Registration and administration of BSF teams and players on the BSF website, insurance provision, league recruitment strategies and a look at visions for softball's future were the key elements at the annual BSF League Heads Forum, held on Saturday 8 November in Birmingham.
A total of 20 people attended, representing 13 leagues plus the BSF and BSUK. Alistair Gray, a sports consultant currently working with BSUK and the two Federations to determine a future structure for the sports, led the discussion on where softball wants to go over the next 10 years.
Leagues represented at the meeting included Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, the Greater London Softball Mixed League, Leeds, the London Advertising League, Manchester, Oxford, the new Sefton League on Merseyside, Solent and Windsor.
President Stella Ackrell, Treasurer Mike Jennings and Tournaments Officer Fiona Thorley represented the BSF while National Development Manager Will Lintern attended for BSUK.
League administration on the BSF website
Registration of teams and rostering of players through the Spawtz system on the BSF website was discussed, as well as use of the system for team and league administration.
Five BSF leagues represented at the meeting currently use Spawtz functionality for league administration, but there was some feeling that the existing functionality is too rigid and that more options are needed.
There is no charge for teams to register and roster their players on the website and BSF Treasurer Mike Jennings stressed that the BSF was happy to continue paying the charge of £10 per team where teams did want to use additional Spawtz functionality. For the BSF, Mike said, the important thing is that all teams register and roster their players so that the BSF can have a complete database of its members.
The consensus was that Spawtz may not be the way forward because of challenges with its functionality, and the BSF will make a decision on this by the time of the AGM in February. BSF will fund the use of Spawtz for one more season while alternatives are explored. One suggestion was that Teamer could be used if the primary goal is team and roster management as opposed to league administration.
Insurance provision
Questions arose at the meeting about insurance coverage, and Mike Jennings confirmed that teams affiliated to the BSF are covered for Civil and Public Liability, and for Personal Accident and Injury where leagues have opted in to this provision.
The question, however, was whether this Accident and Injury cover is appropriate for our sport, since there seem to be types of injuries that can occur in softball that are life-changing but not necessarily covered. Mike Jennings said that the BSF was happy to look at a Premium Plus package, and that there was, of course, nothing to stop teams purchasing their own insurance. Joelle Watkins representing the Greater London Softball Mixed League will provide the BSF with a memo on the level of insurance that they would like to see for softball.
League recruiting
Growth in the number of people playing softball is a key aim for the BSF as well as the focus of much of BSUK's development work. Many leagues use Gumtree and other websites recruit new players, but have strategies that go beyond that.
The Solent League puts the onus on captains and teams for general recruitment of players. Winter sports such as hockey and badminton are specifically targeted. One possibility being explored is to give team captains business cards with contact details.
The new Sefton Softball League on Merseyside uses social media and Gumtree, and has been very successful in recruiting new players and teams, albeit from a low base. Some local papers and news agencies have agendas to promote new sports, including local free papers. On social media, the trick is to get friends to like the page, then get them to invite their friends to like the page.
The Manchester Softball League wants to set up a means whereby Recruitment Officers from different leagues could share experiences and strategies.
For the Leeds Softball League, teams are often lost when the team captain drops out or moves elsewhere, emphasising the need for teams to have committees rather than depend on a single individual.
In the Bristol Softball Association, Division One players coach and mentor people from lower division teams, which helps to develop team captains. The league provides a 10-week indoor coaching session for beginners and intermediate players and generally achieves one to four new teams per year. Gumtree, Facebook and printed cards are all used as resources.
The future of softball
Alastair Gray from the sports consultancy firm Renaissance, currently working with BSUK and the two Federations on a Structural Review project, ran a session in which League Heads were invited to give their thoughts on moving the sports forward and a vision of what success would look like. Where does softball want to be in 2020? What are the things that the BSF and BSUK should focus on to improve the sport?
