The British Softball Federation Executive has made two Development Grant awards of £250 each: one to a recently-formed slowpitch softball club in St Helens on Merseyside to purchase equipment for new players and the other to the Great Britain Fastpitch League (GBFL) to help with umpire development.
The awards
The new slowpitch club, the St Helens Sabres, the only softball team in its immediate areas, already has one team that plays in the Sefton Softball League but is looking to form a second team because promotion of the club on Facebook has attracted a lot of local interest. In order to hold training sessions to teach the game to new players, the club needs additional bases, balls and gloves.
The Great Britain Fastpitch League is working with BASU to develop more fastpitch umpires to support competition by a growing number of teams. This year, the league plans to have two umpires for every game -- an experienced umpire behind the plate and a trainee umpire in the field – and the league is also supporting a fastpitch umpire training course that BASU Fastpitch Officer and ISF-certified umpire Bridget Cameron will deliver on Sunday 8 May.
The grant will be used to pay the trainee umpires at standard BASU rates to encourage their participation but without having to pass this cost on to GBFL players, who are already facing substantial league fees for just four Saturdays of league play.
Rolling programme
The BSF maintains a rolling programme of Development Grants, usually up to a maximum of £250, and applications can be made by teams, clubs, leagues and in some cases individuals throughout the year for development-related projects.
For an application form, please contact BSF Administrator Lesley Morisetti.