A wide-ranging and constructive League Heads Forum meeting was hosted by the BSF on Sunday, 13 January in Birmingham. Representatives from 10 slowpitch leagues and the Great Britain Fastpitch League met with members of the BSF Executive and BASU Committee as well as staff members from BSUK.
Attendance
Representatives from the following leagues attended the meeting:
Birmingham
Central Scotland
East Midlands
Edinburgh
Great Britain Fastpitch League
Greater London Softball Mixed League
Leeds
London Advertising League
Manchester
Oxford
Windsor and Maidenhead
Apologies were received from:
Brighton & Hove
Bristol
Norfolk
Solent
The meeting began with a request to League Heads to report on their experiences and strategies regarding website administration, adult and youth development, indoor softball and facilities.
Use of the BSF website
All of the leagues present register their teams on the BSF website, but only some register players and very few make full use of the league administration functionality that the site offers.
One problem appears to be that more and more leagues are operating “split seasons”, where divisions are re-adjusted midway through the summer – a development that the website has not been set up to handle.
There may also need to be adjustments to ensure that website charges for team registration (which the BSF will pay in 2013) are not re-applied to the same teams in split-season scenarios or when leagues run indoor competitions in the winter.
The BSF would like all leagues to register players as well as teams, however, so that the governing body has the means to communicate with all those playing the sport.
Adult development
Most leagues make annual efforts to attract new players, with varying degrees of success.
Phil Candice, who heads the development programme run by the Greater London Softball Mixed League (GLSML), reported that the league has had consistent success by running 12 weeks of Monday night development sessions for newcomers each summer in Regents Park. This has consistently led to at least one new team joining the league the following season, and three new teams will be joining in 2013. There is also the possibility that the GLSML may develop an off-shoot league in Essex.
“It's all about getting interested individuals into a structure,” Phil said, “and it's always about next year rather than this year. We found that people were really nervous about trying a new sport with new people. But being in a group of new players made it easier for them than joining an experienced team as an individual.”
The GLSML provides equipment for the development sessions, and operates a loan system for gloves, since new players are often reluctant to buy their own until they know they want to stick with the sport. The league has also ordered batting nets for the coming summer, which will make hitting instruction more efficient.
“Interestingly,” Phil Candice added, “we often get more women than men at our development sessions, and it's often women who take the leadership roles as new teams are formed.”
In Manchester, rookie sessions run by a BSUK coach are held alongside match nights, so new players can see what they're training for. And new teams that form from these sessions are allowed to join the league after the first schedule rotation, so they don't have to wait a year to play.
Oxford also holds some rookie sessions on match nights, and new players get to play in a series of pre-season “fun games”.
Youth development
Because slowpitch softball in the UK is mostly played by adults, youth development has never been widespread among slowpitch teams and leagues.
In Edinburgh, a number of teachers play in the league and sometimes conduct softball sessions in schools. But there is as yet no link between these sessions and league play, and the only young players in the league are the children of adult players.
“In Glasgow,” according to Peter Kratzel from the Central Scotland Softball League, “there are transport and other logistics issues that make it tough for kids to play – as well as the difficulty in getting parents to attend.”
The East Midlands Softball League (EMSL) actually has a team of youth players who compete in the lower division, where they do very well. But most of these players have had previous experience in youth baseball or fastpitch. Academy Softball Director Paul Cooper, who is based in Nottingham, has run school sessions there over a number of years – but while the kids have been keen to play in school time, very few have turned out for after-school sessions that could lead on to league play.
The EMSL is also making efforts to support its university team to cover the loss of players at the end of the summer term, and to help those university players who return home find local teams to play for.
Will Lintern, BSUK's new National Development Manager, said: “The real solution to youth development in slowpitch is to create youth competition structures, and one way to do that might be in partnership with local baseball clubs.
“Further and Higher Education are key sectors for BSUK,” Will added, “but we need to develop connections to local leagues.”
Indoor softball
An increasing number of leagues around the country now run indoor competition over the winter, and the Central Scotland League has found that recruiting works better in the winter because more students are around.
Finding adequate indoor facilities at reasonable cost is sometimes a problem, but universities can often host indoor play, which has obvious recruiting advantages. It was suggested that the BSF might organise an indoor university challenge competition, partly as a way to convince BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) that softball is gaining the critical mass that could lead to official recognition as a university sport.
Some leagues have had trouble finding indoor softballs, but these can be purchased from the Baseball & Softball Shop in the UK and from Covee in the Netherlands.
