The BSF Executive held its latest monthly conference call meeting on the evening of Thursday, 9 May. Below are the highlights of discussions and decisions.
Attendance
Present: Stella Ackrell (President), Vicky Hall (Administrator), Mike Jennings (Treasurer), Liz Graham (Tournaments Officer), Fiona Thorley (Tournaments Officer), Claire Waldron (Youth & Schools Officer), Mark Wigington (Marketing & Communications Officer), Mark Munnery (General Officer).
Apologies: Beth Perkins (National Teams Officer), Chris Moon (BASU Representative).
Guests: Bob Fromer and Chris Rawlings (BSUK).
BSUK Youth Development
BSF Marketing and Communications Officer Mark Wigington, who sits on BSUK's Development Subcommittee, had invited BSUK National Development Manager Chris Rawlings to attend the meeting to explain the work that BSUK is doing regarding youth recruitment and development for softball.
Chris explained that one of BSUK's key focus areas is the university sector, because slowpitch softball has “a real market value for university students”. But the key was how to find someone on the inside at universities to give the sport a foothold, and the eventual answer that BSUK came up with was to create student University Softball Officers (USOs). For BSUK, USOs provide an internal driver to grow and sustain the sport on campuses, providing a channel for communication within the university and a way to access funding, while the USOs themselves, who change each year, gain employability skills.
The idea was trialled successfully in a couple of universities, and there are now USOs in ten universities in the North West, the North East, the Midlands and the South East. BSUK provides equipment and a £500 “development budget” that each USO can spend as needed to get the sport going in their institution.
Two important issues are competition and exit routes for university softballers. BSUK attempted to introduce a first-ever University Championship tournament in March this year which fell victim to the weather and will now be held this autumn; and there have been some games between universities in the same area. Local rivalries, as BSF General Officer Mark Munnery pointed out, are a key to growing competition structures.
Chris agreed with comments from BSF Executive members that links between university programmes and nearby slowpitch leagues need to be stepped up, and that there should be more contact with League Heads and/or League Development Officers. This is something that the BSF can help to facilitate.
Chris then explained that there are a number of programmes that BSUK is using to work with school-age children, particularly – as mandated by Sport England – in the 14+ age group.
One is the government's School Games programme, and softball, at different age levels, is now a School Games sport in 10 counties – though the variety in age levels makes it difficult to translate this to a national competition.
Through programmes funded by the clothing retailer Matalan and shaped by the Youth Sport Trust, softball is one of 12 sports creating after-school programmes for 14-19-year-olds, and this is now happening in eight counties. Softball is also one of only four sports involved in the Matalan Sporting Communities programme, which creates community-based sports clubs in schools.
At the other end of the age spectrum, softball is part of the government's Change for Life scheme in primary schools, aimed at teaching basic hand-eye coordination skills to children aged 5-7. BSUK provides basic resources and simple games that teachers can use in delivering this programme.
BSUK is also a leading participant in a more baseball-related programme called Shadowball, that explores issues of gender and race in primary schools through the history of baseball in the United States.
Another important government programme that BSUK is involved with is Sport Premium, an attempt to improve sports provision in primary schools. The government is effectively giving every primary school £9,250 over two years, and the money is ring-fenced for improving primary PE lessons.
Programmes such as Sport Premium and Change for Life allow BSUK to begin to introduce softball in primary education, despite our Whole Sport Plan funding from Sport England being targeted mainly at the 14-25 age group. But there are key impediments to doing this, primarily the fact that Sport England money cannot be used for programmes in school curriculum time – a restriction that many sports, including baseball and softball through BSUK, are currently lobbying to have changed.
Chris Rawlings told the BSF Executive that BSUK regards it as crucial to crack the issue of gaining a presence for softball in primary schools, and he is presenting a paper next week to BSUK's Development Subcommittee on how more can be done to achieve this. It may be that local softball clubs and leagues can be a key element by being proactive in creating school-club links, especially for Years 4-6.
Following Chris's presentation to the Executive, he will have further discussions with the BSF's new Youth and Schools Officer Claire Waldron, and Claire will also talk to BBF Secretary Giovanni Ciotti about the success of his baseball/softball club, the Leicester Blue Sox, in getting into schools in Leicester.
There is general agreement between BSUK and the BSF that a key aim of school programmes should be to build up local structures, leagues and competitions – but with clear and functioning exit routes to local leagues and Academy Softball.
Matters arising from previous meetings
The Executive looked briefly at a number of action points carried over from previous meetings:
Participation by pregnant women. BSF Administrator Vicky Hall is still attempting to find out what other sports do with regard to participation by pregnant women, so that the BSF can formulate policy on this, but has had little response to enquiries. Claire Waldron will provide some information on this issue from hockey.
Nationals Invitations. Tournaments Officer Liz Graham reported that invitations to leagues and teams for the 2013 Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze Nationals have been sent, and so far around 20 teams have expressed interest.
Nationals Subcommittee. BSF President Stella Ackrell will shortly finalise membership of a BSF Subcommittee that will look at all aspects of National Championships, including access and qualification routes as well as how the tournaments are run. The group will include a range of League Heads across different grades of play, plus other members of the softball community.
ASA Coaches Tour. It has been confirmed that two high-level American slowpitch coaches, Steve Shortland and Cheryl Trapnell, will do a tour of slowpitch leagues in Britain from June 19-July 4, working primarily with players who act as coaches for their teams (whether qualified or not) rather than delivering player clinics, in an effort to raise awareness and understanding of coaching in slowpitch softball. The tour is being supported by the American Amateur Softball Association (ASA) and the BSF. The tour schedule is currently being negotiated with leagues.
