Sunday, 4 May 2014 has been designated by the BSF as National Kickball Day.
There are no tournaments or other events scheduled on the day, and the BSF is urging as many softball leagues as possible to organise a local Kickball Tournament on that date – or on a different date if necessary – to provide something fun and different for their teams and players and to raise money both for the local league and for GB slowpitch and fastpitch national teams.
The BSF assumes that entries to each Kickball Tournament will come mainly from local league teams. But the tournaments can also be open to entry by teams from nearby BSF leagues if they are not holding a tournament and by independent softball teams and baseball teams.
Kickball tournaments can also be used by leagues to attract and introduce new players to softball by approaching local companies, organisations and colleges to take part and creating local publicity around the event.
The BSF will provide template posters and other information that leagues can personalise and circulate in their local area.
The idea of using Kickball to raise funds was originally proposed by James Clarke, who plays for the Chichester Falcons in the Solent League. The Solent League organised a Kickball Tournament played in Chichester at the end of September 2013, and even though only a few teams entered (due to not much advance notice and competing events on the day), over £200 was raised for GB Softball.
On the National Kickball Day in 2014, the BSF is proposing that all money raised is split 50:50 between the local league or team organising the tournament and GB Softball Teams.
What is Kickball?
Kickball is a popular variant of softball played in North America. The rules are mainly the same as slowpitch softball, but instead of hitting a softball with a bat, “batters” kick a rubberised football-size ball rolled to them by the “pitcher”.
Here is a link to a YouTube video that shows how the game is played: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i2WfQmYFKM.
A document setting out the rules of Kickball, and where the rules differ from ordinary softball, is available from James Clarke (jsclarke85@googlemail.com).
The BSF will supply official kickballs for each tournament, based on the number of pitches each league will be using. Unlike softballs, kickballs are unlikely to be lost during play, so leagues will only need one kickball per pitch plus maybe one spare ball. In a worst-case scenario, a volleyball or football can be used instead.
The only other equipment required is a set of bases for each pitch. There is no need for bats or gloves. Pitch markings are the same as for slowpitch except that the strike zone includes an area one foot on either side of home plate. But if this can't be marked out, umpires can just use their judgement.
Umpires are needed, just as in ordinary softball, but to save money (and ensure more money is raised), the BSF is suggesting that tournament organisers should ask teams that are not playing in a given time slot to supply umpires for other games.
The idea is that if leagues organising Kickball tournaments don't have to pay for umpires or softballs, and keep costs for prizes or trophies to a minimum, pitch hire should be the only major outgoing, enabling a fair amount of money to be raised through tournament entry fees.
But money can also be raised at each event in a variety of ways, such as by members of local League Committees, or maybe national team players from the league, running raffles or home-run “kicking” contests, by selling food or drink if local conditions allow, or by being paid by competing teams to umpire or score their games.
Win-win scenario
The BSF hopes that most of its affiliated leagues will participate in the National Kickball Day initiative, which could be a win-win situation for everyone in British softball.
For more information on Kickball or National Kickball Day, contact James Clarke on: jsclarke85@googlemail.com.