Forum meeting on January 13.
The AGM will be followed by a BSF Executive meeting and dinner.
BSF Administrator Vicky Hall will formally email League Heads with AGM details and directions, and an AGM Pack with full meeting details, reports from Officers and National Teams, 2011-12 accounts and a projected budget and fee schedule for 2012-13 will be circulated to all BSF members on 23 January.
Elections for a revised list of posts on the BSF Executive will be held at the AGM (see article on the BSF website calling for nominations, with a deadline of 6 February). For the first time, some positions on the Executive will not automatically be Directors of BSF Ltd.
The Executive will present the annual BSF Awards for 2012 at the AGM, and nominations for the different categories are requested from the softball community, with a deadline of 6 February (for full details see the featured story on the BSF website).
Co-ed Slowpitch National Championships
The BSF Executive is still trying to find a date on which it might be possible to hold all Co-ed Slowpitch National Championships, including the Premier Nationals, together at the same venue (preferably Farnham Park) on the same weekend. This follows the results of a questionnaire sent before Christmas to all participants in Co-ed Nationals in 2012 and all League Heads, which returned a small majority in favour of a combined Nationals event.
Apart from this decision, which may involve some league or other tournaments moving from their current dates, the BSF intends to convene a Nationals Subcommittee, consisting of Executive and community members, to look at other issues around National Championship play, including gradings and Nationals qualification.
National Softball League
The BSF plans to revive the National Softball League in 2013 after a combination of circumstances restricted play to just one tournament before the Premier Nationals in 2012. It looks likely that the NSL will again be played at Diamond Series events in 2013 as well as at other tournaments, with a balanced schedule so that all NSL teams play each other an equal number of times, ensuring that qualification for Premier Nationals places is on a level playing field.
BSF President Stella Ackrell will shortly be contacting both potential NSL teams and tournaments that might host NSL play to set up a structure for 2013.
The BSF is also looking for someone to act as an NSL organiser.
Finance
The BSF's 2011-12 Accounts are currently with the BSF's accountants for final approval before being included in the AGM Pack.
Negotiations are still going on with various stakeholders regarding the final details of the 2012-13 BSF budget.
Development grant
The BSF has awarded a £250 Development Grant to GB Under-13 Head Coach Caroline Champion to enable her to attend a high-level fastpitch coaching course in Italy later in January.
Fees for softball teams within baseball clubs
Following a recent enquiry regarding fees for new softball teams arising from baseball clubs, the Executive agreed that all new softball teams wanting to join the BSF and take part in BSF tournaments would be charged the New Team fee, which is around two-thirds of the full fee.
If softball teams within baseball clubs are taking part in local games within a local league, it would be for the local league to decide any league fees.
This fee arrangement could change in the future if the BBF and BSF agree to formally recognise each other’s teams.
Ghana and Nigeria visits
BSF Administrator Vicky Hall has been in touch with delegations from Ghana and Nigeria that have expressed a desire to visit the UK in 2013 to see how softball is run in this country. It is not currently clear if these visits are viable, and there will be further discussions with representatives from both countries.
The Executive has decided that the BSF cannot incur any financial outlay in connection with these visits (should they take place).
Guidance on Under-18 players in adult teams
The BSF is currently preparing a guidance sheet to be circulated to all leagues and teams regarding the use of Under-18 players in adult slowpitch or fastpitch teams, and a draft of the document will be discussed at the League Heads Forum before being finalised.
The Executive has agreed not to stipulate a minimum age for young players to play on adult teams, but the guidance document will make clear that the younger the player, the more rigorous the assessment that will need to be carried out regarding their competence and ability to cope in an adult environment.
BSF coaching offer for B/C-grade teams
Four teams or clubs – the Birmingham Bobcats, Leeds Dynamite, Finsbury Dazzlers and Chalfont Softball Club – have responded to the BSF offer to support the cost of coaching help to be provided by GB Slowpitch Team coaches and players.
Further applications from teams wishing to take part in the programme will be considered until 23 February.
Twinning with Massachusetts ASA
Through an arrangement between the European Softball Federation (ESF) and the Amateur Softball Association in America (ASA), British softball is now twinned with the ASA organisation in the state of Massachusetts.
One benefit of this arrangement is that the Massacusetts ASA might be able to send specialist slowpitch coaches to Britain this summer, with a focus on coaching slowpitch coaches from various leagues as well as working with the GB Slowpitch Team coaching staff.
Possible venues for coaching sessions include Scotland, Leeds, Birmingham, Nottingham, Manchester, Bristol, Windsor and London, and the BSF will use the League Heads Forum to assess league demand for hosting USA coaches in 2013.
ESF Congress
The Executive has agreed that President Stella Ackrell and Treasurer Mike Jennings will be the BSF delegates to the annual European Softball Federation Congress, scheduled for 15-17 February in Bled, Slovenia.
This year, for the first time in nearly a decade, the ESF Congress will be held in conjunction with the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) Congress, in line with the recent decision to amalgamate the International Baseball and Softball Federations as part of a bid for Olympic reinstatement in 2020 for baseball and softball as two formats of the same sport.
ISF Slowpitch Umpire Course
The ISF is keen to run a Slowpitch Umpire Course in the UK later this year for 10-15 candidates, open to umpires from around Europe. The BSF is currently completing the forms and arrangements necessary to host such a course.
Those who pass the course will be qualified as ISF slowpitch umpires.
The course will consist of three days of theory, followed by assessment at a high-level tournament (possibly Diamond Series 1).
Next meeting
The next BSF Executive conference call will be held on Thursday, 7 February. Anyone with items for the agenda should contact BSF Administrator Vicky Hall.