Scoring at National Championships
Part of the proposal for improving National Championships presented by Bruce Saunders at the BSF AGM in February was to have an official scorekeeper at all games so that accurate stats can be produced after each competition.
Bruce had suggested that the official scorers could be players from GB youth fastpitch teams, who could raise money by doing it, and the GB Management Committee has now presented a specific proposal to this effect to the Executive.
BSF Tournaments Officer Fiona Thorley will look at National Championship budgets to see if there is scope to support the proposal. The idea is that teams will pay a small amount per game to the scorers as their contribution to national team fundraising, and the BSF will match these contributions.
The urgency of national team fundraising is highlighted by the fact that all seven GB Slowpitch and Fastpitch national teams are in official competitions this year, and the total cost – mostly borne by players and parents – has been estimated at over £100,000.
ASA Bat Certification
As set out in a recent website article, the Amateur Softball Association in America (ASA) is issuing a new sticker in 2013 to certify legal bats – but it is possible that some new bats receiving this certification may be more responsive than was previously allowed.
This is to be countered in America by introduction of new balls in 2014 with a .52 COR but only 300 compression, which it is claimed will cause fewer injuries – but in Britain, the BSF uses balls which are .44 with 375 compression and some leagues use .47 balls.
There is potential here for confusion, and BSF Treasure Mike Jennings, along with the BSF's BASU representative, Chris Moon, will shortly put a statement on the BSF website about this situation.
ISF Congress
The next biennial Congress of the International Softball Federation will be held in October 2013 in Cartagena, Colombia. President Stella Ackrell and Treasurer Mike Jennings will represent the BSF, although there are some concerns about safety issues in travelling to and in Colombia.
This will be an important Congress, however, as it is both a Rule Change and an Election Congress, and it is possible that, for the first time in decades, there could be a leadership change at the top of the ISF.
Slowpitch in China
It has recently been announced that the Chinese Softball Association is to considerably expand slowpitch in the country as a means of getting more people playing the sport.
BSF President Stella Ackrell will contact the ISF to see if Britain, as one of the world's leading slowpitch nations, can be of assistance to the Chinese.
A voice from the past
The BSF Executive has been contacted by one of its earliest Presidents, Stuart Houghton, who headed the organisation in the late 1980s. Stuart has a large collection of archive material from the organisation's early years and has offered it to the BSF.
Mike Jennings will take delivery of the material, and the BSF plans to scan and archive electronically anything that seems of historical worth.
BSF Development Grant applications
The BSF Executive had received four applications for BSF Development Grants since its last meeting in April. Two of the applications were approved, another was granted funding but not as a development grant and the fourth was put on hold pending more information.
One of the applications to be awarded a £250 grant was for a Softball Shorts and Essex League Development Programme, submitted by Greater London Softball Mixed League Development Officer Phil Candice. Phil has been running successful taster sessions in Essex with the support of the Redbacks Baseball and Softball Club, and hopes to move on to midweek training sessions, with the aim of starting a new league in Essex next season. The grant will be spent primarily on equipment.
The second application to be approved, also for £250, was from a new women's fastpitch team created by the Leicester Blue Sox Baseball Club to be part of the recently-formed East Midlands Fastpitch League. The club is also delivering extra-curricular baseball and softball programmes in area schools and colleges and hopes to create a junior fastpitch team in future. The grant will be used primarily to subsidise the cost of equipment.
A third application, submitted by the GB Management Committee, was for £250 to purchase prizes and other materials to support a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for GB Softball teams and players. The Executive decided that this was not really a development activity, but agreed to provide the money in any case to support what is now an organised fundraising programme headed by University of Southampton Fundraising Officer Kat Carter. Should the crowdfunding effort be successful, the BSF may look for some of the money it has fronted to be repaid.
A fourth application, from the Mescalitos Banditos, was to help with the establishment and training of a new team in the Greater London Softball Mixed League. The Executive has put this application on hold until more information can be received from the league and the club.
Use of dedicated fields at Farnham Park
With the newly-built baseball and softball diamonds at Farnham Park expected to come into use this summer, BSUK has been establishing policies around how the fields are to be allocated during major tournaments where the new diamonds are used in conjunction with adjacent grass pitches.
BSUK is keen that use of the dedicated fields is rotated so that teams from all grades get to play on them, and has asked the BSF Executive if it supports this approach.
The Executive gave its whole-hearted backing to this policy, and will take this approach in scheduling the Single-Sex Slowpitch Nationals and the Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze Nationals later this summer.
Perpetual trophies for Europe
The BSF has ordered a perpetual trophy for winners of the European Slowpitch Cup, to record winners of the competition over time, and will donate this to the European Softball Federation.
A perpetual trophy for winners of the European Slowpitch Championships has been provided by the ESF, and is currently in the possession of the GB Slowpitch Team, which has won the title eight straight times. However, this trophy is currently in bad condition, and the BSF plans to order a replacement, donate this to the ESF, and leave the old trophy to remain with the GB Slowpitch programme.
Slowpitch World Cup
The International Softball Federation has now circulated information about the proposed Slowpitch World Cup scheduled for January 2014 in Florida to member federations around the world.
Members of the BSF Executive will liaise with ESF Slowpitch Commissioner John Austin from Ireland to promote the tournament to countries within Europe.
Six teams need to enter for the ISF to consider the competition viable, and the entry deadline is August 23. But the BSF would like to see far more than six entries in the competition.
Next Meeting
The next BSF Executive conference call meeting will be on Thursday evening 13 June.
Anyone with items to bring to the agenda should contact BSF Administrator [encode=vicky.hall@britishsoftball.org title=Vicky Hall].