There were a variety of thoughts from different league representatives:
The Manchester Softball League wants to see more cities playing softball and more youth activity, plus more coverage in newpapers and other media – and televised games.
For the Bristol Softball Association, the aim is to have a slowpitch softball league in every city and softball on the school curriculum. For Bristol, fastpitch is pushed too hard; the aim should be slowpitch in schools and slowpitch softball in the Olympics. And there should be more dedicated facilities around the country; in 2020, Bristol players don't want to be “going to Farnham Park every weekend.”
The Sefton Softball League wants to see softball on television, national schools softball tournaments and, as in North America, diamonds in every park – plus MLB games played in this country. More awareness will drive participation numbers up.
Leslie Morisetti from the Edinburgh Softball League pointed out that BSUK is funded by Sport England to work in England only, so how can softball get access to Sport Scotland (and to Sport Wales in Wales)? Alastair Gray told the meeting that Sport Scotland could well be open to an approach from our sports.
The Cardiff Softball League would like to see more robust support for league administration through the sharing of good practice and more awareness of what is going on around the country. There should be more links with community groups and schools to increase visibility for our sports, which at the moment are bookended by football and rugby and restricted in terms of playing space. Youth development needs to progress to further structures, such as talent development and a performance pathway.
The Birmingham Softball League wants to see a more vertically-integrated structure for the sport.
The London Advertising Softball League wants to see more growth and more facilities, along with a push for slowpitch to be a Commonwealth Games sport. Slowpitch fits with corporate structures, and there should be a UK Corporate Cup. Leagues across the country should accommodate a corporate league on at least one night during the week.
The Oxford Softball League wants to ensure that softball doesn't lose its grass roots players, and so a D-grade to A-grade structure should be retained, with an open system for people to find the level of play that suits them. Youth development is important, and there should be a talent-spotting system in place, but there should be more adult development as well, since softball is a sport for all ages.
For the Solent Softball League, the need is for more facilities and for structures to enable development work.
For the Greater London Softball Mixed League, the need is to sell the story by ramping up efforts in marketing and PR. Softball should be pushed in schools so there is a reason for kids to play.
The Windsor and Maidenhead Softball League would like to see fields everywhere – not necessarily at the level of Farnham Park, but marked-out pitches in every park. Local Authorities should be more aware of our sports' needs for facilities, including sports halls and grass space. There should be more recognition for softball on the school curriculum and in the media. Softball also needs more competition structures, to stop us losing female players to hockey where there are options to play at county level etc.
Other topics
A number of other subjects were discussed during the meeting:
BSF affiliation fees for 2015: The meeting was told that the BSF has no proposal to increase team affiliation fees for 2015 and will flag any increase in fees for 2016, if necessary, at the 2015 League Heads Forum. The payment deadline for fees in 2015 for both league and independent teams will remain 1 June, with penalties to be imposed thereafter.
Co-ed National Championships: BSF representatives reiterated the Executive's decision to hold all Co-ed Slowpitch National Championships in 2015, including the Premier Nationals, on the weekend of 22-23 August at Farnham Park. All NSL teams, and all teams that qualify for Nationals at other grades and wish to take up their place, will be required to send a representative to the 2015 BSF AGM, and there must be one representative per team. A list of teams that have qualified for 2015 Nationals through 2014 results will be circulated shortly.
BSF AGM: The 2015 BSF AGM will be on Saturday 28 February, either in the refurbished clubhouse at Richings Park Sports Ground in Iver or in Watford. More details will be publicised shortly. Stories with deadlines for submitting motions to the AGM, nominations for BSF officers and nominations for the BSF's annual awards are already on the BSF website.
Hit the Pitch: BSUK National Development Manager Will Lintern told the meeting about BSUK's new umbrella development programme“Hit the Pitch”, which is designed to grow participation in baseball and softball in a number of target areas, including primary and secondary schools, Further and Higher Education, community organisations, corporations and workplaces, leisure centres etc. One “Hit the Pitch” package is designed to help existing teams, clubs and leagues attract new players, set up new teams or set up new leagues (for example, an adult softball league setting up a youth league or a satellite corporate league in their local area).
