Award Winning Bobcats

On Saturday 18^th February the Birmingham Bobcats were presented with the British Softball Federation’s President’s Club Award 2011 at their AGM.  This was in recognition of all the development and progress the Bobcats made in 2011. 

Kate Page-Smith receiving the award on behalf of the Bobcats from BSF president, Stella Ackrell.

The Bobcats were also presented with the Give a Glove, Bring a Bat campaign which was an initative to ask players to donate old or unused playing equipment to provide starter packs for new teams.  The BSF executive considered the Bobcats and the West Midlands League to be the most promising team and league.  We were awarded with a complete kit of refurbished bases, a catcher’s mask, bats, balls and loads of gloves! 

Chris Williams receiving the Give a Glove, Bring a Bat Kit from the BSF executive.

Last year was a formative year for the club and we are absolutely delighted to receive these awards.  Here is a summary of just some of the things we achieved last year – I think you will agree we deserve it:

·         Membership increased from approximately 10 people to 35. 

·         Sponsorship from Straightline

·         Creation of an active, structured Committee

·         BSF accreditation

·         Good relationship with BSUK

·         Large amount of features on BSUK/BSF website

·         Softball for Beginners Course – money from Sportivate

·         Creation of a new website, blog, facebook page and twitter

·         Creation of a structured coaching programme

·         Creation of a structured social programme

·         TourCats international trip – good team building exercise, building internal relations, exciting opportunity for members, advertising.

·         Creation of the Newslitter

·         Indoor Softball

·         Training programme for West Midlands teams.

·         Successful start of a community outreach programme – Police, Waterworks Save Haven Youth Club, Handsworth Sports Day

·         Won the BSUK video competition and documentaries are a hit.

·         Created link with Razorbacks to strengthen Softball and Baseball in Birmingham

·         Created link with Leicester and Bristol teams  to strengthen Bobcats' role in the wider softball community

·         Planned Tournament for next year

All of this could not have been possible without the support and continued dedication of all the Bobcats.  However, there are also some individuals who went out of their way to help the Bobcats progress throughout the year.  These include

·         Jim Kent who created the Bobcat films and won the BSUK film competition

·         Sapin Patel for looking after the kit

·         Steve Pinnel who set up and updated the website

·         Quentin Young, who took on the role of Head Coach and established a superb coaching structure

And the 2011 Committee:  

·         Alex Levine (Chair)

·         Justin Evans (Secretary)

·         Debbie Evetts (Treasurer - for always keeping on top of the books despite the agony of chasing everyone for money and for assisting with the social events/TourCats)

·         Kate Page-Smith (for the blog, twitter, co-writing the 5 year plan, establishing a training programme for West Midlands teams, setting up the community programme with Police and Waterworks Save Haven Youth Club, contacting and maintaining link with Leicester and Bristol teams, photography, co-organising the TourCats, re-designing the advertising literature and generally being a social bully)

·         Reinout Mildner (for holding committee meetings and co-organising the TourCats)

·         Jeff Nash (for acquiring sponsorship and preparing and running raffles throughout the year)

·         Chris Williams (for creating and maintaining the newslitter, setting up the indoor softball, co-writing the 5 year plan)

To all these people we thank you so much, you have really made the club what it is and we are eternally grateful.    Hopefully we have made you proud. 

British Softball Federation AGM

At this year’s British Softball Federation AGM, the Bobcats’ were represented by Kate (Tournament and Marketing Manager) and Chris (general committee member).  Here is a report from our man in the field:  

Chris Williams reports:

The Bobcats are everywhere.  Even at the BSF’s AGM which was held in Manchester on 18^th Feb.

Now, Annual General Meetings may not strike you as the most exciting of events but you are wrong.   They are very useful occasions – this one gave the BSF President, Stella Ackrell, a chance to give her special award (for progress and development by a club) The Presidents Club Award – which incidentally is BIGGER than all the other awards they give out, to …. yes,  you may have heard already …. the Birmingham Bobcats.  Go Bobcats – thanks you to everyone who has helped put us on the softball map.

That wasn’t the only thing we got from the event: BSF ran a “Give a Glove, Bring a Bat" campaign last year, urging players from the softball community to donate old or unused playing equipment to provide starter packs for new teams.  We were considered by the BSF executive as the most promising team and potential league and came away with a complete kit of refurbished bases (better than our current ones!), a catchers mask, bats, balls and loads of gloves!  We really appreciate this donation from our softball colleagues and herby pledge to put it to good use in growing the West Midlands and Mercia leagues.

