Minutes of General Committee meeting on 23 September 2007

Officers of the National Stoolball Association (NSA) and league representatives met at Cowfold Sports Pavilion on Sunday 23 September 2007 at 11am.

1. Present

NSA officers:

• John Price (Chairman)
• Shirley Reed (Vice-Chairman)
• Kay Price (Secretary)
• John Fitzpatrick (Umpires)
• Barbara Fitzpatrick (Marketing)
• Kevin Hilliard (Club Charter Accreditation)

Association and league representatives:

• Chanctonbury Ladies Stoolball League: Vic Laker
• Coastal Ladies Stoolball League: Kaye Turner
• Sussex County Stoolball Association: Daphne Hunt, Pauline Hurley and Joy Mans (Mid Division), Doris and Keith Younger and Sybil Voller (North Division) and Rosemary Newland (West Division)
• Sussex County Umpires’ Association: Fred Newland (Chairman)

Apologies:

• Margaret and Barry Bertin (Sussex County Stoolball Association)

2. Welcome

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, and prior to the start, said a few words about Rosemary Hobbs, the NSA President, who had passed away during the summer.

Rosemary was the mastermind behind starting up the National Stoolball Association as the governing body of the game in 1979 and we all owe a great deal to her. We are currently considering her successor as President.

3. Minutes of the last meeting

The meeting approved the minutes as a true record and they were subsequently signed by the Chairman. A resume of the main topics/events which have taken place since the last General Meeting follow these minutes.

4. Matters arising

All matters arising were covered in the agenda.

5. Financial report from the Treasurer

Peter Cheesman was not able to be at the meeting, but has since provided a income and expenditure account for the period up to 25 September. The finances are in a healthy state with a net surplus for the period of £2,854.

6. Club registrations for 2008 and a summary for this year

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 said that registration forms would be reissued for next year and that full details of club personnel should be sent to the NSA as soon as possible.

He also stressed the need for clubs to provide, wherever possible, a postcode or name of a road close to their playing venue, and if they had not already done so, add the practice night to their form.

• Chanctonbury League: All clubs completed (9 teams)
• Coastal League: Middleton and Slindon outstanding (5 teams)
• East Sussex County Council League (Lewes): Completed (10 teams)
• East Sussex Friendly Teams: 8 out of 20 completed
• Eastbourne Red Triangle: 3 completed (39 teams)
• Hailsham Stoolball League: 2 completed (10 teams)
• Lewes Arms League: 1 contact for league (10 teams)
• Mix Sussex Stoolball League: 5 completed (6 teams)
• Surrey Ladies Stoolball Association: Completed (16 teams)
• Sussex County Stoolball Association Central: completed (10 teams)
• Sussex County Stoolball Association East: Completed (7 teams)
• Sussex County Stoolball Association Mid: 8 Completed (9 teams)
• Sussex County Stoolball Association North: Completed (10 teams)
• Sussex County Stoolball Association West: Completed (10 teams)
• West Kent Ladies Stoolball League: Completed (13 teams)
• Wessex Friendly Group: 12 completed (13 teams)

The Chairman 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

7. Child Protection Liaison/Welfare/Contact persons

The Chairman again emphasised how important it was that all clubs with junior players under the age of 18 and those with vulnerable adults conform to the NSA Child Protection Policy and appoint a Club Liaison Officer.

He also pointed out that in line with new legislation shortly coming into effect, the words “child protection” are being replaced by “safeguarding”.

ACTION: leagues/associations/club secretaries

8. Club Charter Accreditation

Kevin Hilliard reported that following a meeting with Sussex County Sports Partnership (Shelley Meyern and a colleague) where some helpful changes were suggested, the NSA now has the finished article to circulate to leagues and associations for comment.

It is hoped that everyone will read this document thoroughly and, following the review period, it is proposed to roll out the Club Charter Accreditation Scheme at the third stoolball Convention in March 2008.

Kevin stated that he was quite willing to make local presentations if it was felt necessary. The Chairman passed on his sincere thanks to Kevin for all his hard work.

ACTION: Feedback required from all leagues and associations

9. Insurance report

In Richard Emsley’s absence, it was reported that 105 clubs had taken out Public Liability Insurance this year and 63 clubs are covered for Personal Accident Insurance. However, one point which was raised at the meeting concerned food sold during tournaments which could be a problem under current health and hygiene regulations. It was agreed to look into this matter and report back.

