The British Softball Federation’s 2016 AGM will be held on Saturday 20 February in Manchester, and the BSF is looking for motions to the AGM and nominations for positions on the BSF Executive, for the BSF’s annual awards and for the BSF Hall of Fame.
An AGM Pack with timing and location details as well as reports, nominations, motions, proposals from the Executive and requirements for AGM attendance will be distributed to teams and leagues and placed on the BSF website by the end of January.
The 2016 AGM Day will feature the BSF’s annual League Heads Forum meeting (postponed from November) beginning at 11.00 am, and after a lunch break, the formal AGM will be held in the afternoon.
Nominations for the BSF Executive​
The BSF Executive has lost several key Officers during 2015 for a variety of reasons and urgently needs to recruit more members so that the Executive can once again be fully functional.
Nominations can be made for any of the Executive positions listed below except the BASU Representative, who is appointed by BASU, but those positions marked with an asterisk (*) are currently vacant and are the main priority.
Nominations and self-nominations should be emailed to BSF President Stella Ackrell (stella.ackrell@britishsoftball.org) and must contain evidence of suitability for the role applied for. Executive position are:
President
Administrator*
Treasurer
National Teams Officer*
Tournaments Officer/Statistics and Administration
Tournaments Officer/Logistics*
Youth & Schools Officer
Marketing Officer*
Communications Officer*
General Officers* (two can be elected)
BASU Representative
Safeguarding Officer*
Communications Officer*
London Liaison Officer
All Officers except the Safeguarding Officer, Communications Officer and London Liaison Officer are also Directors of BSF Ltd.
For information about the duties and requirements for each position, please contact Stella Ackrell.
The deadline for nominations for the BSF Executive is 5.00 pm on Friday 15 January 2016.
Motions to the AGM
Anyone who wishes to bring a Motion to the BSF AGM should send the proposal, plus an explanation and rationale, to BSF President Stella Ackrell (stella.ackrell@britishsoftball.org) no later than 5.00 pm on Friday 15 January 2016.
Motions can also be proposed from the floor at the AGM, but can then only be considered if two-thirds of those present vote to do so.
Nominations for Annual Awards
The BSF presents a number of annual awards for services to softball, and nominations are invited for the awards listed below.
Awards will only be presented in categories were nominations are received.
Nominations should be emailed to BSF President Stella Ackrell (stella.ackrell@britishsoftball.org) no later than 5.00 pm on Friday 15 January 2016, and should contain information to support the nomination.
The categories are:
The Glover Cup – For long-standing and noteworthy service to softball organisation over many years or for an outstanding administrative achievement.
The President's Club Award – For the club or team that has made the most outstanding strides in softball development during the previous season.
The League Glover Cup – For the league that has made the most outstanding strides in softball development during the previous season.
Youth Coach of the Year – For the coach who has done the most outstanding job in coaching youth softball during the previous season, whether GB or domestic.
Adult Coach of the Year – For the coach who has done the most outstanding job in coaching adult softball during the previous season, whether GB or domestic.
Tournament of the Year – The outstanding domestic softball tournament of the 2015 season.
Tournament Umpire of the Year – The outstanding BASU tournament umpire from the 2015 season.
Youth Team of the Year – The outstanding youth softball team of the year, GB or domestic.
The Betsy Holden Award – For the young person (aged under 18) who has done the most to advance and promote softball during the previous year.
Future Leaders Softball Volunteer of the Year -- For the volunteer who has made the most important or outstanding contribution to softball during the previous year.
Nominations for the BSF Hall of Fame
The fifth group of inductions to the BSF Hall of Fame will take place at the 2016 AGM. The purpose of the Hall of Fame is: “To honour those men and women who have played a major role in the growth and development of, or demonstrated outstanding achievement and ability within, British Softball.”
The categories under which people can be nominated and then assessed and accepted (or rejected) for the Hall of Fame are:
- Players
- Umpires
- Coaches (adult and youth)
- Managers (of clubs or national teams)
- Organisers/Administrators (of leagues, BSF, BASU etc)
- Development work
- Media work
Criteria are as follows:
- To be nominated, people must have been active in the category in which they are being nominated for at least two years. This applies across all categories.
- People can only be nominated for the Hall of Fame after they have been “retired” for one year from being active in the category for which they are nominated – unless they have been active in that category for 10 years or more. In that case, they can be nominated even if still active.
- People can be nominated in a category in which they are no longer active even if still active in other categories.
- People can be nominated and elected in more than one category, but nominations for different categories will need to be made and assessed separately.
- Non-British nationals can be nominated and elected to the BSF Hall of Fame.
- In considering nominations, the BSF is not necessarily looking only for the “best of the best” in each category, but can also elect candidates for "superior and/or inspirational performance".
Hall of Fame nominations, with supporting information, should be emailed to BSF President Stella Ackrell (stella.ackrell@britishsoftball.org) no later than 5.00 pm on Friday 15 January 2016.