We did have to sit through some less interesting stuff, like the hour long+ debate about how to run the National Softball League (NSL) competition this year.  It’s complicated and doesn’t affect us (yet) but because the sport is now setting up a permanent national base at Farnham – planning permission finally having been granted - and some other key tournaments are clashing, then the process of seeding the best 16 teams in the UK to play in the NSL Championship has been a bit difficult.  In the end it was agreed, or decided, that there would be 4 compulsory tournaments that NSL teams must play each other in to get qualification for the final 16-team decider.

Mike Jennings, whom many of you will know, gave an excellent snappy workshop on how teams could set up and run ‘Corporate’ event team building days to generate large amounts of income for their clubs.  Some of his suggestions, such the simplified hit it and run like hell rules, may be really useful in making the Bobcats Charity Derby Tournament a success.

John Boyd from BSUK gave a presentation outlining how the sport is being developed to ensure there are more teams and that players get a better sporting experience.  The really good news is that while most other government funded bodies are losing funding, the grant for BSUK has actually been increased, which just shows how popular the sport is becoming.   From 350 teams at the start of 2009 the sport is expected to more than double and reach 876 teams by 2013, and the Bobcats were one of three prime examples cited by John as a centre of excellence for such growth (although they used our Christmas logo).  You can look forward to seeing the next Whole Sport Plan that BSUK will be putting out for consultation later this year which will set the tone and the funding opportunities for the next four year period 2013-2017.  We want some of that!

After lobbying James Reilly, BSF’s Coaching and Development Officer, we have requested special coaching support from national level GB coaches to visit the club and hold special training sessions – funded by BSF.

One of the initiatives BSF are running in 2013 is the European GB Slowpitch Challenge which is aimed at raising the European perception of slowpitch softball as a competitive sport – they have decided to send a team to the Netherlands.  Does that sound familiar?   Maybe they should plan a trip to Cologne next year!  We have informed BSF of the TourCats and they have offered to make the TourCats a registered GB team!

BSAU started a humdinger debate about the ending of timed games at tournaments which has affected a lot of teams (remember Leicester?).  After lot of quite intense discussion it was decided that No New Innings will be called at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the next game, so that games can be played to a natural conclusion with minimum impact on tournament schedules.  This will be linked to team captains having their line up ready prior to the scheduled start, or be at risk of forfeiting their game, to help maximize fair game playing time.

There was lots of business to be dealt with – fees for team registration are being held at the same level as last year, the Executive team were all re-elected unopposed (luckily a certain Bobcat was persuaded not too add their name to the nominations forms because we don’t want them being distracted from what needs doing in Brum), a new budget was approved including reduced insurance premiums that permit extra spend on things like the special coaching sessions.

We also met lots of other team organisers and really got the impression that they want to meet the Bobcats at their tournaments; Pete from Glasgow, Dave from the Pioneers, Dan at Loughborough, Rich & Gemma in Leeds, Neil at Bristol, Kelly from Manchester and Luis representing Warrington.

A string of awards were announced for the Hall of Fame - best Team Managers, Umpires, Administrators and Players in UK softball.  Bob Fromer was given the prestigious “Lifetime Achievement” award for his fundamental, massive and consistent contribution to the sport.  Oh and did we mention that the Presidents Club Award went to the Birmingham Bobcats? J

Summary of 2012 so far ...

As you may have seen from the previous posts it has already been an exciting year for the Bobcats.  Here is a brief roundup of what has happened in 2012 so far:

• The Bobcats' first indoor softball training sessions (every Tuesday night since early January) have been very successful – we have had at least 15 members turn up each week and our new coaches have successfully led good, structured sessions. 
• Late January saw the first Coaches Meeting which brought together Quentin (Head Coach), Meg, Sapin and Kate (Assistant Coaches) and Will Lintern (BSUK) to discuss a standardised coaching base and session plans (see summary of outcomes below). 
• The first committee meeting of 2012 (Justin, Debbie, Kate and Sapin) which was extremely productive – summary of the minutes are posted below. 
• Meeting with BSUK’s Peter Evans to discuss funding opportunities and the upcoming Mercia League (BSUK initiative based on Bobcat ideas)
• Confirmation of the Birmingham Derby Charity Softball Tournament – date has been set for 28^th April 2012 at Hallfield.  Reinout and Alex have had a meeting with Hallfield to discuss logistics.  Application for BCH fundraising has been completed.  Justgiving sponsorship page has been created.  Posters currently being prepared by Jim.
• Start of the Bobcat Marketing campaign for 2012 – leaflets/posters currently in production, marketing volunteer group has been assembled and will be meeting later this month. 
• TourCats 2012 Cologne trip has been confirmed for the 24-27^th May.  Preliminary costs and a proposed timetable have been researched and distributed to the team.

