Emma-Louise Allen writes after attending her first BSUK Youth Panel meeting.
This past Saturday [4th Februrary - Ed], I attended my first BSUK Youth Panel meeting. I was quickly brought up to speed on what the group is all about and I plan to take full advantage of this opportunity to work alongside like minded individuals and thrash out new ideas with BSUK staff who lovingly view us as the 'next generation' of sport developers. They offer their time, their support and to quote a fellow youth panel member 'a rather unhealthy amount of pizza!'
Coming away from the meeting, I felt very inspired. Some of my projects for the forthcoming season are to raise awareness of the Youth Panel in our league and find out more about the juniors we have and the roles they play within their clubs. I would also like to rally a team of our own members together to volunteer at BSUK events in exchange for a donation to CSC's fund-raising pot.
If you are interested in helping with any of this or just want to find out more about the Youth Panel itself, feel free to contact me.
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Monday, 12 December 2011
Emma-Louise Allen wins BSUK's Softball Young Volunteer of the Year
Congratulations to Club Secretary and 2011 Clubman of the Year, Emma, who has won BSUK's Softball Young Volunteer of the Year award. This is a fantastic achievement for Emma and is in recognition of all the hard work she has put in this year to promoting softball within our community and helping with the day-to-day running of our Club.
Emma's particular efforts this season include all of the following:
I look forward to seeing Emma at training sporting all of her new BSUK merchandise and I hope that the trophy looks good on her mantlepiece.
If you think that you could follow in Emma's footsteps and spend time helping with the running of the Club, then please contact Helen Turner, Volunteers Co-ordinator.
I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and New Year, see you all in 2012, if not before.
Clare
CSC Chairman
Emma's particular efforts this season include all of the following:
- In her role as Secretary, she has supported me to make sure the Club runs smoothly
- Organising and helping to coach at junior softball taster sessions
- Helping to run a softball taster at Marlow Rugby Club
- Volunteering on the Club's Development Committee
- Helping to organise the Club's annual President's Day (a day she wasn't even attending)
- Co-captaining Firebirds with Liz, even though she played for Phoenix.
I look forward to seeing Emma at training sporting all of her new BSUK merchandise and I hope that the trophy looks good on her mantlepiece.
If you think that you could follow in Emma's footsteps and spend time helping with the running of the Club, then please contact Helen Turner, Volunteers Co-ordinator.
I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and New Year, see you all in 2012, if not before.
Clare
CSC Chairman
Monday, 7 November 2011
Celebrating Award From The Mars Refuel Drink Fund
Chalfont Softball Club, based in Chalfont St. Peter, Buckinghamshire, is celebrating after receiving a £500 donation from the MARS Refuel Drink Fund.
Founded in 2003, the club was the first in the UK to obtain Clubmark accreditation for Softball and currently has 45 active members aged between 15 and 55.
After a successful summer running taster sessions for Chalfont St. Peter Youth Centre and The Beaconsfield School, their aim is to entice more people into playing the sport regularly, through taster sessions.
The club is run entirely by volunteers meaning the successful running of the taster sessions is wholly dependent on the goodwill of the coaches donating their free time.
The donation from the MARS Refuel Drink Fund will pay for two club coaches to run 10 one hour taster sessions.
Five of members of our coaching staff:
Clare Winter, Louie Periera, Chris Yoxall,
Neil Turner, Dan Lovelace
Clare Winter, Club Chairman and Level 2 Coach, says: "With the donation from the MARS Refuel Drink Fund we can now afford to pay our coaches to run taster sessions.
"This will be a great boost to Chalfont Softball Club as it means we can bring new talent and energy to the club and play for longer. A big thank you goes out to MARS Refuel."
Founded in 2003, the club was the first in the UK to obtain Clubmark accreditation for Softball and currently has 45 active members aged between 15 and 55.
After a successful summer running taster sessions for Chalfont St. Peter Youth Centre and The Beaconsfield School, their aim is to entice more people into playing the sport regularly, through taster sessions.
The club is run entirely by volunteers meaning the successful running of the taster sessions is wholly dependent on the goodwill of the coaches donating their free time.
The donation from the MARS Refuel Drink Fund will pay for two club coaches to run 10 one hour taster sessions.
