Minutes of general committee meeting on Sunday 25 March 2007

Officers of the National Stoolball Association (NSA) met with association and league represenatatives at Cowfold Sports Pavilion on Sunday 25 March 2007 at 10.30am.

Present

National Stoolball Association officers:

• John Price (Chairman)
• Shirley Reed (Vice-Chairman)
• Kay Price (Secretary)
• Peter Cheesman (Treasurer)
• Michael Ledwich (Rules)
• Barbara Fitzpatrick (Marketing)
• Kevin Hilliard (Club Mark Standards Administrator)
• John Fitzpatrick (Umpires)

Association and league representatives:

• Chanctonbury Ladies Stoolball League:Â Vic Laker
• Hailsham Stoolball League (Mixed): Sally Morris
• Surrey Ladies Stoolball Association:Â Michael Ledwich
• Sussex County Stoolball Association: Daphne Hunt (Mid Division) and Chris Moon (West Division)
• Sussex County Umpires’ Association: John Fitzpatrick

Welcome

The chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, and prior to the start, there was a few moments’ silence observed in memory of the England and Kent cricket all-rounder, Bob Woolmer.

Apologies

• Richard Emsley (NSA Insurance Officer)
• Rick Mason (Website Administrator)
• Cindy Cavie (Eastbourne Red Triangle)
• Kay Turner (Coastal Ladies Stoolball League)
• Doris and Keith Younger (SCSA, North Division)
• Jenny and Edward Keates (WKLSL)
• Melissa Mantle (Coaching Development Officer)
• Toni Wheatley (NSA Officer and SCSA, East Division)

Minutes of the last meeting

The meeting approved the minutes as a true record and were subsequently signed by the chairman.

Matters arising

An email had been received from Tomas Andren, a PE Teacher from Malmo in Sweden, who expressed an interest in starting stoolball in his country and wanted more information about the sport.

Shirley Reed had been approached by Ros Harper from ITV who was filming a programme entitled ‘Incredible Britons’ featuring Robbie Coltrane. Presumably Ros felt that stoolball as a sport was part of our English heritage.

Correspondence

The NSA continues to receive daily sporting bulletins from the Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR), for example on European legislation and other pertinent matters.

An email from Wave Leisure, which operates out of the Downs Leisure Centre, Seaford and would like to include a stoolball competition in their August Bank Holiday Monday Open Day.

Other items of correspondence were discussed during agenda items later in the meeting.

Financial report from the treasurer

Peter Cheesman reported a net surplus for the period of £491 and a healthy overall balance. He went on to explain that he was still awaiting an invoice from Royal & Sun Alliance; otherwise there were no creditors outstanding.  He did reassure the meeting that PA insurance was in place and that any potential claims would be met.

Club registrations

The chairman reminded the meeting that as the governing body of stoolball it was important that they had up to date information about all clubs in membership. He reminded the meeting that with the advent of the 2012 Olympics, it was most important that the NSA be in a position to meet enquiries from sources worldwide seeking details about our game. In particular, we have a very real need to respond to an enquiry from sports hub.

He also stressed the need for clubs to provide, wherever possible, a postcode or name of a road close to their playing venue. This was an essential requirement for any one trying to locate their ground by sat nav. He also stressed how vital it was that each club provided an email contact address for the speedy dissemination of information from the NSA.

Whilst there had been a big improvement since the last general meeting when there had only been 27 forms returned, he was encouraged that the numbers had now reached 72. He advised the meeting that the overall situation was as follows:

• Chanctonbury League:Â All completed
• Coastal League:Â Middleton and Slindon outstanding (5 teams)
• East Sussex County Council League:Â None completed (11 teams)
• East Sussex Friendly Teams: 2 completed (20 teams)
• Eastbourne Red Triangle:Â None completed (39 teams)
• Hailsham Stoolball League:Â 1 completed (10 teams)
• Mix Sussex Stoolball League: 1 completed (6 teams)
• Surrey Ladies Stoolball Association: 15 completed (16 teams)
• Sussex County Stoolball Association:Â Â Â Central: 3 completed (10 teams)
• Sussex County Stoolball Association:Â Â Â East: All completed
• Sussex County Stoolball Association:Â Â Â Mid: 5 completed (9 teams)
• Sussex County Stoolball Association:Â Â Â North: All completed
• Sussex County Stoolball Association:Â Â Â West: 5 completed (10 teams)
• West Kent Ladies Stoolball League:Â None completed (13 teams)
• Wessex Friendly Group: 10 completed (13 teams)

The chairman reminded all present that clubs would be required to complete these forms whenever a change in their details takes place. He stressed that it was vitally important for all those clubs who have not yet provided their details to do so without further delay.  He reminded everyone that forms were available on the NSA website or from Kay Price as hard copy which can be emailed or sent through the post, as required.

