The BSF is to consult with all teams that
took part in Co-ed Slowpitch National Championships in 2012, and all slowpitch League Heads, to ask for comments on a plan to play all five Co-ed Nationals – including the Premier Nationals – on the same weekend at the same venue in 2013, with a maximum of eight places available for each grade of play.
The BSF Executive believes that there are currently too many National Championship tournaments spread across the season, and also feels that by combining all levels of co-ed slowpitch play in one major National Championship event, it will be able to invest time and money to make that event the pinnacle of the slowpitch season.
Five levels
Currently, co-ed slowpitch National Championships are played at five levels – the Premier Nationals for independent tournament teams that play in the National Softball League at A-grade level and then the Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze Nationals for league teams at various ability levels corresponding to B, C and D-grade.
Over the past three years, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze Nationals have been played together in a single event, but the Premier Nationals has been held on a separate date. The rationale for this was that at least some players who play on National Softball League teams also play for midweek league teams that compete in Nationals at a lower level, and these league teams might lose their key players if all the Co-ed National were played together.
At the very least, such players would have to choose between playing at Nationals for their NSL team or their league team, and in some cases, it has been argued, this could lead to teams declining to take up places in National Championships.
Now the BSF wants to find out whether the crossover of players between teams that compete in the Premier Nationals and league teams that compete in the other Nationals is sufficient to warrant keeping these competitions apart.
Pinnacle event
One of the main reasons that the BSF is keen to play all five Co-ed National Championships together, especially with new dedicated facilities at Farnham Park becoming available next season, is so that time and resources can be concentrated on that one event to give it an infrastructure and atmosphere that will make it the top co-ed slowpitch tournament of the season, as befitting National Championship competition.
Over the past two or three years, the BSF has received a number of comments from players to the effect that while National Championships always run well on the field, they lack the atmosphere and amenities that are features of other major tournaments run by league committees or by private groups.
The other part of the BSF's plan is to have eight teams competing at each of the five Championship levels, ensuring that there is competition for Nationals places at every level of play.
Two tournaments
Should the BSF receive a favourable response to its proposal of playing all five Co-ed Nationals together, then there will be just two National Championship events run by the BSF next year: the Single-Sex Slowpitch Nationals on 20-21 July and the Co-ed Slowpitch Nationals on a date still to be decided, with both events to be played at softball's new national home at Farnham Park.
The BSF will be asking teams and leagues to provide feedback on its proposal by 4 December.
The BSF does not plan to continue the League All-Star Nationals in 2013, though it might be prepared to revive this competition in future should there be a demand from leagues, and if leagues are prepared to put mechanisms in place to ensure that their teams are represented by their best players.
Email text
The text of the email that the BSF will send to Nationals teams and League Heads is as follows:
"The BSF is proposing to change the way its Co-ed Slowpitch National Championships are run in 2013. The proposal is that all five levels of competition – Premier, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze – are run in one location on the same weekend, with a maximum of eight teams competing at each level. This will create a single large event in which the BSF can invest to make sure that the Co-ed Nationals become the outstanding tournament weekend of the year – as they should be.
"But the BSF is conscious that running the Premier Nationals – a competition for weekend tournament teams that play in the NSL – alongside the Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze competitions, which are essentially for league teams, means that some players will have to choose between playing for their NSL team or their league team, with repercussions for those teams.
"What we want to find out is the scale of dislocation that this would cause for teams, and what the softball community thinks about this issue.
"So please reply no later than 4 December to let us know whether you are in favour of playing all of the Co-ed Nationals together on one weekend, or whether you feel that this would impact negatively on your team or league because of players who play both in the NSL and on league teams.
"Please send your reply to BSF Administrator Vicky Hall.
"Thanks very much for your help!"