At the BSF AGM in February this year, seven winners of BSF Annual Awards and 10 new inductees into the BSF Hall of Fame were announced. But the AGM was an online meeting, so no one actually received their trophies. Now they will – at a number of upcoming tournament events.
Anyone who will be at these events, as a player, umpire, coach, organiser or spectator, is urged to attend the ceremonies to honour award winners who have given so much to British softball.
Presentations on 21 May: the European Hall of Fame
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On Saturday 21 May, play in the first National Softball League (NSL) weekend of the season will begin, and that evening, the first game in the BSUK/BSF All Stars Women’s Fastpitch League will be played.
In between, at around 6.15 pm, an important awards ceremony will be held to honour two British slowpitch players and one British slowpitch umpire who were voted into the Softball Europe Hall of Fame at the 2022 WBSC Europe Congress in February in Slovenia.
The players – both long-term stars on GB Slowpitch teams of the past – are Brett Gibbens and Stephanie Jardine, and the umpire in question is the recently-retired Chris Moon. Brett and Steph are now the first slowpitch players ever to be inducted into the Softball Europe Hall of Fame.
To honour the occasion, WBSC Europe Softball Commission President Gabriel Waage will be coming to the UK to make the presentations in person and will share the podium with BSF President Ieuan Gale. This will be Gabriel Waage’s first visit to the UK and will give him a chance to meet with BSF and BSUK Board members, have a first-hand look at Farnham Park and see some of the best action on the day that British slowpitch and fastpitch can offer.
Presentations on 28 May: BSF Annual Awards
On 28-29 May, the Great Britain Fastpitch League (GBFL) will be holding its second weekend of play in 2022 at Farnham Park alongside a major international event: the Sweden Series [https://www.britishsoftball.org/news/article/gb-mens-teams-look-forward-to-sweden-series-games-at-farnham-park] between the Swedish Men’s Fastpitch National Team and the GB Men’s and Under-23 National Teams.
On Saturday evening, before the first game between Sweden and the GB Men at 6.00 pm, BSF President Ieuan Gale will preside over four BSF Annual Awards presented to people involved with British fastpitch:
The Glover Cup for long-term achievement in British softball will go to Ian Tomlin for his exceptional achievements over many years in developing men’s fastpitch in the UK.
The President’s Club Award for the 2021 season will go to the GBFL Women’s Division team The Mix, not only for winning the Women’s Division last season but for being the only British national or club team to compete in Europe in 2021.
The League Glover Cup, for a league that has demonstrated outstanding progress and achievement, will go to David Morris as the main organiser of the GBFL.
Finally, the Betsy Holden Award for outstanding playing, coaching or organising achievements by a young person, will go to GB Under-15 player Megan Rollins. This award will be presented on Sunday morning when Megan comes to Farnham Park to play in the new GBFL Youth League.
Presentations on 4 June: BSF Annual Awards and Hall of Fame Trophies
The weekend of 4-5 June will be second weekend of National Softball League games and on Saturday evening, the second game in the All Stars Women’s Fastpitch League will be played.
Beforehand, at around 6.15 pm, BSF Coaching Officer Mike Lott will present trophies to two more BSF Annual Award winners and six inductees into the BSF Hall of Fame.
Mike will present trophies to Chris Lunn, BSF and BASU Umpire of the Year in 2021, and to Joelle Watkins from BSUK on behalf of the 2021 Tournament of the Year, the BSUK Slowpitch Cup.
After that, Dan Spinks, Steve Hazard and Roger Grooms will receive trophies marking their entry into the BSF Hall of Fame as players, while David Lee will get two Hall of Fame trophies – one as a player and one as a coach.
Finally, Julie Spittle will receive her Hall of Fame trophy for many years of effective youth development work and former BSF President Jenny Fromer will receive the award marking her induction for years of productive softball organising and administration.
Other presentations
Five other BSF Annual Awards or Hall of Fame trophies will be presented at events later in the season.
GB Women’s Team Head Coach Rachael Watkeys and the team’s longest-serving catcher, Amy Moore, have both been elected to the BSF Hall of Fame, and will receive their awards at a dinner planned by the team at the end of their training camp at Farnham Park and Bisham Abbey in July before they fly to Sant Boi, near Barcelona, for the European Women’s Championship.
The BSF’s Youth Team of the Year in 2021 was Archway Thunder, the school team from Stroud that won Division One in the Bristol League. The players will receive their award when they play in the BSF Co-ed Slowpitch League Nationals in early August.
Finally, long-term Scottish coaches Jim and Karen Murray will receive their BSF Hall of Fame trophies at this year’s Edinburgh Festival on the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Many congratulations to all these award winners, and let’s hope that plenty of softball community members are at these various awards ceremonies to help them celebrate!
More information about all of the award winners can be found here.