BaseballSoftballUK has received the full funding award it requested from Sport England – a total of £1,081,000 – for the period .jpg)
from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2021.
Historically, very few sports are awarded their full request for core funding, and to receive this level of grant is a clear vote of confidence by Sport England in both the vision set out in BSUK’s application and its track record of delivery over past funding cycles.
Targets for the 2019-21 period will include an increase in participation to 26,811 by 31 March 2020 and 27,561 by 31 March 2021. Much of this will be generated through increased participation among women and girls, members of the LGBTQ+ community and lower socio-economic groups, as well as those experiencing life transitions (school-to-university, moving into the workplace and moving to new cities).
BaseballSoftballUK will also be expected to meet already-set Talent development targets through its Academy and High Performance Academy programmes, and part of the investment will go into maintaining the high standards of administration, financial management and governance that Sport England expects and that BSUK has consistently achieved.
BSUK CEO John Boyd said, “The award focuses on our socially significant outreach to women and girls, the LGBTQ+ community and those less advantaged, and it provides continued support to BaseballSoftballUK’s flagship programmes and areas of work, including the Academy and High Performance Academy, Farnham Park, university baseball and softball and Hit the Pitch (particularly relating to corporate softball). It will allow business to continue as normal, while also providing an opportunity for us to build a number of new revenue streams that will help to sustain our development activity for years to come. We are grateful to Sport England for this opportunity and for their willing partnership with us.”
Sport England response
In communicating the outcome of the funding application to BSUK on 12 December, Sport England made the point that the agency’s application was clear and easy to follow and included a credible and appropriate response to Sport England’s requirement that sports become more self-sufficient over time through commercial development.
BaseballSoftballUK has already made substantial progress in this regard by appointing a Head of Commercial, building a new Commercial Department and engaging with Sport England’s commercial framework activity led by Sports Collective.
For Sport England, the value in funding baseball and softball is not so much around volume in participation growth, but rather in the social benefit our sports can bring to specific target groups such as women and girls, LGBTQ+ and lower socio-economic groups.
Reaction
John Boyd said, “Sport England’s announcement is a vote of confidence in the good work being carried out by BaseballSoftballUK to develop the sports in this country. They have agreed that the plan we put forward is both modern in outlook and highly beneficial to both sports.
“Sport England should be commended for their timely support of our sports at a time when the nation’s eyes will be turned towards us thanks to the MLB London Series taking place next June when the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will play regular-season games here.
“Thanks to this financial support,” John added, “the sports will continue to have a professional development agency which can now continue unencumbered to deliver meaningful growth and development on behalf of the sports for the next two years.”