May SOFTBALL BULLETIN This is the fifth in a series

May 2008 SOFTBALL BULLETIN This is the fifth in a series of monthly Bulletins that will be produced on behalf of the British Softball Federation in 2008 by BaseballSoftballUK to keep Softball organisers and members up to date with news and opportunities. We hope organisers will continue to ensure that information in these Bulletins reaches their teams and players, even during the off-season. We are very grateful to those league officials and team captains who make this happen on a regular basis. This Bulletin is now only sent out electronically so that recipients can easily send it on to team captains, players and friends. If you know anyone who does not already receive the Bulletin directly and would like to, please send his or her e-mail address to Tim Stride at the BSUK office on: info@baseballsoftballuk.com. The other way to ensure receipt of the Bulletin each month is to register on the BSUK website and tick the appropriate box. If you cannot access the Bulletin electronically, please contact Tim Stride on 020-7453-7055, Option 2 or on the e-mail address shown above, give him your postal address and ask him to send you a hard copy. Anyone who wishes to submit material for inclusion in the Bulletin is welcome to do so. Send copy to: info@baseballsoftballuk.com. The deadline for each month’s Bulletin is the 15th of that month. Check out the BaseballSoftballUK website on www.baseballsoftballuk.com for a range of information beyond that presented in this Bulletin. The website is now updated daily. Contact details for members of the BSF Executive are given towards the end of this Bulletin. General Softball queries should be directed to: Tel: 020-7453-7055, Option 2 E-Mail: info@baseballsoftballuk.com INSIDE THIS MONTH’S BULLETIN…. UPCOMING SLOWPITCH TOURNAMENTS BSF NEWS BSF Affiliation Fees Due by May 31 BSF Executive Meeting: May 19 5 5 4 GB TEAMS IN EUROPE GB Slowpitch Squad Announced for European Championships GB Juniors in Dress Rehearsal for European Championships Meteors Men Take Fourth Place in Zeist Schedule Released for European Slowpitch Championships Voyager Solutions to be Title Sponsor for European Championships GB Slowpitch Team Gets Uniform Sponsorship from Kukri Sports British Entries Complete for European Championships and Cups BSUK Gains CCPR Award for International Strategy 7 8 10 11 12 13 13 14 SOFTBALL NEWS Chaos is the Early Leader in Race for B Nationals Places Men’s A Nationals Back on the Calendar this Summer Use of 11” and 12” Softballs Starts Smoothly in Ireland DEVELOPMENT NEWS FROM BSUK Ball Camps for Kids to Run in London and Bracknell Level 1 Softball Coaching Course to Run in Manchester in June Meet BSUK’s New North West Coach-in-Residence Victory for Sports on Points-Based Migration Regulations Ninety Children Enjoy a Tournament at Timperley Sports Club Second Tournament at Timperley is Even Bigger Corporate Softball Facilitators Needed How to Organise a Company Softball Team BSUK Holds First Regional Forum in Manchester New UK Coaching Framework is Designed to Lead the World 15 16 17 18 19 19 20 21 21 22 23 25 25 TOURNAMENT OPPORTUNITIES Places Still Left for Euroball Tournament Entries Now Open for 2nd Dave Allen Memorial Tournament Bank Holiday Tournament Choice: Glasgow or Ljubljana? Twelve Places Available in Spring Cotswold Tournament 26 27 28 28 2 TOURNAMENT RESULTS Diamond Series 1 Jersey Tournament Single-Sex First Ball LSF First Ball Windsor Firstball Solent Firstball FEATURE STORY A Sporting Gesture Touches ‘Em All 29 30 31 32 34 34 35 INTERNATIONAL NEWS New ESF Website Goes Live Preparations Intensify for Beijing School Development Picking Up through Softball Federations ISF “Back Softball” Task Force Meets in May and June African Softball Confederation Holds First Meeting Two More Teams Set for Men’s Fastpitch World Championships 37 37 38 38 38 39 LATEST 2008 DRAFT CALENDAR CONTACT DETAILS FOR THE NEW BSF EXECUTIVE BRITISH BASEBALL NEWS Runningsports Takes London Mets to Greater Funding Levels GB Baseball Team Takes Second Place at Four Nations Cup 40 43 44 46 3 UPCOMING SLOWPITCH TOURNAMENTS DATES May 24-26 May 24-25 May 24 May 31 TOURNAMENT Guernsey Slowpitch Open Glasgow Tartan Tournament London May Ball BSUK Spring Single-Sex Tournament Diamond Series 2 Cotswold Spring Tournament BSF League AllStar Nationals Pioneers Tournament Leeds Tournament British Airways Tournament Dave Allen Memorial Tournament Guernsey Slowpitch Open GRADES A&B VENUE St Peter Port, Guernsey Glasgow Riverside Lands Riverside Lands Farnham Park Stroud, Glos. CONTACT Melissa Green (moby@guernsey.net) B&C B&C Comp and Rec A, B & C Rec Laura Cameron (glasgow@britishsoftball.org) Tina Franchi (tina.franchi@virgin.net) Donald Morris-Vincent June 7-8 June 8 Diamond Tournaments (info@diamond-softball.co.uk) Mike LeFevre (tobychainsaw@hotmail.com) June 14-15 June 21-22 June 21-22 June 28-29 June 28-29 June 28-29 Gold & Silver A, B & C B&C A, B & C Sutton Liz Graham Coldfield, Birmingham Canterbury Mary Hughes (M.P.Hughes@kent.ac.uk) Leeds Kate Hendrick (katehendrick@gmail.com) BA Concorde Club Competitive RAF Lakenheath Rec St Peter Port Stewart Butcher (batournament@basoftball.co.uk) Terry Reaves (osanterry@hotmail.com) Melissa Green (moby@guernsey.net) Email addresses for BSUK staff members can be found at: http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/bsukcontacts.php. Email addresses for BSF Executive members can be found at: http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/softballcontacts.php. Please note that the British Airways Tournament on June 28-29 has replaced the London May Ball as a qualifying tournament for the B Nationals for Independent B Teams. 4 BSF NEWS BSF AFFILIATION FEES FOR 2008 ARE DUE BY MAY 31 From BSF Executive member Lesley Morisetti: BSF affiliation fees for 2008 are due by Saturday, May 31 from co-ed slowpitch leagues and independent co-ed teams, and penalty fees will mount up on a daily basis from that point on. Single-sex teams, whether fastpitch or slowpitch, will pay on a pay-for-play basis as the season goes along. An affiliation form and list of fees depending on team grading and category can be downloaded from the BSUK website on: http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/downloads/BSF_Affiliation_Fees_2008.pdf. If you are a co-ed slowpitch league team, your league treasurer is responsible for paying your BSF fees, and you might want to check that this gets done before May 31. Finally, the BSF would like to remind teams that fees have not increased in 2008. BSF EXECUTIVE MEETING: MONDAY, MAY 19 The BSF Executive held the second of a planned series of bi-weekly conference call meetings on Monday evening, May 19. Participating were Stella Ackrell, Libby Moss, Liz Graham, Lesley Morisetti, Roger Grooms, Carmel Keswick, Gary Hoxby, Chris Moon as the BASU representative and Bob Fromer representing BSUK. The main topics covered were as follows: BSF Incorporation: Various options have been explored, but the Executive is still trying to find a straightforward and low-cost means of incorporation. The question of whether the BSF can incorporate with charitable status is also being researched – although this prospect seems unlikely. BSUK Chair Geof Ellingham, who is familiar with the processes involved, will offer help and advice. BSF Accounts: BSF accounts for 2007-2008 are still being completed, and a budget for 2008-2009 has yet to be set. The accounts will hopefully be done in the next two to three weeks, and the BSF will then have a baseline figure with regard to funds available for major expenditure commitments this year, including the costs of hosting the European Slowpitch Championships. 5 European Slowpitch Championships Update: Roger Grooms, who is leading the organisation of the tournament on behalf of the BSF, reported on recent sponsorships that have been secured from Voyager Solutions, Redcliffe Imaging and others. There seems to be a reasonable chance that the tournament can break even, including the cost of a 23-minute highlight programme to be professionally produced and broadcast on Sky Television after the event. Roger has also secured a good complement of volunteers to help run the tournament and is drawing up a detailed list of tasks and assignments for what will be a logistically complex week. The Executive discussed plans to have a bouncy castle on site for kids in light of a recent court case arising from a child who was brain-damaged while using one, and will review the issue at a subsequent meeting. BSUK National Development Manager Hayley Scott and Carmel Keswick will report on planned development activities to be carried out in the Solent area around the event at the next Executive meeting. ESF Affiliation Fees: The ESF used to have a tiered system of affiliation fees paid by national federations based on numbers of players, and Britain has paid at the highest level of 950 euros because of our large slowpitch population. Now the ESF has moved to a flat rate fee for all countries of 350 euros, but some of the poorer countries will struggle and there has been an understanding that the richer countries – including Britain – would make some kind of additional voluntary contribution in cash or in kind to help. Because of uncertainty about the costs of hosting the European Slowpitch Championships this year, the Executive decided to pay only the 350 euro fee initially and will look later at whether an additional contribution can be made. National Teams Levy: The sum of £10 from affiliation fees paid to the BSF by member teams is ring-fenced to help support slowpitch and fastpitch national teams, with 50% going each year to GB Slowpitch and the rest divided each year among senior and junior fastpitch teams in official (ESF or ISF) competition. Because of the transition involved in the BSF taking control of its own finances in 2007, the NTL was not paid to eligible teams, but the Executive confirmed that it will be paid retrospectively once the 2007-2008 accounts are complete. The NTL due to national teams in 2008 will be paid once all fees are in. Youth Development: Carmel Keswick reported to the Executive on a productive youth development meeting held on May 14 involving members of the BSF Executive with a particular interest in youth issues, BSUK development staff and Rob Burnie from the Horsham Baseball and Softball Club. Carmel noted that a great deal of encouraging work is getting accomplished with regard to youth development, in large part due to the efforts of Hayley Scott and members of BSUK Development Teams. BSF Meetings: The Executive will continue to have phone meetings every other Monday night (the next is June 2), but would like to convene a face-to-face meeting when possible. Executive members will see if a weekend date when most can attend can be identified. Anyone who would like to have an issue discussed at a BSF Executive meeting should contact BSF Executive Secretary Libby Moss through the Softball Contacts Page on the BSF or BSUK website (http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/softballcontacts.php). 6 GB TEAMS IN EUROPE GB SLOWPITCH SQUAD SELECTED FOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS GB Slowpitch Team Head Coach Mark Saunders has announced the selection of an 18player squad – nine men and nine women – who will compete for Britain in the 6th European Slowpitch Championships at Southampton University from July 9-12. Although the squad contains a number of veteran players, there is a relatively new look overall, with three men and three women who will playing in the European Championships for the first time and another two men and two women who will playing in only their second European event. The full squad is: Men David Baird Martin Cartledge Lee Cornwall Simon Farbrace Brett Gibbens Steve Hazard Pete Nightingale Steve Patterson Dan Spinks Women Kim Akehurst Jenny Ball Vicky Chapman Emily Clifford Nicola Duerden Moe Flett Fiona Hunter Ruth Macintosh Dani Snyders Primary Other Position Positions 1 4, 5, 7, 10 9 7 9 4 7 6 4 4 1 Primary Position 4 5 2 3 8 5 2 8 3 7 1, 5 10 4, 7, 10 6 6 4 Other Positions 2 2 3, 8, 9 2 9, 2 4 3, 8, 9 9 2 Previous Europeans 4 2 0 1 4 0 0 3 1 Previous Europeans 0 0 2 2 0 2 1 2 1 A further announcement will be made shortly on a reserve list of players who can be called on in case of injury to any of the selected players. 