Teams and coaches travelling abroad: The BSF reiterated that all teams travelling abroad to invitational events need to inform the BSF in advance about the trip and who is travelling. Any such team travelling abroad is, in effect, representing British softball, and as such, both the sending and receiving Federations need to be aware of the trip. This also applies to individuals from Britain who go abroad to coach – particularly to those who are bringing British slowpitch expertise to Europe.
University softball: Softball is growing in universities, and play is often at a high recreational level, culminating in National University Championships run by BSUK. But because universities finish in May, it's difficult to integrate most university teams into BSF structures. One suggestion was to reserve a place in one of the lower-grade BSF National Championships for the winner of the National University Softball Championships or perhaps for a university all-star team. Another suggestion – which BSUK is already trying to do – is to track where university players come from and point them towards the nearest BSF league where they live or where they might be working during the summer.
Under-18 regulations: BSF representatives stressed that all leagues and tournaments need to follow the mandatory regulations governing under-18 players in adult teams that were passed at the 2013 BSF AGM. One element of the regulations concerns parental consent for young players to take part. The BSF uses the BSUK parental consent form, and tournaments need to use this as well. The meeting discussed what the easiest way to do this might be, who should receive the completed forms and how the use of the forms could be verified. It was reaffirmed that 14 is the recommended lower age limit for young players to play on adult teams, depending on the level of play and the capability of the player, but no age limits are specified in BSF regulations.
Subsidised safety equipment: The BSF offered to provide 50% of the cost to teams purchasing batting helmets and catcher's masks in 2014, either to comply with Under-18 regulations or for adult players wanting to use them – but there was very little take-up. The BSF will continue to make this grant available.
One-day single-sex slowpitch tournaments: A demand for such tournaments exists, and the BSF will support leagues, clubs or individuals who want to run them.
Umpiring standards: The meeting discussed how to raise the standards of non-BASU umpires, perhaps through some kind of mentoring programme. It was suggested that more one-day courses tailored to league umpires would help and that eventually every team should be required to have two registered umpires, trained at least to league level, before they can play. Meanwhile, more umpires are needed at national (tournament) level. It was also agreed that the way in which games finish (the BSF recommends that final innings are played to a conclusion) should be standard at all BSF-sanctioned tournaments.
D-grade tournaments with A-grade players: There was a discussion on how to address the issue of A-grade (NSL) players turning up in lower-grade tournaments and influencing results. Could registration cards be the answer? Could there be roster restrictions, or automatic handicaps for teams that included A-grade players? Whatever is put in place will need to be enforced by tournament organisers and umpires – but there will need to be a mechanism that allows everyone to know who NSL players are.
2015 Calendar: In putting together the 2015 Tournament Calendar, the BSF is trying to spread out major events that involve several grades of play and to ease the pressure on the calendar in general. BSF Tournaments Officer Fiona Thorley is currently discussing proposed dates designed to achieve these aims with tournament organisers. The BSF hopes to have the calendar set before Christmas.
Farnham Park: BSUK is guaranteed six weekends throughout the summer when tournaments involving grass pitches can be run at Farnham Park. In 2015, these weekends are likely to be used for the three Diamond Series tournaments, a major new slowpitch tournament run by BSUK (probably on 18-19 July), the Co-ed Slowpitch Nationals on 22-23 August and the Windsor Tournament. More weekends can be requested by BSUK, but are not necessarily guaranteed. BSUK will also run a combined baseball and fastpitch tournament on the weekend of 6-7 June at Farnham Park, but this is likely to use the dedicated pitches only. Concerns about the fees charged at Farnham Park were raised by the Windsor and Maidenhead League, which felt that fee levels could prohibit a number of teams using the facility for league play in 2015.