Action: leagues/associations/club secretaries

Child protection liaison/welfare/contact persons

The chairman was pleased to report that personnel had already been appointed by Surrey, Sussex County and the Wessex Friendly Group. Maureen Croxford representing West Division (SCSA) was a new addition to the list. He pointed out that it was important that all clubs conform to this directive (in compliance with the NSA Child Protection Policy document), particularly those clubs with junior players under the age of 18 or those with vulnerable adults.

Action: leagues/associations/club secretaries

Insurance

In the absence of Richard Emsley, the chairman reported that clubs would soon be receiving their PL and PA renewal forms for the forthcoming season. He urged all clubs not currently covered by PL insurance to get cover but, at the same time, he recognised that some clubs would be covered under a combined cover if they were part of a sports and social club.

Website report

Michael Ledwich reported that he had met with Rick Mason in Lewes and it had been agreed that he could have access to the NSA website to make changes.

Since the last meeting, the News page has been reduced to the 10 most recent items and the contact details of NSA officers was now more accessible. It was now possible for clubs to put details of their fixtures on the website, add the results and a short match report. Ultimately, the aim would be for these results to be used to construct a league table and create the ability to send these results to local newspapers.

The chairman asked all leagues to ensure that clubs were aware of this system and asked that their results co-ordinator in particular could start to take steps to ensure that their league results were fed through to the NSA website. He also encouraged all clubs to make use of the website to provide details of their club and gain publicity.

Barbara Fitzpatrick said that the ‘Play Stoolball’ poster had been added to the website and she felt that we should work on including a video clip showing a brief look at stoolball.  It was agreed to approach Peter Carter (Coaching Solutions) to provide a suitable sequence from the ‘Let’s Play Stoolball’ video.

It was also agreed to ask Rick Mason to provide a hit counter so that we can gauge the amount of interest in our web pages.

Barbara also spoke to members about the need for a Creative Commons Licence, which is similar to a copyright and would provide the NSA with necessary Internet protection. This was a new concept to most of the members present and it was agreed that the NSA should explore this further. The need for putting the NSA website address on equipment, where possible, was discussed and this will be followed up at the next officers’ meeting at the end of April.

It was agreed that a small group of NSA Officers (Barbara Fitzpatrick, Michael Ledwich and Kevin Hilliard) should meet up with Rick Mason to discuss further improvements to the website.

Marketing report

It was reported that the ‘Play Stoolball’ posters are being circulated and have been put to good use, in particular, by clubs in need of new players. The car stickers have gone down well and are proving a good tool for publicity. The chairman reported that he had recently purchased three stoolball-related badges from eBay:

• Little Common Stoolball Club
• Surrey County Stoolball Club
• A Sussex County Umpires’ badge

These will be added to our growing stoolball archive.

Regarding the current logo, Michael Ledwich suggested that a bat as well as the ball be included in the logo to get across the message that stoolball is played with a bat and a ball.

It was agreed that the NSA needs to raise its profile and to this effect it was suggested by Vic Laker (Chanctonbury) that the NSA could sponsor a tournament (ie, pay for the ground hire or something similar) and set up a tent to sell equipment etc. Sally Morris (Hailsham) felt that a flyer could be produced to publicise the NSA and its activities. She mentioned that she had recently attended the AGM of a mixed league and the NSA was not mentioned once during the meeting.

The chairman accepted these as very good points which would be discussed at the next officers’ meeting, but did point out that all members of the NSA were unpaid volunteers and were also fully committed to their particular league, association, friendly group and club.

New coaching DVDs

The first copies of the new DVDs had been received and circulated. Daphne Hunt (Mid Division, SCSA) reported that she had received a copy and considered it a most helpful tool, although as the coaching was on a one-to-one basis, it did not help her with the classic situation of trying to combine coaching with keeping 15 youngsters interested and occupied. However, it was agreed that in a coaching DVD, in order to demonstrate each aspect of the game, this could only be achieved on a one-to-one basis on film.

The combined price of the two DVDs is £23.50 (£24.95 including postage and packaging). They run for 43 minutes (coaching) and 31 minutes (practices) and represent excellent value. The secretary was currently involved in contacting those schools and individuals who had ordered the first ‘Let’s Play Stoolball’ video and offering the new DVDs for £21.50 on production of a £2 voucher.

Melissa Mantle is currently working on some workcards and a booklet to go with the DVDs to assist teachers and coaches in their sessions.

Equipment/local agents

It was announced that two new agents had been appointed to cover the East Sussex area. Sally Morris had agreed to take over from Sue Verrall, mainly dealing with mixed stoolball clubs in the Hailsham and Eastbourne area, and Toni Wheatley, the East Division, SCSA and East Sussex Friendly group of teams.

It was also suggested that the agents should be supplied with rubber stamps bearing the NSA logo to stamp their invoice books. One will be provided for each local agent and any other NSA officers as needed.