Facilities and fees
The fees that leagues pay for pitch hire varies widely around the country, but none of the leagues in attendance at the Forum has any kind of long-term lease agreement with their facility providers, which is a prerequisite for serious facility development. Sport England has a programme called Inspired Facilities, with grants of up to £50,000 available, and they would welcome more softball and baseball applications. But a lease of at least seven years that provides security of tenure is required to apply for these grants.
Some leagues, and in particular the London Advertising League, are now facing VAT charges for pitch hire, even though VAT has not been charged in the past. Regents Park, where the Ad League and other London leagues play, is now administered by a private agency whose financial model appears to require them to charge VAT, but this is making already expensive pitches almost unaffordable.
It was suggested that BSUK might be able to ask Sport England to apply some pressure over this issue.
BASU issues
BASU Training Officer Chris Moon told the meeting that a new ASA stamp of approval for slowpitch bats came into effect on January 1, and that all bats bearing this stamp will be legal for use in the UK. Meanwhile, there has been no change to the current ASA list of non-approved bats.
Chris also said that while a few umpire courses have been booked for this year, some slots remain open. But with only three trainers available, and a seven-week window in which to run courses, the number of courses that BASU can run this spring may be limited.
The meeting agreed that as many people as possible should be encouraged to attend BASU courses, whether or not they go on to umpire locally or nationally, since the courses increase understanding of the game and the rules. Mike Jennings accepted that attending a two-day course might be a big ask for people who only intend to umpire in their leagues, and leagues can request one-day courses and specify the areas they would like the trainer to cover. “But,” Mike added, “the two-day BASU qualifying course is really the gold standard.”
BASU still needs more tournament umpires, and many tournaments last year had to use too many fill-in umpires, or run some games with no umpire at all.
However, Alan McFarlane from the London Ad League, who has qualified as a BASU umpire, told the meeting that he no longer pays BASU fees because he no longer gets the full BASU rate for fill-in umpiring. This issue will be raised at the BASU AGM in February.
Some leagues are better than others at incorporating umpiring and umpire training into their league structure.
“In Manchester,” said League Head Harry Somers, “we subsidise umpire courses and we pay our umpires handsomely. That seems to be a good motivator!”
The GLSML is planning to set up an umpire “buddy system”, where experienced umpires will attend games to monitor umpire performance, give feedback and boost morale. The teams pay the umpires, but the league will pay the monitors.
There was general agreement that new umpires are sometimes lost because of the abuse they receive from teams, and that leagues need to be tougher in applying penalties to abusers when necessary.
BSUK report
Will Lintern, formerly BSUK's Regional Development Manager in the Midlands but now one of two National Development Managers, attended the meeting to make himself better known to key members of the softball community, since Will's background is baseball.
Will's responsibility will be, as he put it, for “existing stuff” – which means club development, coach development, competitions, facilities and talent development – while BSUK's other National Development Manager, Chris Rawlings, will be responsible for new initiatives.
Will told the meeting that, in his view, “coach development is crucial for the sport. Softball needs more people who can be successful coaches, especially with regard to people skills, and deliver attractive and engaging sessions.”
League Heads agreed that there was a lack of coaches who can effectively teach slowpitch-specific skills, but Will suggested that BSUK coaching courses are likely to concentrate in future on how to be a coach, with sport-specific elements as bolt-ons.
He also suggested that softball leagues should ensure that they engage with their local County Sports Partnerships, since they are in place to provide support and in some cases funding for all sports in their areas.
“We also need to start eliminating the divisions between baseball and softball,” Will said, “and work more closely together – not necessarily at Board level, but with clubs and leagues on the ground.”
Guidance on young players in adult teams
Following a question last season from the Windsor and Maidenhead League on the use of youth players in adult teams, the BSF Executive has drafted some guidelines on the issue, and comments were requested from League Heads before the document is taken to the AGM in February for more general discussion. BSF Administrator Vicky Hall emphasised that the document is intended to provide minimum standards, and that leagues are free to apply more stringent requirements.
From the BSF's point of view, the key principle involved is risk assessment, with each case of an Under-18 player playing in an adult team to be assessed and judged on its merits. For this reason, the BSF is not recommending a minimum age for youth players in adult teams, though some leagues will probably do so.
There was a request for the BSF to provide a risk assessment template for use by softball teams and leagues.
Among the comments from League Heads were that the guidelines should perhaps be made mandatory as a minimum standard; that they should include Under-18 umpires and coaches as well as players; that Under-18 players should wear helmets at all times, whether playing, coaching or sitting on the sidelines; that there should be more direct reference to child protection issues in the document; and that the bureaucracy involved in the risk assessment process should be minimised as much as possible.