7 GB JUNIOR WOMEN IN DRESS REHEARSAL FOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS A very young GB Junior Women’s Fastpitch Team, consisting of a mix of Under-19 and Under-16 players, but with no one older than 17, has had a valuable dress rehearsal for the European Junior Championships coming up in August. The GB team, along with six other European Under-19 national teams and one of Belgium’s top adult club teams, travelled to the outskirts of Antwerp on the weekend of May 10-11 to compete in the eight-team Hugo Baert Memorial Tournament, hosted by the Belgian baseball/ softball club Pioneers. GB finished sixth, but that was a good showing against some very stiff opposition, and the more important point was that the team gained valuable experience and turned in some very good performances in what was an unexpectedly high-level tournament. A number of factors elevated this tournament above the usual European club-based event. The first was that Under-19 national teams from the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Spain and Belgium joined GB in using the event as a warm-up for the European Junior Championships in August. Second, the tournament was used to assess nine European umpires completing an International Softball Federation (ISF) training course, so the umpire contingent was more numerous, more professional and more zealous than the competitors might have expected. And third, the tournament was attended by a host of top officials from the ESF and ISF, including ISF Secretary-General Andy Loechner, who was there to make a presentation to long-time Belgian softball administrator Jacques Reinenbergh, recently elected to the ISF Hall of Fame. So all in all, the GB players were able to experience and play in a tournament that felt much like a European Championship, and that will stand them in good stead for the real thing in August. As GB catcher Steph Pearce said afterwards, “I can't wait until the Europeans! Now we've seen the standard we are playing against, we know what to expect.” Group of Death In fact, with any luck, the standard that the GB Juniors will face when playing in the European Championship B Pool in August will be somewhat lower than they faced in Belgium (GB has been assigned to the B Pool because we didn’t play in the last European Junior Championships in 2006, though we finished sixth in 2004). But the Belgian organisers, in their wisdom, placed GB in a four-team round-robin “Group of Death” consisting of the Czech Republic and Germany, who wound up contesting the final, and the Netherlands, who came second in the 2006 European Junior Championships and are traditionally one of the top teams in Europe. Playing in the other pool were Belgium, France and Spain, all teams that are more on GB’s current level. But there is a lot to be learned when playing better teams, and the young GB players learned a lot over the weekend. 8 Perhaps it was more shock than learning that took place in their opening game on Saturday afternoon, when GB took on the Czech Republic and gave up eight runs in the first inning on four Czech hits and five GB errors. Things got worse after that rather than better and the final score was a chastening 27-1. But GB bounced back in the next game against Holland, and gave a very good account of themselves in a 10-3 defeat. Hannah Thompson drove in GB’s first run with a sharp single in the second inning, and a double over the head of the Dutch left fielder by Steph Pearce was the key blow in the third inning when GB scored twice more, including a run on a double steal of second and home. Claire Ferris pitched three strong innings for GB, Charlotte Morgan pitched the fourth and JJ Rushworth pitched a scoreless fifth, helped by an unassisted double play pulled off by Claire Ferris on a line drive to first base. Sunday Sunday dawned beautiful and clear, and the GB team were at the field by 7.30 for the free breakfast supplied by the club and then a game against undefeated Germany, who had sent a powerful squad of 18 and 19-year-olds to the competition. But German pitcher Nicola Wunn had trouble finding the strike zone in the top of the first inning and GB scored three times thanks to six walks, a hit batter, three wild pitches, four stolen bases and a single up the middle by JJ Rushworth. But it should have been a lot more, as two GB runners made outs on the bases to let the Germans off the hook. Then, in the bottom of the first, Germany had a runner on base and two out when GB second base player Kelly Randall couldn’t quite catch a pop fly behind first base off the bat of German cleanup hitter Veronica Lutticke. Games turn on those sorts of missed opportunities, and the Germans went on to score five runs before GB could get the third out. Again, GB played well against a very good team, and only a final six-run outburst by Germany in the last inning made the final score of 16-3 seem one-sided. Having survived the Group of Death, GB now got a chance to play a team from the weaker group, and met Belgium in what was effectively a Plate semi-final. And this time it was Britain’s turn for a mercy-rule win. Claire Ferris pitched all five innings, giving up only five runs (just two were earned) and striking out seven Belgians, including all three outs in the final inning. Meanwhile, GB scored in every inning except the third in running out 13-5 winners. Claire Ferris helped her own cause with two hits, and other key hits came from JJ Rushworth and sisters Laura and Hannah Thompson. The win put Britain into a final game to determine fifth and sixth place, but there was to be no easy opposition as GB once again came up against Holland. This time, three Dutch pitchers combined to hold GB hitless and scoreless, and though GB held their own in the field, the Dutch scored at least once in every inning and won the game 10-0. Hope for the Future This very young GB Junior Team is not yet ready to take on the elite European Under-19 sides such as the Germans, Czechs and Dutch – but GB held their own in every game except the opener against the Czechs, and played better and better as the tournament went along. 9 The three players from the GB Under-16 squad who were called up to play in this tournament – Laura Thompson, Ceanna Madden and Victoria Keswick – all did extremely well in their first experience at this level, and the GB youth programme clearly has a group of talented players who will only get better as they get more coaching and tournament experience. With both GB Under-19 and Under-13 teams playing in European Championships later this summer, we’ll have a better sense of where our young players stand in Europe by the time the season is over. METEORS MEN’S FASTPITCH TEAM TAKES FOURTH PLACE IN ZEIST The London Meteors Men’s Fastpitch Team attended the 25th Zeister Slot Tournament in Holland from May 10-12, looking to go one better than they did the previous year and win the trophy. Meteors started off well in their first game of the day on Saturday, easily accounting for host team Phoenix by a score of 10-0. The next game, against the Netherlands B team, ended up being one of the games of the day. It finished with a 3-2 scoreline, but unfortunately Meteors ended up on the wrong side of the result after a walk-off single up the middle in the bottom of the seventh inning by the Netherlands leadoff hitter secured the win for the Dutch. Day Two started off with a game against European Champions Czech Republic. Slow starts were a problem for Meteors throughout the tournament and this game was no different. Many unearned runs were scored by the Czechs through dropped chances or players not reading the flight of the ball in the outfield; otherwise, the game might have been quite close. It wasn’t. The second game on Sunday, against the Danish National Team, brought more of the same: a slow start by London Meteors and a quick start by Denmark. In the end, the mercy rule came into effect and the game was called after the fifth inning with the score 7-0 to Denmark. These two losses saw Meteors drop from second place after to Day 1 to fourth place, which meant a further game had to be played that evening against Lakenheath. After two hard games in which the Meteors had seen significantly faster pitching, the Lakenheath game was an easier proposition and the Meteors won quite easily. This win ensured an early morning start on the final day against Pool A winners South Africa. History was to repeat itself in this game, as it often does. In 1998, the South African team came to Zeist, faced Meteors' pitcher Russ Snow, and lost. Ten years later, in 2008, the same thing was about to happen. The game went down to the seventh inning, but Meteors strung together some hits at the right time and came out on top by a score of 4-3. It must have been a big disappointment for the South African team, as they were undefeated to that point with a record of 5-0. Meteors were now one game away from the final – but in their way was the Danish National Team that had already applied the mercy rule to the Meteors the previous day. The starter for the Meteors was Jared Welch and for Denmark Kim Hansen. But the game turned out to be a non-event, as Denmark once again proved too strong for Meteors, who gave Jared Welch little support in the field. It was tournament over for Meteors, who finished in fourth place out of 10 teams. 10 The Czech National Team then beat the Danes 9-3 in the tournament final, with no love lost between the sides as the Danish catcher was thrown out of the game in the first inning and the benches cleared. Special mention must be made of some Meteors players: Steve Fullan, who put the squad together and got everything organised. Russ Snow, who travelled all the way from the USA to participate and still manages to wind his arm over for the boys. Jared Welch and Scott Dale, pick-up players currently playing in The Netherlands, who added strength to the Meteors squad. James Bullard, who travelled from Denmark to play with the Meteors. And finally, Wesley Knapp, just for being Wes. Stan Doney SCHEDULE RELEASED FOR EUROPEAN SLOWPITCH CHAMPIONSHIPS The European Softball Federation has now released the schedule of games for the 6th European Slowpitch Championships, to be hosted by the BSF at Southampton University from July 9-12. Five teams are taking part: Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Jersey and Slovenia, and the GB Slowpitch Team will be hoping to win the title for the sixth straight time. GB will have to survive a tough opening day, however, on Wednesday, July 9, when they meet Jersey at noon, the Czech Republic at 2.00 pm and finish with a game against arch-rivals Ireland at 6.45 pm, following the tournament’s Opening Ceremony at 6.00. The tournament will be played as a double round-robin from Wednesday through Friday, followed by a four-game Page Playoff on Saturday. The Grand Final is scheduled for 5.30 pm on Saturday, July 12 with the closing ceremony to follow. To look at the schedule in full, visit the Fixtures section of the European Slowpitch Championship website: www.softballeuros08.com. 11 VOYAGER SOLUTIONS TO BE TITLE SPONSOR FOR EUROPEAN SLOWPITCH CHAMPIONSHIPS This initial announcement of a Title Sponsor for the European Slowpitch Championships will be followed by more announcements on the BSUK and tournament websites in the coming days. The BSF is delighted to welcome Voyager Solutions as the Title Sponsor for the European Slowpitch Softball Championships. The competition, taking place at Southampton University Sports Ground from July 9-12, involves teams from across Europe. Great Britain will be hoping to defend the title they won two years ago in Slovenia. Roger Grooms, lead organiser of the event on behalf of the BSF, said of the tie-up with Voyager Solutions: "This is brilliant. Without Voyager this event would be nowhere near as big as it is and may not have even happened. Now, with Voyager on board, and the level of support they are investing, we can make this competition a memorable occasion. Voyager has worked with some of the biggest companies out there, and the fact that they have chosen to work with us is a fantastic reflection on the time and effort the BSF is going to in organising this major European sporting event.” Paul Taplin, Managing Director of Voyager Solutions, views the sponsorship of the European Championships as an exciting opportunity: “We have been delivering successful organisational change programmes for the last 10 years and have recently further expanded our European presence through some critical new relationships. We are delighted to sponsor a sport that brings together European teams and