ACTION: Richard Emsley

10. Fixtures/results on the NSA website and press coverage

Pauline Hurley, a member of Adastra Stoolball Club and Mid Division, SCSA, successfully entered all her league’s fixtures and results onto the NSA website for the 2007 season and encouraged all members present to follow her example next season. She said that, although the initial entering of the fixtures did take a little time, after that the process was simple. It also generated an up-to-date results table.

The Chairman said that a number of leagues had entered their fixtures this year and he was pleased to see that clubs were beginning to realise the benefits of using the NSA website for this and other purposes.

11. Reports from the leagues on the 2007 season

• Wessex Friendly Group, report by Shirley Reed – Milland Charity Cup, competed for by 8 teams, was won by Steep Stoolball Club this year. In September, their annual Cancer Tournament had raised £1,500, a magnificent effort. A mixed tournament taking place at Three Counties was also being run on behalf of charity.
• West Division, SCSA, report by Rosemary Newland – West Division had a successful season. Their Under 17 juniors won the Inter-Divisional Cup and were runners-up in the Matterface Cup. West Division senior team won the Divisional Cup, won the Grantham Rose Bowl against Kent, but lost the Under 21 game against Kent. Angmering won the West Division Cup, the SCSA Knock-out Cup, the County Cup at Seaford and the SCSA League Cup. Horsham Trinity won the Rest of the League Trophy and Yapton were runners-up.
• Chanctonbury Ladies League, report by Vic Laker – successfully completed their fixtures after a stop-start season. The league was won by East Preston with Aldingbourne in second place. The league tournament was won by Aldingbourne, with Aldrington runners-up.
• Coastal Ladies League, report from Kaye Turner – they had a good year and completed all their fixtures. After an unsettled season weather-wise, everyone enjoyed their mini-league in August which is run using a different playing format.
• North Division, SCSA, report by Sybil Voller – Bad weather had caused many matches to be cancelled during the season, but they had struggled through. The league had been won by Maresfield, with Nutley as runners-up.
• Mid Division, SCSA, report by Daphne Hunt – Adastra had won the league and the next three teams had all tied. Overall, there had been more evenly matched games this year and it was an enjoyable season. Their presentation evening at the end of the season had proved very popular and £1,980 had been sent to St Peter’s and St James’s Hospice, £50 to Buxted Church, and £500 to The Princess Royal Hospital at Haywards Heath.

12. Junior stoolball

Joy Mans from Adastra Stoolball Club told the meeting how she ensured that there were enough juniors to form a team each season. She advertised extensively in freebee magazines/papers, in junior and senior schools locally and put up posters wherever possible.

She also reported that a team from Thomas Bennett School in Crawley had played in the Mid Division junior league this year. The fact that they were able to get to fixtures was due to a very enthusiastic teacher.

13. What do you want the NSA to do next year

The members were full of good ideas:

• Fund a Youth Development Officer who would be available to go into schools to teach stoolball
• Take a representative team abroad to publicise the game
• Get some publicity leaflets printed and make sure that they are available in public places, ie libraries etc.
• We need to get younger people involved in the running of the game
• We need more effective publicity
• Encourage more public support for clubs – in particular, newly formed Barns Green were named as a well supported club (Chanctonbury League)
• Play a game recreating how stoolball was first played
• Revitalise coverage of stoolball in the press
• Capitalise on the presence of stoolball in the National School Curriculum for 2008-2011

These are all good ideas, but it was unanimously agreed that we needed to concentrate on attracting younger players to the game and this needs time and effort to make it happen.

14. Any other business

Having established that there were no other matters to discuss, the meeting closed at 1.25pm.

Date of next meeting: Officers’ meeting – 7.30pm, Monday 29 October 2007 at 53 Kings Road, Horsham.

Annual General Meeting – Sunday 25 November 2007 at Cowfold Sports Pavilion, 10.30am for 11am start.

Kay Price, 17 October 2007

Resume of NSA events since March 2007

1. Tour de France

Chiddingstone Causeway went on tour to Roujan in France and enjoyed the occasion tremendously. They have already booked their flights for another trip next year and the NSA was happy to sanction their visit.