As you can see it maybe the off-season but the committee have been working very to make sure 2012 is a brilliant year for the Bobcats.  We are all very excited about it and we hope you will be too. 

Coaches Meeting - January 2012

An informal meeting was held between all the Birmingham Bobcats coaches in January 2012.  Those in attendance included Quentin Young (Head Coach), Meg Gallahan (Assistant Coach), Sapin Patel (Assistant Coach), Kate Page-Smith (Assistant Coach) and Will Lintern (BSUK).  The main aim of the meeting was to bring the coaches together to establish a coaching team.   Other subsidiary aims were to establish the coaches’ aims and goals for the season to inform the next committee meeting and to start developing a standardised coaching base.  Below is a summary of the outcomes:

Overall Goals for 2012:

·         Establish at least two teams at the end of the season.

·         Recruit more players, especially women

·         Keep players interested and challenged

·         Enhance skills development – with emphasis on female training

·         Establish a standardised and consistent coaching base and knowledge

·         Establish a balance between competitive vs. social

·         Maintain a safe, successful environment

What can the Coaches do to achieve these goals?

·         According to Will, research has shown that the main reason for players either remaining or leaving a club is the coach.  Coaches must therefore respect the players and be professional at all times – further discussion needed at next meeting.

·         Manage players’ expectations.  By suitably managing players’ expectations they are less likely to be overlooked and should not become disgruntled.

·         Hold regular coaches meetings to prioritise skills, discuss practice plans, and maintain a consistent standardised approach.

·         Do not let players be swallowed up or ignored during general training or game situations.  No player should hide behind the team or be considered a lost cause.  

·         Focused, specialist training – beginners, advanced, female etc.  Meg was very keen for women only training, Quentin also promoted advanced players’ training.  Kate was concerned that this may cause fractions in the team.  The Bobcats must remain an inclusive team open to all and therefore their training should not be segregated on a regular basis due to gender or skill.   It was proposed that a series of specific training sessions suitable for all is the ideal and these sessions should not be overshadowed by one overriding session. 

·         Intra-club league – this was put forward by Will and needs further discussion. 

What can the Club do?

·         Exit poll to identify why people have left the team.  Kate has made a start on this and has reported the results to the Committee.

·         Equipment – main pieces of equipment included a batting net and more balls.  This will enable parallel coaching sessions.

·         Funding – seek funding for equipment, tournaments, venues etc.

·         Venues – purpose built field is a future goal, free venues for training.

·         Advertising/marketing to recruit new players – provide larger talent pool, especially women.

Any other business:

·         Meg is concerned about the amount of tournaments on the softball calendar.  She pointed out the amount of additional tournaments the team enter is dependent on how many women we can recruit.  Kate is assured we will be able to recruit more women through advertising.

·         Any additional teams (i.e. single sex teams) should always come second to co-ed main team in all respects – training, dates, cost, players. 

Birmingham Bobcats January 2012 Committee Meeting

On the 29th January it was the Birmingham Bobcat’s first committee meeting for 2012.  It was also the first assembly of the new Committee which includes Alex Levine as Chairman, Justin Evans as Club Secretary, Debbie Evetts as Treasurer, Kate Page-Smith as Tournament and Marketing Manager and Sapin Patel as Operations Manager.  The meeting went extremely well – we successfully covered a lot of issues and have come up with a plan to make 2012 a formative year for the Bobcats. 

Here is a summary of the committee meeting minutes:

Present: Debbie, Kate, Justin, Saps

Apology: Alex

Indoor Season

• Going well, upwards of 12 people every week. Very committed team developing, skills advancing.
• More structure needed to the 1 hour session rather than just throw around or a game. Coaching and specific drills for the first 30 minutes followed by a game was agreed as a good structure.  Saps and Kate to run this – good opportunity to practice following their coaching courses.

Charity Tournament

• Date confirmed for 28/4/12. Alex and Reinout are meeting Hallfield venue in near future. Kate had met with Peter Evans (BSUK) to explain the tournament and to discuss funding.  Peter was very pleased with progress. Community Olympic funding may be possible, but we would have to have opening and closing ceremony for this to apply. Kate offered to investigate this further along with advertising. Kate also said Birmingham University were interested in entering a team (Justin thinks they do have a softball team).