Five of members of our coaching staff:
Clare Winter, Louie Periera, Chris Yoxall,
Neil Turner, Dan Lovelace
Clare Winter, Club Chairman and Level 2 Coach, says: "With the donation from the MARS Refuel Drink Fund we can now afford to pay our coaches to run taster sessions.
"This will be a great boost to Chalfont Softball Club as it means we can bring new talent and energy to the club and play for longer. A big thank you goes out to MARS Refuel."
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
2011 Awards Dinner
It's been a fantastic season for the Club with Phoenix finishing 3rd in WMDMSL Div. 1, their highest ever finish, Flames winning Div. 2, Firebirds having a superb inaugural season finishing middle-top in Div. 3 and our tournaments teams bringing home lots of silverware too, so there was an awful lot to celebrate at our annual awards dinner on Saturday night.
Congratulations to all of our winners:
Overall Club Awards
Clubman of the Year - Emma-Louise Allen
Most Improved Male - Barry Cook
Most Improved Female - Catherine Rowe
Phoenix
Male MVP - Davey Crossman
Female MVP - Sarah Wood
Male Golden Glove - Neil Turner
Female Golden Glove - Steph McKean
Male RBIs - Chris Yoxall
Female RBIs - Sarah Wood
Male Batting Average - Chris Yoxall
Female Batting Average - Sarah Wood
Male HRs - Chris Yoxall
Female HRs - Sarah Wood
Flames
Male MVP - Chris Snelling
Female MVP - Barbra Georgellis
Male Golden Glove - Chris Snelling
Female Golden Glove - Donna Manley
Male RBIs - Chris Howse
Female RBIs - Helen Turner
Male Batting Average - Chris Snelling
Female Batting Average - Barbra Georgellis
Male HRs - Harvey Waywell
Firebirds
Male MVP - Gwyn Jones
Female MVP - Liz Williamson
Male Golden Glove - Barry Cook
Female Golden Glove - Becky Griffiths
Male RBIs - Darren Monteiro
Female RBIs - Liz Williamson
Male Batting Average - Louie Pereira
Female Batting Average - Rosie Archer
Male HRs - Barry Cook
Female HRs - Rosie Archer
Tournaments
Male MVP - Gwyn Jones
Female MVP - Angela Tedman
Male Golden Glove - Lester Deeble
Female Golden Glove - Sarah Wood
Male Bat - Chris Howse
Female Bat - Clare Winter
Finally, a big thank you to Sarah Wood and Liz Williamson who organised the awards, the dinner and the entertainment on the night.
Congratulations to all of our winners:
Overall Club Awards
Clubman of the Year - Emma-Louise Allen
Most Improved Male - Barry Cook
Most Improved Female - Catherine Rowe
Phoenix
Male MVP - Davey Crossman
Female MVP - Sarah Wood
Male Golden Glove - Neil Turner
Female Golden Glove - Steph McKean
Male RBIs - Chris Yoxall
Female RBIs - Sarah Wood
Male Batting Average - Chris Yoxall
Female Batting Average - Sarah Wood
Male HRs - Chris Yoxall
Female HRs - Sarah Wood
Flames
Male MVP - Chris Snelling
Female MVP - Barbra Georgellis
Male Golden Glove - Chris Snelling
Female Golden Glove - Donna Manley
Male RBIs - Chris Howse
Female RBIs - Helen Turner
Male Batting Average - Chris Snelling
Female Batting Average - Barbra Georgellis
Male HRs - Harvey Waywell
Firebirds
Male MVP - Gwyn Jones
Female MVP - Liz Williamson
Male Golden Glove - Barry Cook
Female Golden Glove - Becky Griffiths
Male RBIs - Darren Monteiro
Female RBIs - Liz Williamson
Male Batting Average - Louie Pereira
Female Batting Average - Rosie Archer
Male HRs - Barry Cook
Female HRs - Rosie Archer
Tournaments
Male MVP - Gwyn Jones
Female MVP - Angela Tedman
Male Golden Glove - Lester Deeble
Female Golden Glove - Sarah Wood
Male Bat - Chris Howse
Female Bat - Clare Winter
Finally, a big thank you to Sarah Wood and Liz Williamson who organised the awards, the dinner and the entertainment on the night.