focuses on both individual and team performance. In our game, we are winning on exactly the same basis!” With a fresh approach to organisational change management, Voyager Solutions has delivered over 25 major programmes to an international blue chip client base. Working with people at all levels to deliver successful process or technology-based change, Voyager has access to the most talented organisational change consultants around and has a dynamic team of professionals working to deliver focused, positive and professional results. Voyager delivers every day with the passion of a start-up company, but the experience of a consulting firm with 10 years in the industry. Voyager provides: • • • • • • • Change Programme Management Organisational Development Sponsorship and Leadership Support Training and Education Job and Role Development Cultural and Behavioural Programme Support Process Performance “Great clients have great aspirations. We like that a lot.” For more information on a fresh approach to project delivery, please visit www.voyagersolutions.co.uk. 12 For more information on the European Slowpitch Championships, visit the tournament website: www.softballeuros08.com. GB SLOWPITCH TEAM GETS UNIFORM SPONSORSHIP FROM KUKRI SPORTS The GB Slowpitch Team has announced a three-year partnership with Kukri Sports, sportswear and uniform manufacturers for over 50 sports with offices in the UK, Ireland, Spain, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Kukri Sports will be supplying playing kit for the GB Slowpitch Team in this year’s European Slowpitch Championships and the GB Team will be working closely with Kukri in developing their new softball kit range. GB Softball chose Kukri Sports because they are UK-based and can supply bespoke designs, and because they are interested in developing a whole new style of softball wear. GB Head Coach Mark Saunders signed the deal with Scott Gamble from Kukri Sports on April 23 and work has already started on designing the new kit for European Championships. For more information on Kukri Sports, visit their website: www.kukrisports.com. ENTRIES COMPLETE FOR 2008 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS AND CUP TOURNAMENTS The European Softball Federation (ESF) has now released a complete list of the countries entered in European Championships and clubs entered in European Cup competitions in 2008. Great Britain is sending teams to four European Championship tournaments this summer: the European Slowpitch Championships, European Men’s Fastpitch Championships, European Junior (Under-19) Women’s Fastpitch Championships and European Minime (Under-13) Girls’ Fastpitch Championships. In addition, three British club teams will be competing in European Cup competitions this year. Chromies and Baker Tomkins will both take part in the European Slowpitch Cup (Chromies as defending champions), while London Angels will compete in the B Pool of the European Women’s Fastpitch Cup. Two more British teams have pulled out of European Cup tournaments after initially entering. London Meteors have pulled out of the European Men’s Fastpitch Cup and Monkeys have withdrawn from the B Pool of the European Women’s Fastpitch Cup-Winners’ Cup. 13 European Championships Below are the dates and venues for each European tournaments in which British teams will be involved this summer, and the competition they will face, listed in order of ranking. European Co-ed Slowpitch Championships July 9-12, Southampton, England The GB Slowpitch Team will defend its European title again the Czech Republic, Ireland, Slovenia and Jersey. European Men’s Fastpitch Championships July 28-August 2, Copenhagen, Denmark The GB Men’s Fastpitch Team came fourth in European Championships in 2005 but failed to take part last year, and will now be trying to finish in the top three and qualify for the 2009 World Championships against the Czech Republic, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, Slovakia, Croatia and Israel. European Junior (Under-19) Women’s Fastpitch Championships August 10-16, Deggendorf, Germany GB did not participate when this tournament was last held in 2006, and is officially ranked 13th out of 15 countries that have entered, though we finished sixth in the competition in 2004. The competition is likely to be run with a 10-team A Pool and a five-team B Pool, in which case the GB Juniors would compete against Israel and Belgium, ranked above them, and Greece and Romania, ranked below them. The ten A Pool teams are: Italy, The Netherlands, Russia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Spain, Slovakia, France, Austria and Ukraine. European Minime (Under-13) Girls’ Fastpitch Championships August 18-23, Brzeg, Poland The GB Minime Team won the bronze medal in this tournament in 2006. This year, GB will be competing against the Czech Republic and Russia, ranked above them, and Poland, Greece and the Netherlands, ranked below them. European Cups European Co-ed Slowpitch Cup September 1-6, Dupnitsa, Bulgaria Chromies won this tournament when it was first held in France in 2007, and thereby earned the right to return as defending champions, with a place available for another UK entry. This place was declined by Niners, who finished runner-up to Chromies in the 2007 A Nationals, but was taken up by Baker Tomkins. Chromies and BT will be competing against Dodder Dynamos from Ireland, Askoe Linz from Austria and a club team from the host town in Bulgaria. European Women’s Fastpitch Cup (B Pool) September 1-6, Prague, Czech Republic London Angels finished fifth in this competition last year and just failed to make the playoffs. This time, Angels will be competing against four teams ranked above them: Paris Bats from France, Titano Hornets from San Marino, Nika-Dahl University from the Ukraine and Flyers Therwill from Switzerland. There will also be six teams ranked below Angels: Spiders Bratislava from Slovakia, Princ Zagreb SK from Croatia, AS Maroussi from Greece, Ballerup from Denmark, MKS Szostka Brzeg from Poland and Juniori SC from Serbia. 14 BSUK ACHIEVES CCPR AWARD FOR INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY SUPPORT BSUK has been successful with an application submitted earlier this year to the Central Council for Physical Recreation (CCPR), on behalf of the British Baseball and Softball Federations, for financial support for international strategies and programmes. CCPR has announced an award of £5,950 in response to this application. The opportunity arose because the CCPR is now the organisation that funds British sports to send representatives to international meetings, a role formerly carried out by UK Sport. And in taking over the programme, the CCPR has encouraged sports to make a case for support for other elements of international strategy. So the award provided to BSUK will not only pay for BBF, BSF and BSUK representatives to attend relevant international meetings in 2008-2009. A total of £1500 has been designated by the CCPR to support the BSF in hosting the European Slowpitch Championships this summer, and the remainder of the grant will be assigned to coaching or development initiatives with an international dimension. 15 SOFTBALL NEWS CHAOS IS THE EARLY LEADER IN THE RACE FOR B NATIONALS PLACES The race for places in this year’s B Co-ed Nationals is on for Independent B teams, who need to earn a place by amassing points over a series of selected tournaments from 2007 and 2008. So far, after the points from three tournaments have been counted (the Manchester Tournament and Edinburgh Festiball from 2007 and Diamond Series 1 from 2008), Chaos is leading the way with 16 points and the table looks like this: Chaos Mariners Swingers Clapham Thunder Avengers 16 10 7 4 2 However, BSF Tournaments Officers Liz Graham and Lesley Morisetti are still waiting for a full list of Independent Teams declaring themselves as B-grade for this season. The next qualifying event for Independent B Teams is the Pioneers Tournament on June 21-22, and the other events at which points can be won for 2008 will be: British Airways Tournament Bristol Tournament Solent Euroball Windsor Tournament Full details can be found on the BSF Nationals website on: http://www.bsfnationals.com/index.php? module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=64&MMN_position=94:71:75. MEN’S A NATIONALS BACK ON THE CALENDAR THIS SUMMER The BSF is reviving the Men’s Slowpitch A Nationals in 2008 – provided that a minimum of teams submit entries. But BSF Tournaments Officer Liz Graham and Lesley Morisetti have warned that places for the B & C Single-Sex Nationals may have to be limited. 16 The Men’s A Nationals will be held together with the B & C Single-Sex Slowpitch Nationals on the weekend of July 26-27 at Birmingham City University’s Moor Lane Sports Ground in Sutton Coldfield. Free camping will be available at the ground, and there will be a party for all teams at the Pavilion on the Saturday evening. BSF Tournaments Officer Lesley Morisetti said, “We have had interest from a couple of teams already, and entry will be capped at six for the Men’s A Nationals. There are no eligibility criteria for Single-Sex Nationals, so first entries with payment will secure the spots.” At this stage, entry for the Men’s and Women’s B and C Single-Sex Nationals may also have to be capped at six teams per event, because planned work on the ground may restrict the number of pitches available. More information on this will be available in June. But for the moment, any and all teams that want to enter any of the Single-Sex Nationals should get their application forms and cheques (each competition will cost £240, which includes BSF affiliation fee and the party) in as soon as possible. Forms can be downloaded from the BSF Nationals website (www.bsf-nationals.com), and for more information or to get answers to questions, contact Lesley Morisetti on lesley.morisetti@britishsoftball.org or ring 07977-499663. USE OF 11” and 12” SOFTBALLS GETS OFF TO A SMOOTH START IN RELAND The first week of the softball league season in Ireland was recently completed, and a lot of people -- especially women! -- are pleased with the decision made over the winter by the Softball Ireland Executive to alternate 11" and 12" softballs for female and male batters in league play. Irish league veteran Brian Connolly reported that, "League Week 1 is now complete and so far the 11" ball is a big success, with reports of many double, triples and even real home runs for some of the women who were single hitters before. "Some of these are cases of outfielders starting at their usual shallow depth for a woman and getting burned but there are also a lot of genuine hits in there too. Any fly outs were also deeper than usual, and there are many smiling female faces around the league. "There was some confusion at first about the changeover," Brian added, "with some teams having the umpire take care of it and others leaving it to a base coach. This is a small issue we need to straighten out but it will become smoother as the weeks go on." In the UK, there are plans to trial the use of 11" and 12" balls in some league tournaments this year, but BSF Slowpitch Officer Roger Grooms has expressed disappointment that no leagues have come forward – despite the offer of some BSF subsidy – to use the system in league play. The different-sized balls will also be used in the European Slowpitch Championships to be played in the UK in July and in the Softball World Series in September. 