2. Umpires’ Forum

This was organised by John Fitzpatrick and, although the attendance was disappointing, it was a very useful meeting and because of this we are not discouraged and will certainly be organising others in the future.

3. Car stickers and posters

In response to a suggestion by Vic Laker of the Chanctonbury League, car stickers were added to our publicity campaign aides.

4. ‘Skills and Drills in Striking and Fielding Games’

These DVDs have been masterminded by Melissa Mantle and filmed by Peter Carter and Caroline Bennett of Coaching Solutions at University College, Chichester. They are excellent value at £23.50 (plus postage and packaging £1.50).

DVD 1 lasts for 43 minutes and concentrates on coaching the game of stoolball. DVD 2 lasts for 31 minutes and demonstrates a number of practices which would be particularly useful in helping adults and young players get fit before the start of the season.

5. Visit to England and particularly Sussex by a group of Americans from Major League Baseball based in New York

This group, headed by Sam Marchiano, produce the website for Major League Baseball and were in England to find out more about the roots of baseball.

They visited:

• Lord’s Cricket Ground to film a cricket match
• Dunkirk in Kent for Bat and Trap
• Millais School in Horsham for a demonstration game of rounders
• The ground of Horsham Olympic Football Club to look at a junior baseball club in Horsham
• Horsham Cricket Ground for a game of stoolball between Horsham Trinity and Angmering
• Chawton House near Alton in Hampshire where Jane Austen wrote ‘Northanger Abbey’ back in 1790 and just happens to mention baseball

6. Professor Larry McCray from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston

Larry contacted us back in May 2007 asking us for help with the early history of stoolball. He is trying to assemble a single chronology of events that reveal the history of what he terms “safe haven” sports, like baseball, cricket and stoolball, on his Protoball website in America.

Therefore, he is helping us with the chronology of stoolball. As an example of what he is trying to achieve, anyone who has read WW Grantham’s book written in the 1920s will know that there are a great many references in it, and Larry McCray is enlisting our help to try to validate all these early references.

7. Publicising the NSA

At the meeting in March, Vic Laker mentioned that not all stoolball players and clubs were aware of the NSA as a governing body and they did not know what they were trying to do for the game. He suggested that NSA officers could come to league tournaments and make themselves known.

As a result, members of the NSA visited Stonewall Park in Kent; Mid Sussex Mixed tournament at Plumpton College; Chanctonbury League tournament at Westergate and SCSA tournaments at Seaford and Plumpton. Next year the NSA will visit events connected with the Wessex Friendly Group, Surrey, Coastal, East Sussex Friendly Group, Eastbourne Red Triangle and Hailsham Mixed.

8. Thailand

Earlier this year, a member of staff from Beacon Community College, Crowborough visited Thailand to introduce stoolball to a school they are twinned with. Since then, we have received a request for equipment from a school near Chiang Mai in Thailand and the husband of a member of staff is visiting England later this month (October) to pick up bats and balls. Back in Thailand, they have already made their own stoolball wickets.

9. Sussex County Sports Partnership

During the summer, Kevin Hilliard has been working on a Club Accreditation Scheme and recently visited SCSP at Falmer with Kay Price to discuss what was being proposed. They came up with a number of helpful suggestions and the results of Kevin’s endeavours are currently with leagues and associations for comment.

10. Equipment loaning scheme

Since the beginning of this summer, the NSA has been collecting second-hand wickets and bats to refurbish and re-use. The fact that we had this equipment available to loan was then advertised on our website and as a result a number of schools and a Scout Group at Ifield, near Crawley in West Sussex took up the offer – Hurst Green Primary School in East Sussex, Highfields School, Penn, near Wolverhampton and Patcham Junior School, near Brighton.

We currently have 10 sets of wickets with stakes and 17 stoolball bats. Two wickets and two bats are still with Hurst Green School who asked if they continue to use them this term while the weather was still good. They have also asked to loan them again next year. It’s been a good start and our offer still stands – if any club has old wickets or bats they no longer want, then please get in touch. Remember for every bat there is a free ball.

11. Stoolball has been added to the National Schools Curriculum for 2008-2011

That is the best news we have had for a long time and you can rest assured that we will be carefully making our plans to optimize the opportunities that will be forthcoming for the game of stoolball.

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