The BSF Executive held its latest monthly videoconference meeting on the evening of Thursday 9 March 2023.  Below is a report on the main discussions and decisions.
 

Attendance

Present:  Lesley Morisetti (Acting President), Liz Graham (Competitions and Membership Officer), Mike Lott (Coaching Officer), Nicola-Jane Dyson (General Officer), Bob Fromer (Administrator).

Apologies:  Laura Burkhardt (Treasurer), Pete Saunders (Technical Officer), Stella Ackrell (Safeguarding Officer).

Guest:  Erica Barrett (BSUK).
 

Financial matters

Help with fees for British entrants to the European Men’s Super Cup.  A host for the 2023 European Men’s Super Cup – a club in The Netherlands -- was only found at the last minute, and they are asking teams to contribute 250 euros each towards the costs of staging the tournament in addition to the Softball Europe entry fee.  Great Britain has two teams in the competition – the GBFL Men’s Division winners The Stags and a GB Men’s Fastpitch Development Team.  The Executive decided that the BSF would pay 100 euros towards this Organisers Fee for each team.

BSF support for the European Co-ed Slowpitch Super Cup.  Bulgaria agreed at the last minute to host the 2023 European Co-ed Slowpitch Super Cup in which two British teams – H2O and Travelling Dodgers – are entered, but the Bulgarians will need some help with costs.  The BSF Executive had already agreed that, if necessary, we would contribute 1000 euros towards the hosting costs and has now agreed to contribute up to 1500 euros in total if necessary.  The BSF is very grateful to the Bulgarian Softball Federation for ensuring that this tournament will happen.
 

BSF Development Grant applications

The Executive considered a number of development grant applications at the meeting, and has awarded grants to:

  • The Chichester Falcons’ junior fastpitch programme to help purchase safety equipment for young players to meet new BSF and WBSC regulations.
     
  • The Lytham St Annes Softball Club to help support a range of taster sessions in Blackpool and surrounding areas for their junior fastpitch, junior slowpitch and adult slowpitch programmes.
     

Joint Working Groups

The BSF and BSUK are setting up a number of joint Working Groups to tackle some key issues.  These include:

  • A Working Group on Dealing with Concussion in softball and baseball.  The aim will be to produce information and action plans to enable leagues, teams and tournaments to deal more effectively with incidents where concussion is suspected.  BSF representatives on this group will include Safeguarding Officer Stella Ackrell and Technical Officer Pete Saunders, as well as Kim Hannessen, who leads on sports therapy for GB National Teams.  BSUK Head of Operations Erica Barrett will chair this Working Group.
     
  • A Working Group to explore the concept of the BSF moving from its current system of team affiliation to individual player affiliation.  Competitions Officer Liz Graham and BSF Administrator Bob Fromer will represent the BSF Executive  on this group, with CEO John Boyd and Erica Barrett representing BSUK.
     
  • A Working Group to plan the delivery the 2026 European Co-ed Slowpitch Championship, which will be hosted by the BSF at Farnham Park.  BSF  Executive members on this group will be Coaching Officer Mike Lott and General Officer Nicola-Jane Dyson, while John Boyd will represent BSUK, with other BSUK staff members and other members from the softball community joining the Working Group over time.

At a slightly later stage, a Working Group will be set up to help the BSF Executive develop an effective Succession Plan.  Members of this Working Group will include people from the BSF Executive and from the BSUK staff and Board.
 

League Heads Forum

At the remote League Heads Forum meeting in February, the suggestion was made that the group should convene more often with members of the BSF Executive to discuss issues within the sport.

At the time, the suggestion was for quarterly meetings, but the Executive may propose pre-season and post-season meetings to League Heads, perhaps in early April and October.

An alternative would be to expand the use of a Slack channel already established by BSUK for discussions around coaching for ongoing engagement about coaching, development and a range of other issues of concern to leagues throughout the year.
 

National Team staff appointments

Selections have recently been made for staff positions on the GB Under-13 and Under-15 female fastpitch teams, which have been combined into a single programme this year under the leadership of Jodie Rushin to align with GB performance standards, UK Sport investment, and the creation of a World Class Performance Programme for female fastpitch national teams.

The BSF Executive has now approved all the staff members selected.  Full details can be found on the BSF website here
 

National Softball League

BSF Competitions and Membership Officer Liz Graham told the meeting that an Irish team has applied to join the new NSL4 division when it hopefully starts up next year, and this was approved by the Executive.  The Irish team will be required to provide proof of Civil and Public Liability Insurance that covers playing softball in the UK.
 

Registration

Liz Graham told the meeting that as of 9 March, 309 teams are currently on the new Teamlinkt registration system from last season and new ones will be added once registration forms are submitted.

Instructions on how to use the new system have been expanded on the BSF website and in other communications.

New content for the Leagues page on the BSF website is in the process of being posted, with links provided to each league’s website.
 

BASU

Acting BSF President Lesley Morisetti reported that BASU will hold a Crew Chiefs meeting before the season to make sure everyone is on the same page regarding stricter enforcement this year of rules forbidding the consumption of alcohol or smoking in or around dugouts or team areas.

These rules will also be clarified with teams before the start of tournaments, and information will be provided by the BSF for inclusion in Tournament Packs.
 

BSF representatives on the BSUK Board

It was agreed that Lesley Morisetti, in her role as Acting BSF President, should be one of two BSF representatives on the BSUK Board while she remains in that position.

Ieuan Gale, who stepped down as President at the BSF AGM in February, is remaining as the other BSF representative on the BSUK Board this year to maintain continuity.
 

Next meeting

The BSF’s next monthly videoconference meeting will be held on the evening of Thursday 6 April. 

Anyone from the Executive or the softball community with matters to bring to the meeting should contact BSF Administrator Bob Fromer.