17 BSUK NEWS BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL CAMPS FOR KIDS TO RUN IN LONDON AND BRACKNELL BSUK will be running a series of Baseball and Softball Camps for children and young people aged 9-16 during the half-term week of May 26-30 at Finsbury Park and Richmond in London and in Bracknell. Richmond Camps In Richmond, there will be a Softball Camp on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 27 and 28, and a Baseball Camp on Friday, May 30, all from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm, for boys and girls aged 9-14. The Camps will be held at Richmond Baseball and Softball Club, Riverside Drive, Ham. Children are welcome to attend as many sessions as they like (the sessions are free), and all abilities will be catered for. The Camps will feature professional coaching on all aspects of the game, including batting, fielding, baserunning and strategy. Advance booking for these sessions is essential by contacting Emma Ley through the Contacts Page on the BSUK website: http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/bsukcontacts/php. Bracknell Camps In Bracknell, a Baseball Camp will be held on Tuesday, May 27 and a Softball Camp on Wednesday, May 28, for boys and girls aged 9-16. The Camps will be held at Bracknell Baseball Club, Westmorland Park, Westmorland Drive, Whitegrove, Bracknell RG42 3QP. Again, children are welcome to attend one or both sessions, there will be no charge, and professional coaches will teach batting, fielding, baserunning and strategy. Advance booking for these sessions is essential by contacting Emma Ley through the Contacts Page on the BSUK website: http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/bsukcontacts/php. Finsbury Park Camps The sessions at Finsbury Park Baseball and Softball Ground, at the corner of Green Lanes and Endymion Road near Manor House tube station, will feature baseball on Wednesday, May 28 18 and softball on Friday, May 30. Both sessions will run from 2.00-4.00 pm. The sessions will be free, children from 9-14 are welcome to attend one or both, and instruction in batting, fielding, baserunning and strategy will be delivered. Again, advance booking for these sessions is essential by contacting Emma Ley through the Contacts Page on the BSUK website: http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/bsukcontacts/php. LEVEL 1 SOFTBALL COACHING COURSE TO RUN IN MANCHESTER IN JUNE BSUK will run a Level 1 Softball Assistant Coach Course in Manchester on the weekend of June 14-15 for the Manchester Softball League and anyone else who might be interested. The course is free, and will be held at The Health & Fitness Centre, Ashton-in-Mersey School, Cecil Avenue, Sale, Manchester M33 5BP. Ten of the 15 places available on the course have been allocated to members of the Manchester Softball League, but the other five places remain open. To apply for a place, call Donald Morris-Vincent at BSUK on 020-7453-7005 or download an application form from the BSUK website on: http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/downloads/coaching_course_app.xls. MEET BSUK’S NEW NORTH WEST COACH-IN-RESIDENCE BRADLEY SERTON Bradley Serton writes: I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to the baseball and softball communities here in the UK and recap my first two weeks in post as BSUK’s Coach-in-Residence for the North West Region. I was born in Brooklyn to a family of Yankees fans who had changed their allegiance once the Dodgers left for Los Angles. Growing up, I followed the traditional progression for any youngster in the states who played baseball: tee-ball and youth baseball, summer travel teams and high school. I was fortunate enough to play two years of college baseball at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Since my graduation, Trinity baseball has become one of the top NCAA Division 3 programmes in the country. Once I graduated, I entered the workforce, leaving baseball behind. But it was not long until I realised that I missed the game and began to look for ways to become involved in organised 19 baseball again. This led me to my first coaching position as a volunteer assistant coach at the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts. Our school was unique in that we did not have enough property to house a proper field and so we practiced in the school gymnasium at night. Practices would often begin near 9.00 pm and end after midnight, and after practice ended, I would head home for some sleep and another full day of work. While my days were very long, I loved coaching and knew that I wanted to pursue a career in baseball. After one season at Wentworth I moved back to New York and took a job at Regis High School in Manhattan, where I was the Athletic Director and Assistant Dean of Students. I was also fortunate enough to be an assistant on our highly successful baseball team when my schedule allowed. Regis owns one of the best high school records in New York City over the past five years and has produced eight NCAA Division 1 baseball players during that period. I was very lucky to have worked with such a fine group of players and coaches. Now, my desire to be involved in baseball full time has led me to the Coach-in-Residence position with BSUK. I have been fortunate to play for and work with dedicated coaches whose love for the game affected me and everyone around them. One of my goals is not only to increase participants’ skill levels but also their understanding and enjoyment of the game. After a few days at the BSUK office in London, I was met in Manchester by our Regional Developmental Officer, Luis Arrevillagas. Luis helped me get settled quickly, as I was to help deliver a session to students at South Trafford College the next day! Since my arrival my duties have included teaching tee-ball at local primary schools, teaching softball to adult groups, meeting some of the local teams in the Manchester Softball League and taking in some baseball games in Liverpool, Halton and Manchester. Over the next few weeks and months, I plan on making an appearance at as many meetings, games and training sessions in the North West as possible. I will be coming with questions and plan on doing a lot of listening. We are also planning coach education courses and other events. Make sure to check out the BSUK website or contact your local club if you want to be involved. I am very much looking forward to meeting everyone in the North West baseball and softball community and offering any help that I or BSUK may be able to provide. Please always feel free to drop me an email with any questions, comments, or concerns via the BSUK Contacts Page on the website (http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/bsukcontacts.php). Cheers! VICTORY FOR SPORT ON POINTS-BASED MIGRATION REGULATIONS Following 18 months of detailed negotiations between the UK Border & Immigration Agency, the Central Council for Physical Recreation (CCPR) and other sporting bodies, agreement has been reached to mitigate the worst effects of the UK's new Points-Based Migration regulations on sport. BaseballSoftballUK was involved in this campaign through a detailed submission to the CCPR on the problems that the new system could potentially cause for baseball and softball (this submission can be viewed in the Downloads section of this website). 20 One fear was that any baseball or softball teams coming to the UK from outside the EU to play against British teams or in British tournaments would require individual visas or entry certificates for players costing up to £100 each, with accompanying red tape to secure them. But it now appears that sportspeople coming to the UK for less than three months will not require entry clearance, though there will need to be a certificate of sponsorship from an organisation in the UK, a role that BSUK is likely to fill. Similarly, there was a fear that criteria in the new regulations would make it difficult for BSUK or the Federations to employ coaches from non-EU countries on a permanent or temporary basis, but these regulations have also been eased. The UK sporting community – including those involved in baseball and softball – are breathing a collective sigh of relief as a result of this successful outcome, which means that it can be more-or-less business as usual for sports. NINETY CHILDREN ENJOY A TOURNAMENT AT TIMPERLEY More than 90 children from three different schools attended a softball tournament at Timperly Sports Club in Manchester on Wednesday, April 30, as the climax to a series of school sessions delivered by BaseballSoftballUK coach Danni Tanbini. Children from The Bollin, Stamford Park and Well Green Primary Schools competed in a round-robin style tournament, with each team playing five games in total over a two-hour period. Each of the primary schools brought three mixed teams to the competition, which was won by Team 3 from Well Green Primary School. Members of the winning team were each presented with a baseball cap by BSUK North West Regional Development Officer Luis Arrevillagas. Each team leader – Year 10 students from Altrincham College of Arts – chose an MVP girl and boy from each participating team, with each of the MVP players receiving a goody bag. Children from the area will now benefit from a softball club to be set up within Timperly Sports Club, with the first club training session planned for Sunday, June 8 from 10.00 am. Everyone is welcome. The new club is now looking for volunteers, and anyone interested should get in touch with Luis Arrevillagas through the Contacts Page on the BSUK website: http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/bsukcontacts.php. SECOND TOURNAMENT AT TIMPERLY SPORTS CLUB IS EVEN BIGGER BSUK ran the second of a series of tournaments in South Manchester on Friday, May 9, aimed at increasing participation in sports by primary school children. The first tournament in the series was held on April 30. 21 This time, more than 110 Year 4 children from the family of primary schools that feed Loreto Grammar School came to play and attempt to take the trophy back to their school. Children from Broadheath, Altrincham, St Hugh's and Heyes Lane competed in a round-robin style tournament, with 11 teams each playing five games in total over a two-hour period. After an afternoon full of excitement, St Hugh's 3 managed to take the trophy just ahead of Heyes Lane 2. St Hugh's 1 came in third place. Members of the winning team were each presented with a baseball cap by BSUK North West Regional Development Officer Luis Arrevillagas. Each team was led by a teacher who chose an MVP girl and boy from each participating team, with each of the MVP players receiving a goody bag. Already, several children from the area have shown interest in continuing to play softball in a brand new softball club, to be based at Timperley Sports Club, that will start training on Sunday, June 8. Everyone is welcome and anyone interested in this exciting project should get in touch with Luis Arrevillagas through the Contacts Page on the BSUK website: http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/bsukcontacts.php. CORPORATE SOFTBALL FACILITATORS NEEDED With spring in the air and the baseball and softball seasons already in the full swing, Corporate Softball events in London will soon get underway. Based on previous years, BaseballSoftballUK is expecting to run more than 40 corporate events in the capital between May and August this summer. These events usually take place in the late afternoons, starting in mid-May, with groups ranging from 20 to 120 participants. The level of play is relaxed and low-key, with companies often using these events as a team-building activity or just a company day out. BSUK is now looking for people to facilitate these events. Corporate softball days are great fun and provide a chance to coach slowpitch softball, meet other people and help run a highly social event – while getting paid for doing so. Corporate softball facilitators need good organisational skills and the ability to manage a group of up to 20 or 30 people on their own, ensuring that games run smoothly for players who are often beginners, and generally overseeing the event. You need a good knowledge of softball rules, experience in the sport, and basic coaching and umpiring capabilities. Some the responsibilities involved in running corporate softball events can include setting up and marking the field, explaining the rules to new players, running drills, umpiring the games, providing guidelines and offering some basic coaching tips. But most importantly, facilitators need to organise and umpire the games in a fun, relaxed and fair manner. Facilitators will represent BaseballSoftballUK during corporate softball events and will be 22 given BSUK clothing to wear. Corporate softball events occur in various locations around London. Some of the most popular are Regent's Park, Primrose Hill, Hampstead Heath, Hyde Park, Battersea Park, Finsbury Park and others a bit further from Central London. If you would like to find out more about opportunities to facilitate corporate softball events this summer, please contact: Pawel Rogalinski Tel: 020-7453-7040 Email: PR@bsukmail.com HOW TO ORGANISE A COMPANY SOFTBALL TEAM Adapted from the Pitchmaster website (www.thepitchmaster.com): One of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to enjoy playing the highly social co-ed sport called softball is by joining – or creating – your company’s own sponsored team. In the UK, softball is played in over 20 leagues in cities up and