NSA Club Mark/accreditation

Kevin Hilliard reported that he was half-way through the first draft document and hoped to have the full document ready by the next officers’ meeting in April.

He said that he was using the Sussex County Sports Partnership Club Mark document as a guideline and it was his brief to ensure that what was contained in the first draft was appropriate to stoolball. The purpose of this document, when approved, is to provide a basic structure for all stoolball clubs with a list of essentials (committee, AGM, constitution, regular meetings etc), so that where stoolball clubs are nominated for awards, such as ‘Club of the Year’ in their county, they are not automatically discounted because they do not meet Club Mark accreditation standards.

It was pointed out by Shirley Reed that stoolball has existed for 500 years without formalising a club’s structure, but she reluctantly agreed that in order to meet modern sporting standards that this was a necessary addition.

American Baseball League’s visit to Sussex

This trip, consisting of 5 people (including a camera crew) will be visiting Sussex on Tuesday 19 June for a demonstration game of rounders (at Millais Girls’ School in Horsham) and junior baseball in Horsham.

On Wednesday 20 June they will be shown the game of stoolball. Possible venues are Stedham and Tillington (Petworth Park). The chairman said that there was an urgent need to find out about the three authors Jane Austen (Northanger Abbey), Cassandra Cooke (Battleridge) and Mary Russell Mitford (Our Village), because there was a mention of baseball in each novel. Michael Ledwich said that Northanger Abbey was being shown on TV later that evening and he would record it. He said that one of the clips advertising the film included the paragraph which referred to baseball.

Umpires’ forum

John Fitzpatrick told the meeting that the umpires’ forum being held at Wivelsfield Village Hall on Sunday 13 May (start time 10.30am) was designed to act as a refresher and clarification course for both new and more experienced umpires.

He said that it was important that umpires gain the respect of players and this could only be achieved if there was consistency across the board in decision-making. He reminded members that the Sussex Umpires’ AGM was on 28 March at the Clair Hall in Haywards Heath and everyone would be welcome.

New clubs

Welcome to:

• Barns Green near Horsham who have joined the Chanctonbury League this season
• Rotherfield, which is a newly formed team in East Sussex and will be looking for friendly games with the East Division Friendly group of teams
• There is also a new club joining the Mid Sussex Mixed League for the 2007 season

The NSA has had an enquiry from Eastbourne asking for help to start a ladies’ stoolball team in that area and information is being exchanged. Sadly, we also have to report that Handcross Stoolball Club, a club with more than 75 years of history, has folded this season through lack of numbers.

Sponsors

The chairman has made an appointment with Barclays Bank and is looking for support from them under their community support programme. The NSA will also approach Tesco, which is another company becoming more involved in sporting sponsorship.

All members present were asked to look for possible national sponsors and it was suggested that member clubs first look at employers of their own team members.

Stoolball song

This was forwarded to us by Sue Verrall from the Eastbourne Red Triangle League and she gave it to us to add to our archive. The chairman said he was very impressed with this piece of writing and asked if anyone knew who had written it and if there was a tune it could be sung to.

Listen to the song that we’ll sing you
Of one of the oldest of games
Known in the bygone ages
By several different names
Forgotten and unplayed for years
But now restored to fame
By Sussex folk both east and west
Oh, stoolball is the game

Chorus
And we are stoolball players
Active and strong and keen
We bowl and bat
And shout “How’s that?”
And make our catches clean
We also can hit boundaries
And we know how to run
And at close of play
We can often say
“Well played, again we’ve won”

Our game is much like cricket
In fact some people say
It was from watching stoolball
That cricketers learnt to play
The pitch is only sixteen yards
The bowling crease is ten
The wickets are tall, bats and ball are small
The players are eleven

(repeat chorus)

We play in leagues and cup-ties
Just like all other clubs do
For silver cups and medals
And we play county matches too
We want you all to join our clubs
And come and watch our game
And we’ll prove to you
That it’s really true

(repeat chorus)

Tour de France

The NSA were contacted by Chiddingstone Causeway Stoolball Club (West Kent Ladies’ League) to let us know that it was their club who were making the ground-breaking trip to the Roujan area of France at the beginning of May. They have promised us plenty of pictures and hopefully they will write an article about their trip in the newsletter which comes out at the end of the season.

Press coverage

Now that fixtures and results can be included on the website, there needs to be a concerted effort by leagues and clubs to make sure that the web pages are regularly updated and this information is passed on to the local papers. It was good to hear that several leagues now have press officers to make sure this happens.  Press coverage will be on the agenda of the group set up to deal with website issues (see above). A volunteer to cover all press aspects for the NSA is urgently needed.

Any other business

Having established that there were no other matters to discuss, the meeting closed at 12.35pm.

Date of next meeting: Officers’ meeting – Monday 30 April 2007 at 53 Kings Road, Horsham from 7.30pm onwards.

Kay Price, 28 March 2007

Tags: meetings