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Chalfont Softballer Shines In Europe
James Rowe, a sixteen year old student, has just returned from Kostelec in the Czech Republic where he played on the Great Britain Mens Under 19 Fastpitch Softball team in the European Junior Boys Championship.
It has been a meteoric rise through the ranks for Rowe, who only started playing softball in June 2010 when he joined Chalfont Softball Club after briefly playing softball in inter-house games at Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe. "I found that there was a whole world of softball that I had never come across before and Chalfont was the best for me as it is the first club in the UK to gain Clubmark accreditation" said James. He quickly impressed and became a key player in the Flames, Chalfont's second team, finishing the season being awarded batting and fielding honours and the prize of the club's most improved player of the season.
In 2011, Rowe has continued to develop as a player and has made himself a regular choice of the Phoenix, Chalfont's first team. Good performances for both the Phoenix and Chalfont's new fastpitch team got him noticed by Stan Doney, the GB U19's coach. Impressing at trial during a local softball tournament saw Rowe selected for the European Championships. "After one year of playing softball I never though that I would be doing a trial for GB. Stan liked what he saw and thought that this would be great experience considering at 16 I would also qualify in two years time when they next come round", said Rowe.
Competing against experienced fastpitch teams from Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark and Israel, Great Britain were always going to find it a tough tournament. "It was never going to be a tournament that we were going to win but the hope was that we would get third and therefore qualify for the World Championships in Argentina next year." said Rowe. He added "A highlight of the week was the atmosphere in the dug out when we started to come back from 7-0 down against Israel to win 18-8. My personal highlight was in the game against Croatia which we won (17-7) after being 6-0 down, we were 2 down with a runner on 3rd, I came up and had to hit a single and get to first to win the game on mercy and save us having to play another innings."
Great Britain unfortunately lost out to Croatia in the playoffs to finish in fourth place. Rowe played well the whole week and finished with the third best batting average of the team and achieved the fourth best fielding average - not a bad start for Rowe who is already hoping to be returning to the Championship in two years time as a better and more experienced player.
It has been a meteoric rise through the ranks for Rowe, who only started playing softball in June 2010 when he joined Chalfont Softball Club after briefly playing softball in inter-house games at Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe. "I found that there was a whole world of softball that I had never come across before and Chalfont was the best for me as it is the first club in the UK to gain Clubmark accreditation" said James. He quickly impressed and became a key player in the Flames, Chalfont's second team, finishing the season being awarded batting and fielding honours and the prize of the club's most improved player of the season.
In 2011, Rowe has continued to develop as a player and has made himself a regular choice of the Phoenix, Chalfont's first team. Good performances for both the Phoenix and Chalfont's new fastpitch team got him noticed by Stan Doney, the GB U19's coach. Impressing at trial during a local softball tournament saw Rowe selected for the European Championships. "After one year of playing softball I never though that I would be doing a trial for GB. Stan liked what he saw and thought that this would be great experience considering at 16 I would also qualify in two years time when they next come round", said Rowe.
Competing against experienced fastpitch teams from Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark and Israel, Great Britain were always going to find it a tough tournament. "It was never going to be a tournament that we were going to win but the hope was that we would get third and therefore qualify for the World Championships in Argentina next year." said Rowe. He added "A highlight of the week was the atmosphere in the dug out when we started to come back from 7-0 down against Israel to win 18-8. My personal highlight was in the game against Croatia which we won (17-7) after being 6-0 down, we were 2 down with a runner on 3rd, I came up and had to hit a single and get to first to win the game on mercy and save us having to play another innings."
Great Britain unfortunately lost out to Croatia in the playoffs to finish in fourth place. Rowe played well the whole week and finished with the third best batting average of the team and achieved the fourth best fielding average - not a bad start for Rowe who is already hoping to be returning to the Championship in two years time as a better and more experienced player.
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Development Plan
The Development Committee (Neil, Louie, Emma and Clare) met up last week to reflect on progress made in the last year and to update the Club's Development Plan for the next 3 years.
In the last year we have:
- Increased membership by around 42% (in favour of females!)