down the country from Glasgow to Portsmouth, and there are a number of corporate leagues, especially in London, or corporate teams playing in “open” leagues. Games normally take place on weekday evenings after work in a local park or sports ground, generally once a week from May through July or August. If you already know and like your co-workers, then by all means this should be an enjoyable, comfortable experience. If you are new to the company, then this presents a great opportunity to get acquainted with staff members on a personal level and make a more immediate impact on your supervisors by showing off your social and leadership skills (yes, you have them). If you’re like me, then you may have joined a company that did not support a softball team, or, for that matter, extracurricular activities of any kind. The reasons for this could be threefold. First, it is possible nobody has taken the reins to actually organise a team, feeling that they are either too busy, or that it was perhaps a fruitless idea in which the company and/or your co-workers would have little interest. Second, you may be working for a company full of nerds that have either no discernable athletic abilities, or with people from countries who possess only limited understanding of the game and/or the English language. Or, it could be due to the size or location of your company. If you work on, for instance, an oil barge, where field space is limited, competition is scarce and balls often get lost in the ocean, this may present a problem! Either way, there is a solution for you – unless you work on that oil barge (but hey, at least the pay is good, right? No…??!) If the reason is that nobody has taken charge, then it’s time for you to step forward. Get in 23 touch with BaseballSoftballUK (info@baseballsoftballuk.com or ring Pawel Rogalinski on 020-7453-7040) and ask for information concerning corporate or open softball leagues in your area. For most companies, the main issue lies with the cost of sponsoring a team. The typical fee to join a recreational softball league can amount to a few hundred pounds, and maybe more if the team has to buy its own equipment (some leagues provide this), so it can be difficult to persuade people to join if they have to pay out of their own pockets. So it is important to try and get your company to sponsor at least the cost of the league fee, and if you’re fortunate enough, equipment costs as well. Savvy companies and bosses will be hip to the fact that these kinds of extracurricular activities promote cohesion among employees, and since they have someone like you willing to organise it for free, they will often be more willing to commit. In some instances, though, it may be necessary to convince your bosses, Human Resources, or the Finance Department that this is ultimately for the benefit of the company. This is your time to shine. Schedule a meeting with those in charge and tout a company softball team as an idea for a “great way to get the company to work together better”. Then hit them with the three key points below, and in no time, you’ll be swigging a few beers on the company budget: 1. “Sir (Ma’am), by agreeing to sponsor the Company X co-ed softball team, you will be awarding the company with a chance to not only boost morale, but provide the ultimate outlet in which to promote departmental integration and establish a cohesive trust and support system among all employees as well. It will single-handedly eliminate the need for HR to organize expensive and embarrassing team-building yoga retreats for staff members.” 2. “Sir (Ma’am), by agreeing to sign off on these slick two-tone, button-down reversible mesh jerseys with embroidered numbers and nameplates, you are sending a strong message to the members of the league, and more importantly, to the industry, that Company X is much too successful and important a company than to embarrass their employees by outfitting them with the cheap T-shirt and iron-on lettering style that everyone else has.” 3. “Sir (Ma’am), by agreeing to fund the purchase of top-of-the-line bats, softballs, training aids and accompanying instructional DVDs for your employees, the Company X team will always be in contention to win the league championship and thus be able to show off a slick array of trophies for customers and vendors to marvel at when they visit”. The great thing about a company team is that if its reputation is at stake and it is represented at least in part by its softball team, then your bosses will have no problem getting you out “on time” to make it to your game. One caveat, though: companies will be more willing to sponsor a softball team if EVERYONE is eligible to play. That means a co-ed team, first and foremost. But it also means having to invite your bosses to play as well. If you are lucky, they will be (or become) decent players should they participate. If not, then hopefully, in due time, they will become too embarrassed to continue making asses of themselves and will quietly retire to the role of cheerleaders and beer suppliers while you get on with enjoying a great game in a fun and social atmosphere. So what are you waiting for? Get in touch with BaseballSoftballUK today. They can not only point you towards your nearest league (or even organise a league for you if enough local companies are interested), but they can also run a one-off softball day for your company to 24 give you a taste of the sport, loan equipment, supply coaches and introductory material and generally do whatever it takes to get your company softball team off the ground. BaseballSoftballUK 020-7453-7040 info@baseballsoftballuk.com BSUK HOLDS FIRST REGIONAL FORUM IN MANCHESTER Baseball and softball clubs and team representatives in the North West Region had the opportunity to meet face-to-face with BSUK national and regional staff at the first BSUK Regional Forum, held on April 28 at Timperley Sports Club in Manchester. The Forum was organised by Luis Arrevillagas, BSUK’s North West Regional Development Officer, and opened with a presentation by John Mills, National Development Manager for baseball, who described the work that BSUK has been delivering in the area. John was followed by Paul Wilkinson, National Club Development Officer, who took the opportunity to introduce himself and to offer his expertise in helping clubs develop and take on the Clubmark accreditation process. The meeting also offered participants the opportunity to network with others in the region from both sports, and to discuss possible opportunities for collaboration. Luis Arrevillagas commented after the meeting, “We were very lucky to have key members of both sports at the meeting, particularly the people involved with developing junior baseball and softball, who had an opportunity to meet and share ideas with each other and BSUK staff.” NEW UK COACHING FRAMEWORK IS DESIGNED TO LEAD THE WORLD The industry blueprint to create a new and more effective coaching system in the UK was unveiled by sports coach UK recently at the 3rd UK Coaching Summit in Coventry, with 560 delegates from more than 30 sports in attendance as well as representatives from each of the four Home Country Sports Councils, UK Sport, SkillsActive and the Youth Sport Trust. The vision outlined in the UK Coaching Framework is the creation of a cohesive, ethical and inclusive coaching system where skilled coaches support children, adults, players and athletes at all stages of their development in sport. The aim is for this framework to be a world-leading model by 2016. 25 The Framework describes how sports coach UK plans to work in close partnership with governing bodies of sport and each of the Home Country Sports Councils to enhance the quality and quantity of coaches at all levels. The objective is to help coaches play a key role in increasing participation and improving sporting performance and to build a clear career structure for coaches within a professionally regulated vocation. sports coach UK chairman Ian McGeechan said: “The launch of the document marks the end of one journey and the beginning of another. We have built a strong consensus, based on the needs of the sports, on what will be needed to create a world-leading coaching system by 2016. “Based on this consensus, the real work starts now to ensure that six of our sports have worldleading coaching systems and that a further nine are in the top three to six in the world. The UK Coaching Framework will be the reference point for the future and will provide the basis on which we can evaluate progress.” UK Sport Chair Sue Campbell said: “Hosting the London Olympics in 2012 presents the UK with a unique opportunity to revolutionise its high-performance sports system and leave a lasting legacy for years to come. To that end, the introduction of the UK Coaching Framework supports the recognition of coaching as a professional career. Its implementation will raise the standard and sustainability of coaching in the UK, promoting a clear pathway for the development of world-class coaching expertise from grassroots to elite level. “We look forward to working in partnership with sports coach UK to produce a world leading-coaching system.” Jennie Price, Sport England Chief Executive, said: “Great coaching is the key to great community sport. We are proud to have supported sports coach UK in the development of the UK Coaching Framework, which recognises the vital role coaches play in introducing people to sport, helping them to realise their potential and spotting and nurturing our stars of the future.” Steve Grainger, CEO of the Youth Sport Trust, said: “Coaches are key to our work to build a world-leading PE and School Sport System and to offer all young people the opportunity of five hours sport a week. We are delighted to have worked with sports coach UK in supporting the development of the UK Coaching Framework and look forward to supporting more coaches to work with more young people and to develop young people as the next generation of coaches.” 26 TOURNAMENT OPPORTUNITIES PLACES STILL LEFT FOR EUROBALL TOURNAMENT The Euroball Tournament taking place at the same time as the European Slowpitch Championships this summer still has spaces available in the Comp (B) and Rec (C) sections of the tournament. It promises to be a fantastic weekend on July 12-13, with some of the best pitches in the country, backstops on them all, the MLB Roadshow in town – and not forgetting the televised final of the European Slowpitch Championships, where Great Britain will be hoping to retain its crown. Euroball organiser Andy Burgess said, “We hope everyone, whether they’re playing in the Euroball or not, will come down, sit in the bleachers, enjoy a beer or two, and enjoy the event on Saturday, July 12.” There will be evening entertainment in the new pavilion that evening at Southampton University’s Wide Lane Sports Ground, with drinks at student pricing, free camping and lots to do around the softball. So it’s time to get your entry in for one of the top tournaments of the year. Entry forms can be obtained by contacting Andrew “Beefy” Burgess on andrewburgess@ntlworld.com or by going to the Euroball section on the official website for the European Championships, www.softballeuros08.com. ENTRIES NOW OPEN FOR SECOND DAVID ALLEN CO-ED CLASSIC Entries are now open for the second annual David Allen Co-ed Classic, to be played at RAF Lakenheath on June 27-29 in memory of long-time BASU umpire Dave Allen, who died in 2006. Games on Friday, June 27 will involve US military entries only, and teams from the British softball community will join the competition on Saturday. The winning team will receive £75 plus team and individual trophies and a case of beer, and the runner-up will get £50 along with the trophies and beer. Individual awards will be given for most home runs, best fielders (male and female) and male and female MVPs. 27 The tournament entry fee is £75, and all entry fees should be paid by June 13 (though fees will be accepted on the day if necessary). The tournament will use 12” softballs only, and will be played by normal ISF rules. To enter, email Terry Reaves on: osanterry@hotmail.com or ring him on 07738-279845 or contact Amy Gilmore-Smith on: amygilmoresmith@gmail.com or 07831-142742. Entry fees should be made payable to Terry Reaves and sent to: Terry Reaves 13 Nelson Road Hartford Huntingdon Cambs PE29 1SB Teams coming from outside the base will need to supply registration numbers for cars and players will need to bring passports or other photo ID. BANK HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT CHOICE: GLASGOW OR LJUBLJANA? Discerning slowpitch teams have a choice of two far-flung tournaments to attend on the May Bank Holiday weekend: the Tartan Tournament in Glasgow or the Memorial Day Tournament in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Glasgow The Tartan Tournament will be a 16-team competition run in two divisions on Saturday and Sunday, May 24-25, at the Cumbernauld Rugby Club in Glasgow. The Central Scotland Softball League, who is organising the tournament, is promising “a fair split in the standard of play – and the best thing this year is that there will be no Clan to upset everyone!” But only a few spaces are left, so anyone interested should email tartantournament@yahoo.com immediately. The tournament website, on www.tartantournament.co.uk, has maps, accommodation info, weather links, etc. Ljubljana Slovenia hosted the European Slowpitch Championships in 2006 and is getting into slowpitch in a big way. On Saturday, May 24, the Slovenian Federation and the American Embassy in the capital, Ljubljana, will run a large Memorial Day Tournament open to teams from around Europe. 