Tournaments

• Kate showed and discussed a tournament schedule for 2012, inc Cologne Tourcats. We have already signed up for Manchester First Ball.
• Nottingham First Ball details will follow.
• Committee members provisionally agreed which tournaments we are likely to enter. Some are D grade/recreational and others are more competitive (C grade).
• There was a discussion about managing player expectations and how we can do this adequately. Should we have two teams – one competitive team, one social team, single sex teams, offer lots of tournaments etc. Cost of doing this was discussed and there was concern that this would impact membership fees.  To research this Kate will contact tournament organisers to ascertain the cost of the tournaments and send to committee members an amended list.

Team Structure

• Kate handed out a useful list of 2011 members and potential 2012 members. We will have a few new players and returning ones.
• Major issue is that we cannot continue to turn up to tournaments with 30+ members, all of whom expect to play.  So how do we combat this?  Separating the team was discussed, but we need to ensure that the club is inclusive and be careful not to create fractions in the team.  We don’t want to marginalize members.  Must achieve a balance between social and competition. 
• In addition to our usual tournaments (Cotswold, Labour Day etc) serious consideration is to be given to entering smaller teams for specific graded tournaments. These would likely fall outside of membership fees and would be “pay to play”.  Single sex tournaments would also fall into this category.

League Structure

• Kate advised that the Leamington Hawks are unlikely to return this year and this is probably the case for NFU Stratford team. Coventry Tigers are also unreliable as the team consisted of overseas players.
• However, there is a potential inter-club league likely to emerge this year involving the Bobcats, Leicester Blue Sox, Warwick University etc.  This has emerged from the Central Midlands League which was thought up last year by Kate and Giovanni Ciotti from the Leicester Blue Soxs.  After Kate’s discussion with Peter Evans, BSUK are very keen for this to develop but have suggested that it is renamed the Mercia League to provide a wider catchment area.  BSUK will develop this with support from the Bobcats. 
• While the ‘coaching only’ sessions in 2011 were very good, feedback from last year showed that more game experience would be preferable.  After discussion the committee thought that an intra-club league would be able to offer this, but the main concern was when to hold it.  The Committee did not want to give up the coaching sessions completely in favour of a league, and it was felt that most players would not be able to attend two sessions a week.  It was also highlighted that the coaching sessions would be able to build upon specific skills (beginners, advance, pitching, etc.) which would not be as easily addressed in a league situation.  However, these specific sessions could disconnect the team, and would also not provide a fun environment. 
• It was agreed that in the first six weeks of the outdoor season there should be a general training session to be held on a Thursday.  Following the completion of the Softball for Beginner’s course (May 2012) an intra-club league should be held on a Thursday.  The league would start with two teams divided equally in all regards and each team will have two designated Coaches – who will be the captains.  These coaches will not only lead the teams, but also watch players and advise what skills the players should work upon. 
• There will be some players who would like to have some additional impromptu training.  For these players the Operations Manager (Sapin) can organise a specific training session as and when there is a demand.  It was felt this approach would enhance specific skills for those who wanted to develop further but not divide the club into different fractions.

Coaching

• Meeting took place on 25th Jan and Kate will prepare and distribute some notes. Regular meetings between the coaches will take place to establish a standardized coaching base and to develop the coaches as a team.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our loved ones (family, friends and partners) for putting up with all our incessant softball (one-sided) conversations, increasing amount of training sessions, weekends away at tournaments, long nights out with the team and for generally supporting us and therefore the team in this game that we love.  We know at times it can be hard and we appreciate your tolerance! We hope this year we can make you proud.

Here's to the Bobcat Widows!

Indoor Softball - Big Success

Since the 10th January 2012 the Birmingham Bobcats have been playing indoor softball at Kingsbury School and Leisure centre in Erdington.  It was the club’s first attempt at indoor softball and it was uncertain how the new training sessions would be received by the dedicated outdoor team.  Chris Williams did a fantastic job finding a suitable venue, preparing and distributing rules and advertising the new venture - especially as he moved to the North-East of England in the middle of it. 

It was not long before the 10^th January was upon us and it was very encouraging to see about twenty people (including some new faces) turn up and eager to play.  Although we had a few teething problems in the first week (a dislocated shoulder, black eye and two busted hands)  the players continued to return week after week.  The sessions, which initially started as just game scenarios, soon developed into training sessions led by newly qualified coaches Sapin and Kate.  Each week players experienced new exciting drills followed by a 30 minute high intensity (but brilliant fun) game. 

We are now in our fifth week and we are so impressed (and pleased) with the consistent high turnout, player dedication and, of course, the Brilliant Bobcat spirit!  Black eyes have been replaced by home runs, dislocated shoulders replaced by new skills and busted hands by new friends and team camaraderie. 

What will the next few weeks bring!