Stoolball news in 2003

The 24th Annual General Meeting of the National Stoolball Association (NSA) took place on Monday 24 November 2003.

Read more on Chairman’s report to the 24th Annual General Meeting…

It is good to report that since the end of last season Michelle from Uckfield Stoolball Club has given birth to a little boy, and Pat Goldsmith’s daughter, Claire, from Wivelsfield Green Stoolball Club has had a little girl, Emily Bronwin. Congratulations to you both.

Now we come to the sad part. During the winter we learned of the deaths of three valued older members in the world of stoolball. The first was Peter Cornford, who was an umpire with Denton and South Heighton Stoolball Club.

Peter was a staunch supporter of stoolball and universally regarded as a very nice man. He was most disappointed when his club dropped out of the Mid Division of Sussex and for a time used to bring his granddaughter to play for Ringmer juniors. Hopefully she will continue to play stoolball and retain the family connection with the game.

Following very quickly on Peter’s death we learned of Doreen Mayston’s passing. Doreen was in her 80s when she died and was still very much involved with Ditchling Stoolball Club.

She played all her stoolball with Ditchling and on her retirement from playing, she took over the role of scorer until she felt she could no longer keep up with the game.

She was a Life Member of Sussex County Stoolball Association and a Vice President of Mid Division. In 1999 she was decorated with an MBE for “services to the community,” and apparently held up the Investiture queue for quite a while when, in response to the question “what is stoolball?” she told the Queen all about the game.

Very recently, on 4 April, members of the National Stoolball Association (NSA) attended the funeral of Joyce Coleman, who on her day was one of the most prolific batsmen ever to play stoolball. In one particular game she scored 267 runs, and this remains a record in Sussex stoolball to this day.

Joyce played most of her stoolball with Fairwarp until they dropped out of North Division Sussex County Stoolball Association in the 1980s, and after that she played intermittently for Wivelsfield Green Stoolball Club.

On her retirement she remained a fervent supporter of the Sussex county game and she and her sister, Peggy Thorlby, were always to be found in their deckchairs at the major fixtures.

We have now submitted to Sport England our application to gain “recognition of the game of stoolball”.

We do not know how long the process will take, but rest assured that directly we have some news, it will be passed on to you.

If you, your club or firm have not submitted player details to the National Stoolball Association (NSA), we would welcome them.

This year our main aim is going to be directed towards the production of a stoolball Promotional/Educational video and we are very grateful that Shirley Reed and Nikki Woodroffe (Head of PE at Bedales School in Hampshire) have volunteered to work on this project.

We will also need to update our Rule Book and Green Booklet because they, together with other literature, will hopefully form part of an Education Pack which we will be sending to schools and teacher training colleges.

Our next newsletter is due out in April.

Where leagues, clubs and members are directly involved in providing stoolball for children under the age of 18, it is recommended that arrangements are made fir them to attend a child protection course.

Many local authorities are now providing such courses and everybody involved in coaching, umpiring or even transporting children under the age of 18 should make efforts to attend one of these courses as soon as possible.

A phone call to your local council official should help you locate a course in your area. In the meantime the National Stoolball Association (NSA) will be looking into the possibility of providing its own courses if appropriate, and if qualified tutors can be identified.

The cost is generally about £20 per person and each course runs for about three hours.

Obviously if you already work for social services, are employed in a school or education environment, or work for the police you may well have already been on a child protection course as part of your in-house training.

Our advice is to see what is available locally and book yourself in. It is a certificated course and, as with first aid courses, needs to be updated every three years.

Dates, times and venues announced for meetings of the National Stoolball Association in 2003.

• General Committee Meeting in the Reading Room at Cowfold Village Hall, Monday 24 February 2003, 8pm.
• Officers’ Meeting at 53 Kings Road, Horsham, Monday 31 March 2003, 7.30pm.
• General Committee Meeting in the Reading Room at Cowfold Village Hall, Monday 28 April 2003, 8pm.
• Officers’ Meeting at 53 Kings Road, Horsham, Monday 19 May 2003, 7.30pm.
• Officers’ Meeting at 53 Kings Road, Horsham, Monday 30 June 2003, 7.30pm.
• Officers’ Meeting at 53 Kings Road, Horsham, Monday 18 August 2003, 7.30pm.
• General Committee Meeting in the Reading Room at Cowfold Village Hall, Monday 29 September 2003, 8pm.
• Officers’ Meeting at 53 Kings Road, Horsham, Monday 27 October 2003, 7.30pm.
• 24th AGM at Cowfold Sports Pavilion, Monday 24 November 2003, 8pm.