28 Slovenia sounds a long way away, but in fact Ljubljana is not very far from Trieste in northeast Italy, and there are cheap flights that go there from the UK. For more information or to enter, contact Darja Grimsic on gdarja@gmail.com. TWELVE PLACES AVAILABLE AT SPRING COTSWOLD TOURNAMENT The spring Cotswold Tournament will take place on Sunday June 8, at Archway School in Stroud, where the tournament was last held in 2006. The entrance fee will be £70 and there are twelve places available – though some have already been taken. For more information or to enter, contact Mike LeFevre on: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com. 29 TOURNAMENT RESULTS PIONEERS, MARINERS AND POWERSQUAD TAKE THE HONOURS AT DIAMOND SERIES 1 Pioneers, Mariners and the Powersquad took the trophies in the A, B and C divisions respectively at first Diamond Series tournament of the year, played in hot and sunny weather at Farnham Park near Slough on the weekend of May 10-11. A total of 31 teams entered across the three divisions, and organiser Dave King reports that advance entries for Diamond Series 2 and 3 are very healthy. The main results were: A Winner: A Runner-up: A Plate Winner: A Plate Runner-up: MVPs: B Winner: B Runner-up: B Plate Winner: B Plate Runner-up: MVPs: C Winner: C Runner-up: Plate Winner: Plate Runner-up: MVPs: Pioneers BT 1 Dragons Slammers Paul Gough and Sandra Lewis (Pioneers) Mariners Saints Legends Windsor Knights James Rogers (Mariners) and Orla Moore (Saints) Powersquad International Bristol Splitters Ascot Zambezi Warriors Mark Fenton (Splitters) and Danni Tanbini (Powersquad) The Diamond Series organisers write: Diamond 1 kicked off the new softball season in great style. With the temperature in the mid-70s, the day began with all teams receiving a case of Redbull courtesy of our sponsors, and plenty of teams came out the blocks flying. Early exchanges in all three competitions meant that Sunday would be just as exciting, with several teams in with the opportunity to become Diamond Series 1 champions. Comp A: With the ground being so dry, it meant that errors were always likely to occur because of bad bounces etc. But some great defence from the Pioneers saw them come through a very tight A Final against an impressive BT 1 team led by some terrific batting from Danny Price, who had batted 1.000 on Saturday. Comp B: The B champions were the Solent Mariners, who had requested to play in B due to some of their top players being absent. They still managed to overcome a powerful Saints squad who had only entered the tournament very late due to absentees themselves, so it was a hard-fought weekend for both teams. 30 Comp C: The C final was contested by Powersquad International (playing their first UKbased tourney) against the hotly-fancied Bristol Splitters and it was a very tight game but the Powersquad prevailed. There can only be one winner in a final but our congratulations go to all those who won trophies and our sincere thanks go to all teams who entered Diamond 1 and made the whole weekend a fantastic success. For a full listing of final standings, please visit our website at www.diamond-softball.co.uk. Many teams took advantage of our free camping areas and the Saturday evening entertainment, which included the fantastic Indie rock cover band Undiscovered. The place was rocking until the early hours of Sunday morning. In addition, we were able to raise £120.00 for a project to help build a drinking water facility for under-privileged children in Kenya by selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts at the tournament. We also raised £241.00 for Cancer Research. The Diamond team would like to thank all those who made donations. Diamond 2 is being held on June 7-8 and places for this tournament are becoming limited, so don’t delay sending your forms to info@diamond-softball.co.uk. We hope to see you all in June. Dave King & Craig Moran REJECTS EDGE OUT BT-A TO TAKE THE TITLE IN JERSEY Dates: Venue: Entries: Weather: May 3-4 Les Quennevais Sports Centre, Jersey 8 teams Fair with good sunny periods; a few showers on Sunday afternoon. Rejects Baker Tomkins A Baker Tomkins B Jersey Winner: Runner-up: Plate Winner: Plate Runner-up: Cup MVPs: Roger Grooms (GB) and Tori Hewlett (BT-A). Plate MVPS: Sean Billson (Jersey) and Sarah Keefe (BT-B). Jersey Softball Association President Ali Wade writes: 31 The Jersey Softball Association's annual slowpitch tournament was a great success again this year. All eight teams taking part displayed a level of softball that was both highly competitive and very entertaining to watch. The teams were: BT-A, BT-B, Jersey, Great Britain, Guernsey, Rejects, Breakers and CC Sports. The Cup competition was won by the Rejects, who overcame Baker Tomkins A in a nailbiting game that ended 6-5. In the Plate competition, Jersey reached the final but lost out to Baker Tomkins B by a score of 12-2. Despite this loss, the tournament was a great tool for the Jersey team ahead of the European Championships in July. Jersey Head Coach and player Sean Billson was pleased with the progress made by the team during the weekend: "I am always amazed to see how the skills of local softballers greatly improve when highly experienced teams come over to Jersey to take part in our tournament. The Jersey team showed great willingness to learn and get better, and this showed when we made the finals of the Plate. Everyone in the Jersey team performed superbly and I hope we can take our improved game to the European Championships in July." For more information please visit: www.jerseysoftball.com. BSUK SINGLE-SEX FIRST BALL Date: Venue: Entries: Weather: Men's Winner: Men's Runner-up: Women's Winner: Women's Runner-up: May 4 Old Deer Park, Richmond, London 10 Fine and sunny London Bruisers Wombles of Windsor No Balls Quackers The Single-Sex First Ball was at Old Deer Park for the first time, which proved to be an excellent venue with a large area, changing room and showers and short grass! Teams entered were: MEN London Bruisers Godzillas Cockney Rebels 32 Wombles of Windsor (with a reasonable number of Windsor Knights) Raiders Men Los Hombres Los Hombres is a team made up of players from the GLSML Development Squad and Division 4 and 5 players from the league. They made a valiant effort as newcomers, and despite coming last they had a great time and will, along with a women's team drawn from the female development players, be entering BSUK’s Single-Sex Spring Tournament. WOMEN Charmed Ones Raiders Women No Balls Quackers (basically Windsor women) The tournament had a handicapping system for the differently-graded teams, giving one or two runs per inning to lower graded teams in each game. However, it was felt that this did not give the higher graded teams a chance, so for the remainder of the series the handicap will be that lower graded teams will start with a runner on second base in each of their batting innings. This gives an advantage to the batting team but also gives the fielding team a chance to prevent the run happening. The event's popularity on the day has meant that more teams have entered the Single-Sex Spring Tournament scheduled for May 31 at Riverside Lands, with a prospective eight men's teams and five women's teams. LONDON SOFTBALL FEDERATION FIRST BALL Date: Venue: Entries: Weather: B Winner: B Runner-up: C Winner: Plate Runner-up: Saturday, April 26 Old Deer Park, Richmond 22 (10 B teams, 12 C teams) Sunny! Coyotes SPAM Chargers Raiders Blue This is the third year that BSUK has run the LSF First Ball in April to kickoff the season for co-ed teams. From the surfeit of entries it was clear that teams were chomping at the bit to start playing. The trick of an April tournament is finding somewhere to hold it and it was only at the eleventh hour that it was confirmed that we could use Old Deer Park. This was a new venue for us, and when something is unknown there is always trepidation – especially as it was a bit more expensive than other London venues. It turned out that any 33 concerns were unfounded: the venue was great and the staff at the facility could not have been more helpful and accommodating. There were several good omens for the event in the run-up – for the first time ever, this tournament had more than enough umpires; the weather forecast was great; and caterers Natalie and John agreed at the last minute to attend. The forecast was indeed accurate and the day itself was probably the best of the year at that point. Everything went smoothly, from the well-organised tournament control provided by Tina Franchi, umpire management by Jes Sandhu and the attitude of all of the participating teams. Following the tournament, a number of teams took the time to send positive feedback both about the venue and the tournament. B Tournament Ten teams participated in the B Tournament, which split into two groups of five with final placing games of 1 v 1 on down to 5 v 5. A clear winner emerged from both pools, as SPAM and Coyotes were unbeaten in their group games. In the final, Coyotes got off to an early lead and never really looked like losing, although SPAM did mount a bit of the comeback in the middle innings. Coyotes were unbeaten and finished as Champions. Final Placings: 1 Coyotes 2 SPAM 3 London Legends 4 Oddsox 5 Clapham Thunder 6 Breakers 7 Mescalitos 8 Saints 9 Raiders Gold 10 PW Tigers C Tournament Due to the limited number of pitches available, we needed to fit 12 C teams onto four pitches, which meant a slightly strange format. Teams were initially divided into three groups of four, then teams finishing at each position from 1-4 in each group moved into a group of three who had finished at the same level. Instead of finals, these group games determined final positions. As in B, the three teams that made up the Final group, Panthers, Chargers and Raiders Blue, were all unbeaten until that point. The Chargers then defeated both teams to go through the entire day without a loss and win the C trophy. Final Placings: 1 Chargers 2 Raiders Blue 3 Panthers 4 Barnes Badgers 5 Vampire Batters 6 Heat 7 The Mob 8 Tecumsehs 34 9 10 11 Loan Wolves Voodoos Comer's Homers and TMW Kings & Queens Jenny Fromer WINDSOR FIRSTBALL Date: Venue: Entries: Weather: April 19 Farnham Park, Slough 10 The forecast was for rain, but it stayed dry, cloudy and chilly for most of the day. The rain eventually arrived for the Finals, but didn’t interrupt play. SPAM Windsor Knights Scorpions Chalfont Thames Valley Oxford Oddsox Winner: Runner-up: Trophy Winner: Trophy Runner-up: Plate Winner: Plate Runner-up: SOLENT FIRSTBALL Date: Venue: Entries: Weather: Champion: Runner-up: Plate Champion: Plate Runner-up: Spoon Champion: Spoon Runner-up: Male MVP: Female MVP: Sunday, April 27 Tangier Field, Portsmouth 10 teams Rain and cold, with thunder and lightning. Itchen Knicks Hursley Hurricanes Crystal Clear Mariners Solent Sluggers Chichester Mets UPSU Shafters Scott Amero (Solent Sluggers) Sophie Giffard (Solent Sluggers) A total of £150 was raised for the league’s designated charity, The Tom Prince Cancer Trust. 35 A SPORTING GESTURE TOUCHES ’EM ALL By George Vecsey April 30, 2008 – Something remarkable happened in a college softball game last Saturday in Ellensburg, Wash. At least, I am conditioned to think it was remarkable, since it involved an act of sportsmanship, with two players helping an injured opponent complete the home run she had just slugged. Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon being carried around the bases by Central Washington’s Liz Wallace, left, and Mallory Holtman. Why this generous act should seem so unusual probably stems from the normal range of bulked-up baseball players, police-blotter football players, diving soccer and hockey players and other high-profile professionals. The moment of grace came after Sara Tucholsky, a diminutive senior for Western Oregon, hit what looked like a three-run homer against Central Washington. Never in her 21 years had Tucholsky propelled a ball over a fence, so she did not have her home run trot in order, gazing in awe, missing first base. When she turned back to touch the bag, her right knee buckled, and she went down, crying and crawling back to first base. Pam Knox, the Western Oregon coach, made sure no teammates touched Tucholsky, which would have automatically made her unable to advance. The umpires ruled that if Tucholsky could not make it around the bases, two runs would score but she would be credited with only a single. (“She’ll kill me if I take it away from her,” Knox thought.) Then Mallory Holtman, the powerful first baseman for Central Washington, said words that brought a chill to everybody who heard them: “Excuse me, would it be OK if we carried her around and she touched each bag?” The umpires huddled and said it would be legal, so Holtman and the Central Washington shortstop, Liz Wallace, lifted Tucholsky, hands crossed under her, and carried her to second base, and gently lowered her so she could touch the base. Then Holtman and Wallace started to giggle, and so did Tucholsky, through her tears, and the three of them continued this odd procession to third base and home to a standing ovation. 36 “Everybody was crying,” Knox recalled on Tuesday. “It was an away game, and our four fans were crying. We couldn’t hit after that.” The extra run made it easier for Western Oregon to win the second game, 4-2, and sweep the doubleheader. More important, all involved realised they had taken part in an event they would always remember. (Credit where credit is due: I heard about this incident via Jared Max on WCBS-AM news radio Tuesday morning and later I found a nice article by Graham Hays on ESPN.com before making my own calls.) The question is, where did it come from, this impulsive gesture by Mallory Holtman? “She hit it over the fence,” Holtman said Tuesday. “She deserved it. Anybody would have done it. I just beat them to it.” She said she had been taught by her coach, Gary Frederick, that “winning is not everything.” Is there something intrinsic to women’s sports that caused this generosity? Holtman, nearly 23, did not think so. “Not many people are ever in that position,” she said. “I would hope that our baseball players would do it.” Knox, the Western Oregon coach, said the act “came from character.” “They’re playing for a coach who instils it,” she said. Knox said she absolutely would not say this demonstrated some major difference between women’s and men’s sports: “As coaches, we are so competitive, we forget this stuff. By God, I would hope I would have done the same thing.” Would the Oakland A’s have carried a sore-legged Kirk Gibson around the bases to complete his two-run homer that gave the Dodgers a 5-4 comeback victory in the opening game of the 1988 World Series? My guess is that if Gibson had crumpled in the dirt, Tony La Russa (or Billy Martin or Leo Durocher or Earl Weaver or just about any manager) would have said, “Let him lie there.” But let’s grant that those stakes are much higher. We’ve all seen sportsmanship at a high level. Golf depends upon personal adherence to the rules. In tennis a player occasionally yields a point — not usually at a crucial moment — producing a sweet little patter of applause. In 1999, Arsène Wenger, the French coach of Arsenal of the English Premier League, insisted upon a replay of an FA Cup match after a young Arsenal player had unwittingly set up a goal in violation of the unwritten code that play stops when an opponent is injured. So maybe sportsmanship is universal, out there, needing to be cultivated. “It’s amazing what they did,” Tucholsky said of the Central Washington players Tuesday, while facing what she assumes will be the first surgery of her 21 years for what is suspected to be a torn ligament. “Mallory didn’t know it was my first home run,” said Tucholsky, whose college career will end with a .153 batting average and exactly one home run. “It just says a lot about them.” Tucholsky was too immobile to join the handshake line at the end of the game Saturday, but her family has been in touch with Holtman, photographs have been exchanged, and the two teams are wrapped in a bond of good feeling we can only wish did not seem so singular, so remarkable. 37 INTERNATIONAL SOFTBALL NEWS NEW ESF WEBSITE GOES LIVE A new and much-improved website for the European Softball Federation went live during the week beginning May 19 on the same email address as the old site: www.europeansoftball.org. The new website will have more news and interactive features, and with more user-friendly functionality. Most of the work in developing the new site has been contributed by ESF Executive member Chiqui Vazquez from Spain. PREPARATIONS INTENSIFY FOR BEIJING With less than 87 days to the Olympic Softball Tournament in Beijing, the International Softball Federation (ISF) is finalising details for the competition including technical, communications/media, tickets/accreditation and venue upgrades. The eight teams that have qualified are currently undergoing training and lead-up games. Recently it was announced by BOCOG (the Chinese organising committee) that over 90% of the tickets for the preliminary round softball games had been sold and that all tickets for the medal round games had been sold out. SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PICKING UP THROUGH SOFTBALL FEDERATIONS Many ISF member Federations have continued their efforts to develop softball in their country’s school systems, and many of these – including Britain – have been doing so with equipment and technical support from the International Softball Federation. A total of 67 countries have received equipment kits from the ISF during the past four years, and 47 of these countries have schools programmes. Another 14 countries also run softball programmes in schools but have not requested ISF equipment to do so. 38 ISF BACK SOFTBALL TASK FORCE MEETS IN MAY AND JUNE The ISF’s BackSoftball Task Force will be meeting in Plant City, Florida in May and in Athens in June as the campaign for Olympic reinstatement gathers momentum 17 months before the crucial IOC meeting in Copenhagen in October 2009 that will decide softball’s immediate Olympic fate. The ISF will be releasing a progress report on the BackSoftball campaign shortly. AFRICAN SOFTBALL CONFEDERATION HOLDS FIRST MEETING With International Softball Federation Secretary General Andy Loechner in attendance, the Softball Confederation of Africa recently held its first meeting. Formalised last October at the 23rd ISF Congress in Manila, the Confederation will, among other initiatives, consolidate development and competition structures and schedules for the African continent. The meeting concluded with the election of an Executive Board headed by ISF Vice President for Africa Marumo Morule (Botswana) as President, Guillo Marapjane (South Africa) as Vice President, Mrs Mabothobile Shebe (Lesotho) as Secretary General, and ISF Executive Council Member At-Large Mrs Fridah Shiroya (Kenya) as Treasurer. Ibra Kadam (Senegal) is an additional member of the board. Zambian Assistant Minister of Sports Richard Taima addressed the Confederation delegates at the meeting’s closing ceremony. TWO MORE TEAMS SET FOR MEN’S FASTPITCH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS The field is now two teams closer to being set for the 12th ISF Men’s Fastpitch World Championships, to be held from July 17-26, 2009 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. New Zealand will be the defending champion. The Oceania Qualifier took place recently in North Harbour, New Zealand, and the host country defeated Australia, 5-0, to finish first – although both teams will progress to Saskatoon. The Australians had defeated Papua New Guinea to advance to play New Zealand, who had earned a spot in the Grand Final with a victory over Guam. Three European entries to next year’s Men’s World Championships will be decided this summer at the European Men’s Fastpitch Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark from July 28-August 2. The GB Men’s Team, currently ranked fourth in Europe, will be hoping to move up one place and qualify for its second straight World Championship competition. 39 2008 CALENDAR (As of May 23, 2008) KEY: Slowpitch Softball Nationals and European Championship and Cup events in blue. Slowpitch Softball dates (excluding National Chps and European events) in black. Domestic, European and World Fastpitch events in red. Baseball events in purple. Coaching and Umpire courses in green. Date May 24-26 May 24-25 May 24 May 27-28 May 27 May 28 May 30 Event Guernsey Slowpitch Open (Competitive) Glasgow Tartan Tournament London May Ball Ball Camp for Kids (Softball) Ball Camp for Kids (Baseball) Ball Camp for Kids (Softball) Ball Camp for Kids (Softball) Ball Camp for Kids (Baseball) Ball Camp for Kids (Baseball) Outdoor Fastpitch League BSUK Spring Single-Sex Tournament Diamond Softball Series II Regional Youth Softball Academies Cotswolds Spring Tournament BSF Slowpitch League All-Star Nationals Pioneers Tournament Leeds Tournament GB Women and Fastpitch Club Teams v Touring Team from San Francisco British Airways Tournament Dave Allen Memorial Tournament Guernsey Slowpitch Open (Recreational) GB Women and Fastpitch Club Teams v Touring Team from San Francisco Schools Festiball Bristol Tournament Ad League/Bankers Tournament Play Ball World Series Venue Guernsey Glasgow Riverside Lands Richmond Bracknell Bracknell Finsbury Park Richmond Finsbury Park Richmond Riverside Lands Farnham Park London, Notts, Man Stroud, Glos Birmingham Canterbury Leeds London TBC BA Concorde Club RAF Lakenheath Guernsey Oxfordshire London Bristol Riverside Lands TBC May 31 June 7-8 June 7 June 8 June 14-15 June 21-22 June 28-29 July 4 July 5-6 July 5 40 Date July 8-12 July 10-13 July 12-13 Event European Co-ed Slowpitch Championships (Great Britain will defend its European title) Venue Southampton Leeds Croydon Southampton Windsor TBC World Corporate Games London Baseball Tournament Euroball Tournament (linked to European Slowpitch Championships) Windsor Tournament Ball Camps B & C Single-Sex Slowpitch Nationals + Men’s A Single-Sex Nationals GB Fastpitch Training (Women & U-19) Ball Camps European Men’s Fastpitch Championships (GB Men’s Fastpitch Team will compete) July 19-20 July 21-25 July 26-27 July 27 July 28-Aug 1 July 28-Aug 2 Birmingham Upper Heyford TBC Copenhagen Eskilstuna, Sweden Farnham Park Manchester Richings Park Prague, Czech European Junior Baseball Championship Qualifier (GB Junior Baseball Team will compete) Aug 2-3 Aug 9-10 Diamond Softball Series III Manchester Tournament “Let the Girls Play” Women’s Slowpitch Tournament Prague Brawl Single-Sex Slowpitch T’ment (A British Men’s Slowpitch Team will compete) Republic Aug 9 Aug 10 Aug 10-16 GLSML Superball London BSUK Summer Single-Sex Men’s Tournament Riverside Lands European Junior Women (U-19) Fastpitch Championships (GB U-19 Team will compete) Germany Beijing Guernsey Bristol Riverside Lands London Chiswick, London Aug 12-21 Aug 15-17 Aug 16-17 Aug 16 Aug 17 Aug 18-23 Olympic Softball Tournament Guernsey Men’s Fastpitch Open Bristol Rec Tournament London CarniBall London Regionals (if necessary) Outdoor Fastpitch League European Minime Girls’ (U-13) Fastpitch Championships (GB U-13 Team will compete) (London Meteors Men’s Fastpitch Team will defend their title) Brzeg, Poland Edinburgh Aug 23-24 Edinburgh Festiball 41 Date Aug 26-28 Aug 30-31 Aug 31 Event Venue World Firefighter Games Softball Tournament Liverpool A Co-ed Slowpitch Nationals British Airways Rec Tournament GLSML Last Ball East Midlands Labor Day Tournament European Women’s Cup (B Pool) (London Angels will compete) London TBC BA Concorde Club London Nottingham Prague Dupnitsa, Bulgaria Keele University TBC London London, Notts, Man BA Concorde Club TBC Sept 1-6 Sept 2-6 Sept 6-7 Sept 6 European Co-ed Slowpitch