- Added an extra team into the league
- Increased the number of coaches (from 4 to 7)
- Qualified 2 BASU umpires
- Run school taster sessions
- Booked our first corporate event
- Double junior membership from 4 to 8
- Introduce social membership
- Reduce membership fees for students and unemployed players
- Move our home ground to Newlands Park
- Create a Chalfont Softball League
- Increase our fundraising - set up a 100 Club
- Run another corporate event
- Run another youth programme
- And much, much more
- Have 4 adult teams playing in the league
- Have 1 team playing in NSL 2 (at least)
- Hold our own adult tournament
- Develop our home ground
- Run at least 5 corporate events every summer
There are exciting times ahead at CSC - if you think that you can help with any aspect of our plans, or if you think we've missed a trick with something, then please shout up. Neil, Louie, Emma and Clare would all be very pleased to hear from you.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Subs, tournaments, website and another GB softball player
Subs
Sadly, only 15 people have paid their subs for the 2011 season. Please bring along your money/cheque to your game this week, or transfer online (email Emma Allen for bank details) as I'm afraid the Captains can not let you play as of next week if you have not paid up.
Availability
There will be selection meeting next Wednesday 25th May between Captains and Coaches to decide your team for the rest of the season so if you haven't done so already, please send your availabiliy through to Liz Williamson.
Fastpitch
After the success of our debut on 8th May, CSC will be entering a team on the other tournament days which are 11th June, 18th June and 9th July. If you are interested in playing on one or all of these dates then please contact Chris Snelling. We need 8 people minimum on the day. Also, if you are male and interested in playing Div 1 in the afternoon, then please also make yourself known to Chris.
Tournaments
Well done to both Phoenix and Flames for the past weekend's success at Diamond 1! If you have not done so already, please return your completed form (available here) to Phil Masters as we are a few players short for future tournaments. As you know already, spots are filled on a first come first serve basis but we also wanted to let you know that if with two weeks to go Phil has not got enough CSC members to fill all spots in the team, he will invite outside players to come and help us out.
Social
The committee will be organising a social for all club members very soon. If you have any marvellous ideas and/or would like to help out, please let me know by replying to this email.
Website
Now the 2011 season is in full swing, please visit our softball club's website to familiarise yourself with our codes of conduct, child protection policies and emergency procedures, especially if you are a new CSC member. This is a Clubmark requirement. You will also be able to see pictures and find contact details of this year's committee members, such as Karen Jones who is our child welfare officer, so you can recognise anyone should you wish to contact them.
Lastly, congratulations
Huge congratualtions to James Rowe who is now the newest member of the U19's GB squad. We're so proud, sniff!
Sadly, only 15 people have paid their subs for the 2011 season. Please bring along your money/cheque to your game this week, or transfer online (email Emma Allen for bank details) as I'm afraid the Captains can not let you play as of next week if you have not paid up.
Availability
There will be selection meeting next Wednesday 25th May between Captains and Coaches to decide your team for the rest of the season so if you haven't done so already, please send your availabiliy through to Liz Williamson.
Fastpitch
After the success of our debut on 8th May, CSC will be entering a team on the other tournament days which are 11th June, 18th June and 9th July. If you are interested in playing on one or all of these dates then please contact Chris Snelling. We need 8 people minimum on the day. Also, if you are male and interested in playing Div 1 in the afternoon, then please also make yourself known to Chris.
Tournaments
Well done to both Phoenix and Flames for the past weekend's success at Diamond 1! If you have not done so already, please return your completed form (available here) to Phil Masters as we are a few players short for future tournaments. As you know already, spots are filled on a first come first serve basis but we also wanted to let you know that if with two weeks to go Phil has not got enough CSC members to fill all spots in the team, he will invite outside players to come and help us out.
Social
The committee will be organising a social for all club members very soon. If you have any marvellous ideas and/or would like to help out, please let me know by replying to this email.
Website
Now the 2011 season is in full swing, please visit our softball club's website to familiarise yourself with our codes of conduct, child protection policies and emergency procedures, especially if you are a new CSC member. This is a Clubmark requirement. You will also be able to see pictures and find contact details of this year's committee members, such as Karen Jones who is our child welfare officer, so you can recognise anyone should you wish to contact them.
Lastly, congratulations
Huge congratualtions to James Rowe who is now the newest member of the U19's GB squad. We're so proud, sniff!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)