One key element in the guidelines is that while it is not necessarily for parents or guardians to be present for young people to play in adult teams (as long as they have signed a permission form), it is essential that a “responsible adult”, who should be CRB-checked, is designated for all games or events where young people are playing, and the young players should be made aware of who these people are.
TourCats in Europe
Kate Page-Smith, President of the new Birmingham Softball League, reported to the meeting on an initiative that she has carried out over the past couple of years to engage grassroots fastpitch and baseball clubs in Europe in recreational slowpitch competition, with the emphasis on fun and cultural exchange.
In 2012, this initiative resulted in the TourCats, a touring team made up of members of the Birmingham Bobcats and others, taking part in a five-team tournament in Germany in May, and then hosting a German team as part of a small tournament in Birmingham in September.
Both events were a tremendous success with regard to the softball played and the atmosphere and friendships generated, and a committee has now been set up with members in Britain, Germany and the Czech Republic to ensure that these events can continue and expand, working in conjunction with both the BSF and the European Softball Federation. Others from British softball who wish to join the committee will be welcome and should contact Kate on: kate.pagesmith@nexus-heritage.com.
National Championships
BSF Tournaments Officer Lesley Morisetti, who is stepping down after the AGM, told the League Heads that in 2013, there will still be two Co-ed Slowpitch National Championship tournaments – the Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze Nationals on August 10-11 and the Premier Nationals on August 31-September 1 – with both events held at Farnham Park if the facilities are ready for play.
The BSF will be investing money in both tournaments to make them more attractive events. One suggestion that came from the meeting was that the BSF should provide meaningful prizes, along with trophies, for teams that win national titles.
The BSF will also run the Single-Sex Slowpitch Nationals on July 20-21, 2013, again at Farnham Park if possible. However, there will be no League All-Star Nationals this year.
In 2014, the BSF plans to run a single Co-ed National Championship, with all grades playing on the same weekend at Farnham Park. This means that players who play for both NSL and league teams will have to choose which one to play for.
It's possible that the BSF could revive League All-Star Nationals in the future, perhaps on a biennial basis, if enough leagues want this to happen.
Tournament issues
The meeting looked briefly at league or privately-run tournaments as opposed to National Championships.
Among the issues raised were the shortage of BASU umpires at some tournaments and confusion over the provision of fill-in umpires. It was also noted that once the dedicated pitches at Farnham Park are ready for play, Diamond Series organisers should ensure that all grades have a chance to play some games on these pitches rather than just A-grade teams.
Coaching support for B/C-grade teams
The BSF is offering to pay for coaching support this spring for a limited number of B-grade and C-grade (and possibly D-grade teams) with aspirations to get better and play in a higher grading.
Teams that sign up for this support will receive a one-day clinic from GB Slowpitch Team coaches and/or players, and then, at a later date, support on game management while playing in league or tournament competition.
Four teams have signed up to date, and the BSF will take more requests before or during the BSF AGM on February 23 (email BSF Administrator Vicky Hall on: vicky.hall@britishsoftball.org).
Insurance
Some teams and leagues have recently requested insurance certificates from the BSF so they can demonstrate insurance cover when booking facilities.
Mike Jennings told the meeting that BSF Civil and Public Liability insurance is continuous, and the BSF can either provide a certificate or a letter from the insurers when needed to prove that insurance is in place.
Bring a Bat, Give a Glove
Mike Jennings also told the League Heads that the BSF will be running its “Bring a Bat, Give a Glove” campaign again this year so that used equipment can be collected, refurbished and used for development purposes.
Mike would like any teams that have used equipment to donate to bring it to the AGM if possible.
Support for corporate initiatives
The BSF is prepared to help fund an equipment kit for any leagues that want to raise money (and potentially recruit new members) by running corporate softball events for local firms and organisations.
Slowpitch coaches from overseas
The British Softball Federation is now twinned with the American Amateur Softball Association (ASA) organisation in Massachusetts, and one outcome of this may be a UK tour later this year by one or more specialist slowpitch coaches from the United States.
Unlike the tour by Combat coaches in 2011, which concentrated on teaching hitting to players, the new tour will be about coaching coaches, both at league level and with the GB Slowpitch Team coaching staff.
League Heads present at the Forum were asked how many would be interested in hosting these coaches, and it was clear that there will be widespread interest in this tour if it takes place.
BSF AGM
The BSF AGM will be held on Saturday, February 23 in Watford, and the BSF asked the League Heads for suggestions for discussion topics for morning workshop sessions.
One session is likely to be around the guidance for young players in adult teams and more general issues of child protection in softball. Other suggestions should be made to BSF Administrator Vicky Hall (vicky.hall@britishsoftball.org).
A full AGM Pack will go out on or around January 23.