Cup (Chromies and BT will compete) B & C Co-ed Slowpitch Nationals Baseball Final 4s Publishers Softball League Tournament Regional Youth Softball Academies Softball World Series Baseball Youth Final 4s Clinics by USA Olympic Softball Team Players and Coaches Solent Last Ball GLSML All-Star Games + End-of-Season Party Fastpitch Finals Day GB Fastpitch Training (U-13 & U-16) Junior Fastpitch Club Championships GB Fastpitch Training (Women & U-19) Softball Youth Fastpitch Inter-Academy Competition Cotswolds Autumn Tournament Edinburgh Winter Indoor Tournament GB Fastpitch Training (Women & U-19) Regional Youth Softball Academies Softball League Heads Forum GB Fastpitch Training (U-13 & U-16) GB Fastpitch Training (Women & U-19) Snowball Championships GB Fastpitch Training (Women & U-19) Sept 13-14 Sept 18-22 Various Portsmouth London TBC Upper Heyford Nottingham Upper Heyford Sept 20-21 Sept 20 Sept 21 Sept 28 Oct 4 Oct 5 Oct 18-19 Oct 26 Nov 1 Nov 9 Nov 15 Nov 30 Dec 13 Dec 14 Manchester Stroud, Glos Edinburgh Upper Heyford London, Notts, Man Birmingham TBC Upper Heyford Upper Heyford TBC Upper Heyford 42 CONTACTS FOR THE NEW BSF EXECUTIVE All BSF Executive members shown below can be contacted by e-mail from the BSF Contacts webpage: www.britishsoftball.org/softballcontacts.php. President Executive Secretary Administrative Officer Treasurer National Teams Officer Tournaments Officers Slowpitch Officer Fastpitch Officer Youth & Schools Officer Coaching Officer Technical Officer & BASU Rep Sponsorship & Marketing Officer Press & PR Officer General Officers Stella Ackrell Libby Moss Carmel Keswick Pearl Bramhall Sally Rushworth* Liz Graham Lesley Morisetti Roger Grooms Position Vacant Pat Eyles* Position Vacant Chris Moon* (BASU-appointed) Position Vacant Position Vacant Gary Hoxby Robin Dickinson* * These Officers will take up their positions following BSF Incorporation. Below are some e-mail addresses for general enquiries to the British Softball Federation. Place words in blue below in front of: (at)britishsoftball.org. info -- for general information or questions about Softball in the UK. feedback -- to make comments or suggestions directly to the BSF Executive. webmaster -- for help with carrying out website processes, such as player or team registration or management of team or league pages. 43 BRITISH BASEBALL SECTION Most Softball Bulletins now include a section with information on British Baseball that may be of interest to people in the Softball community. A parallel exercise is carried out with the inclusion of softball material in the monthly Baseball Bulletins. The aim is to encourage knowledge and cross-fertilisation between the two sports. runningsports TAKES LONDON METS YOUTH CLUB TO GREATER FUNDING LEVELS The following article is reproduced from the website of runningsports, an organisation funded by Sport England to help sports clubs operate more professionally and efficiently. The London Mets Youth Baseball Club has used runningsports resources to good effect, which prompted the organisation to use them as a case study model: Some two million people in England volunteer an hour of their time each week to help run sporting activities. For sports clubs to truly capitalise on the strength of their volunteers, they need a reliable support system and ready access to management resources. This is reflected in the growing number of volunteer managers who find guidance at runningsports: a portfolio created and funded by Sport England that provides a number of free learning resources and tutored workshops. Best Practice and Benchmarking Neil Warne, Head Youth Coach and Club Director at London Mets Youth Baseball Club, initially found runningsports’s online resources as he searched for external assistance for issues within the club. He then became aware of the workshops offered by runningsports through communication from the local council. Neil explains how valuable the workshops are: “I have now attended three runningsports workshops: A Club for All, Funding for your Club and Developing Partnerships with Clubs and Schools. I think the most valuable aspect of the workshops is that they put best practice into context. “The workshops are a great information-sharing opportunity; they enable me to listen to the experiences and recommendations of other clubs’ volunteers. I was able to check our club procedures and structure against other examples, which is invaluable. It’s a great way for individual clubs to network with others and share best practice.” Changing the Way Clubs Bid for Funding With 150 members (100 youth, 50 senior) ranging from complete beginners to British National Champions, the London Mets Youth Baseball Club is one of the most successful 44 youth baseball clubs in the country. But funding has traditionally been a challenge for the club. Neil Warne explains, “We have found the issue of funding very tough in the past. Baseball is an expensive sport and, due to the fact that our facilities straddle three of the poorest boroughs in London, it has always been important to us that club members were not put off by being unable to afford to participate. “Attending the runningsports workshops has made a definite impact on how we tackle funding issues and we’ve seen direct benefits. We’ve improved the way we put in bids and proposals and we’ve learned how to put our house in order before we approach development partnerships. We were already doing all the correct things, but we didn’t know how to prove it. “We now know how to present ourselves more professionally and, as a result, we’ve got a more extensive schools and events programme in place. We’ve even been able to add an additional team to our programme.” Aiming to Be the Best The last three years have seen a dramatic increase in numbers at the London Mets Youth Baseball Club, and the club now feels more secure in its ability to offer participants and volunteers the support they need. The club aims to have the best baseball facilities in the UK within the next three years along with an expanded number of teams and an increased number of participants. With extra confidence to apply for funding, the club has enabled itself to reach out and develop the sport. Neil Warne says, “We are the only youth baseball club in London at the moment. We hope to help other London clubs develop youth teams: although this might mean we lose members, it will mean that we have other teams to play nearby, and will be great for the sport in general. “We are driving a local league development programme and are active in assisting clubs such as Richmond and Croydon in setting up youth teams.” If you’re involved in managing a club and would like to learn more about making a greater success of your funding proposals, growing the grassroots of your sport or working up a club development plan, Neil Warne proves it really is possible to make some substantial changes fairly simply. Support for Volunteers Whatever your role within the club, runningsports can help you by providing you with skills and support as well as putting you in touch with other volunteers in your position to share experiences and best practice. Neil Warne says, “It’s so important to make it clear to club volunteers that they are appreciated and to make them feel rewarded. In my experience, there are two crucial things that a club should do to support volunteers: maintain a big enough pool of volunteers that people’s commitment can be flexible, and seek out training opportunities for all volunteers. “I would advise clubs to try and get as many of their volunteers as possible to do the runningsports workshops. This will enable the knowledge to be spread across the maximum 45 amount of people within the club, making the most of the resources and ensuring that everybody benefits.” GB BASEBALL TEAM TAKES SECOND PLACE AT FOUR NATIONS CUP GB Baseball Head Coach Stefan Rapaglia reports: Over the weekend of May 10-12, the Great Britain Senior Baseball Team finished second in the Four Nations Cup to the host nation, Belgium. While GB had certainly hoped to win the event, the second place finish serves to continue the recent string of positive results for the programme. In addition, the event provided an opportunity for several GB-based members of the programme to get meaningful experience against quality international competition. Saturday, May 10 After spending Friday in transit and training, the GB team had two opponents on its agenda for Saturday. GB's first opponent was a provincial All-Star team from Quebec, Canada. The Quebec team, which included several players with professional experience, took a 2-0 lead in the second inning against GB starting pitcher Brian Essery (6.1 IP, 2ER), but there was no further scoring by either team until the sixth inning. In the top of the sixth, however, GB mounted a four-run rally on the strength of hits by Alex Malihoudis, Brant Ust and Roddi Liebenberg. Quebec scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh and last inning, but Craig Pycock (0.2 IP, 0 ER) came on to earn the save by stranding the potential tying and goahead runs on base as GB emerged the winner by a score of 4-3. In its second game of the day, GB fell 5-0 to Belgium in front of a substantial crowd. The story of the game was GB's failure to muster any offense against Belgian starter Dennis Van Hoff. In a seven-inning, complete game effort, Van Hoff had 10 strikeouts and allowed only four hits. GB pitcher Cody Cain (5.1 IP, 3 ER) did his part by keeping Belgium scoreless for five innings, but Belgium broke through for three runs in the sixth. GB head coach Stephan Rapaglia was ejected in that inning for arguing a call at home plate that led to Belgium's second and third runs. Jeff Mottl (1.2 IP, 2 ER) relieved Cain in the sixth and managed to put out the fire in that inning, but he also gave up Belgium's two seventh-inning runs. Sunday, May 11 Needing a win to reach the finals, GB came through with its best game of the tournament against an All-Star team made up from the import players currently competing in Belgium's top domestic league. GB defeated the International All-Stars 12-1 behind a superb pitching performance from Sam Whitehead (5 IP, 0 ER, 8 Ks) and a balanced 12-hit attack. Whitehead allowed only one runner to reach second base in his five-inning effort, and he was the beneficiary of multi-hit games from Brant Ust, Chris Falls, Alex Malihoudis and Rich Klijn (a member of the GB Junior team). Klijn and Michael Trask (another member of the GB Junior team) each had their first-ever hits for the GB Senior team in this game. 46 Will Lintern added two sacrifices and stellar defense behind the plate to the winning effort. Monday, May 12 GB was rewarded for its fine effort on Sunday with a rematch against Belgium in the tournament finale, played under the third straight day of perfect weather conditions and in front of the biggest crowd of the weekend (approximately 750 spectators). But GB fell behind from the beginning. British starter Jeff Mottl (1.1 IP, 3 ER) had trouble finding the strike zone and gave up three quick runs. This deficit should have been surmountable, but GB never managed to get anything going against Belgium's pitchers. Belgium starter Terence Antonacci struck out 11 and allowed only four hits in his six innings of work, and GB managed only five hits on the day (three by Brant Ust). Belgium scored an insurance run in the eighth inning to make the score 4-0, and that turned out to be the final score. Belgium will attempt to qualify later this season for a place in the 2010 European Championships and Belgium certainly demonstrated to GB that it is poised for qualification. In 16 total innings against Belgium across two games, GB collected only nine hits and failed to score a single run. GB's pitching and defense were generally solid in this event, but its offense was lacking. Nevertheless, it is clear that the programme continues to move forward, as evidenced by impressive debut performances from Rich Klijn and Michael Trask, the improved pitching of Sam Whitehead and Craig Pycock, the fine defense of Will Lintern and Brant Ust's .692 batting average (which earned him the tournament's Top Batter award). GB Tournament Roster Michael Trask Alex Malihoudis Tom Gillespie Richard Klijn Ryan Trask Sam Whitehead Chris Falls Jeff Mottl Cody Cain Roddi Liebenberg Ed Jeffrey Craig Pycock Gary Davison Ian Young Brian Essery Will Lintern Brant Ust Head Coach: Stephan Rapaglia Assistant Coach: Craig Savage Trainer: Alan Dean General Manager: Alan Smith 47