The 2011 Softball League Heads Forum has been scheduled by the British Softball Federation for Saturday, November 26 starting at 11.00 am in the Pavilion at the Moor Lane Sports Ground in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, site of the League All-Star and Single-Sex Nationals.
Invitations to this year's meeting will be issued not only to softball league heads, but to tournament organisers and other key members of the softball community. This is because the meeting will have two additional elements this year: a workshop session on the structure and future configuration of the National Softball League (NSL), and a consultation by BSUK on aspects of the 2013-2017 Whole Sport Plan for baseball and softball, which will be submitted to Sport England next spring.
NSL session
The workshop session on the National Softball League will look at questions that have been under discussion for more than a year, such as the proposal for an NSL 2 for B-grade teams and the possible extension of the NSL structure to C-grade in future.
Issues such as promotion and relegation between NSL divisions will be debated, as well as how NSL competition will be hosted in future and the qualification pathways to the various BSF National Championships.
The BSF Executive, which will hold a weekend meeting on November 12-13, will bring its own ideas on the NSL to the table and will hope that proposals will emerge from the League Heads Forum that can be implemented for the 2012 season and beyond.
Whole Sport Plan consultation
BSUK staff and Board members are already at work on the Whole Sport Plan for baseball and softball for 2013-2017, which will provide the basis for Sport England funding to both sports for the next four-year cycle.
The good news is that funding to baseball and softball for another four years appears to be guaranteed. But the new Whole Sport Plan will need to balance needs identified by the sports with government and Sport England priorities and requirements.
A major consultation exercise with both the baseball and softball communities is planned to determine what participants and organisers want to see from the next round of funding, and the Softball League Heads Forum has been identified as an opportunity to get the views of key softball organisers.
BSUK will circulate information to participants in advance of the session to help focus the discussion.
Details
Anyone who would like to suggest agenda items for the League Heads Forum to consider should email BSF General Officer .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
The BSF will reimburse transport costs to the League Heads Forum based on an established formula for one representative from each softball league and may extend this to others who are specifically invited to the meeting.