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The
2003 season in Review
The
Club, the Ground and the Future
The Club
As mentioned previously, the club has expanded by over 50%, since the
2002 season. Most of this can be attributed to the presence of the
team’s website, which has easily been the most successful way of
bringing new players into the club. For anyone reading this article, who
runs a team, or is thinking of doing so, then I would definitely
recommend that you put together a website for your team. In addition to
this, the increased coverage of the game on channel 5, has also made
many more people aware of the fact that the game is played in this
country. It is still amazing the number of people that contact us about
playing, who were completely unaware that baseball was played in this
country, until they saw it on C5 or came across our website. It is
unfortunate that the ruling body in this country (BaseballSoftballUK /
British Baseball Federation) are more concerned with the success of the
national team rather than promoting the game at the lower level.
Although there is the argument that success on the international stage
brings a greater media spotlight, we currently have less teams in this
country, than at any time in the last 10 years (and even less if you
count those club that run more than one team, as a single organisation).
Obviously the future lies in bringing more juniors into the game, but of
course they need clubs to join, and these clubs need opposition against
whom to play!
I think some of the problem lies with the misconception that the level
at which the game is played at over here is something akin to at least
collegiate ball, over in the US. Now although there are undoubtedly some
good players in the National League, anyone who is competent at any
other ball sport (cricket, hockey, golf, squash etc) would not be out of
their depth, once they have become accustomed to hitting with a round
bat, using a glove to catch, and learning the rules of the game. This is
underlined by the fact that hitting tends to predominate lower down the
league, due to a lack of half decent pitching, as British players new to
the game have no problem picking up the batting skills, whereas throwing
the ball strongly and accurately, is not a widespread skill in our
traditional sports (although cricket is finally beginning to improve).
And this is said with adults in particular in mind. Juniors who start
the game at an early age, find it even easier to become sufficiently
skilled to compete at the senior level over here. It is no coincidence,
that Windsor, who have run junior teams for many years, are this season
National Champions.
I can't stress enough to anyone reading this review, that if you want to
play the game over here, please just contact your nearest team. Without
exception, they will all be pleased to hear from you, as no one team can
have enough players. Even if you interest only lies in coaching, scoring
or umpiring, then please also get in touch, as these positions are even
more difficult to fill. No matter whether it is on the playing or
non-playing side, all clubs will train you up in this.
Every year we lose players, as they either move away from the area, find
work or family commitments too much, or just leave the game. Anyone who
has played Sunday league football over here, will now what a struggle it
often is just to field a team - and that is our national sport!
The Ground
After a few years of neglect, we have been able to make the ground, if
not the best in the country, at least playable to a reasonable degree.
WE started work on it during the off season, although should probably
done it sooner than that, as it is a lot easier to dig turf in March,
than it is in June! The dimensions of the bases were checked, and we
were quite surprised to find just how much they had migrated over time –
no wonder I always found it hard to beat out those throws to first….I
was having to run an extra couple of feet!. We also build the mound up
to the correct height again; not that is made much difference to the
amount of break on my curve ball – I think gravity is the only thing
that affects that. We also changed the shape of the dirt areas
surrounding the bases, from a circle to a semi-circular shape. A big
thank you must to go to both Steve Sawyer and Paul Dommett, who put in a
lot of extra work on the ground, as well as the backstop, which now
keeps a few more balls from heading towards the cemetery. Also thanks to
everyone else who came down to help, with the work. We also employed an
outfield fence for the first time. We fonud that a distance of 300 ft
from home plate to dead centrefield was about right, as it was not too
close, but not so far, that it didn’t give encouragement to the longer
hitters. I think we had about 3 home runs to about 5 by the opposition
that cleared the fences. Thanks must go to Roger Marsden for tracking
down the necessary materials . The purchase of a line marking machine
together with some aerosol cans of white paint, meant we had much more
accurate markings (ie foul lines that went through the back of the bags,
and not 1 ft wide of it!) Hopefully next season we can enlarge the areas
around home plate and the mound, as well as
The Future
What do we need to do as a club in the future, in order to develop the
club, as well as the game in the Guildford and South West Surrey area?
Firstly, as far as the club is concerned, we need to keep growing. The
only way we can achieve this, is by constantly bringing players into the
club. We are always going to lose players through non-baseball reasons
(i.e. work commitments, moving away from the area, family etc). These
are things we can do nothing about. However one thing we can affect a
difference to, are the baseball reasons. Most players who leave for
baseball reasons, are because they are no longer enjoying the game or no
longer enjoy being part of the club. We experienced this ourselves about
3 years ago. Even though we had just come off our two most successful
seasons in club history (unbeaten in Div 1 in 1999 and then tying for
the title in the Premier Division in 2000), the team spirit in the club
was at it’s lowest. Very few people were willing to help out, and there
was a definite divide between the two teams that we fielded – almost a
them and us situation. As a result of this we had a large number of
people leave the club (thankfully some of them have since returned), and
the team almost fell apart in during the 2001 season.
Since that time, our aim has been to rebuild the club. The first step in
this process, has been to increase the numbers in the club. A larger
playing squad has several benefits. First of all, the more players you
have, the less likely you are to have to forfeit a game (although if a
game was scheduled on Xmas day, we might struggle for availability – BBF
beware!). It also means that practices may consist of more than just 4
payers, which means more effective sessions can take place. Of course,
there is also the financial benefit, as the more people in the club, the
more money that comes in, and hence the more that can be spent on the
ground, equipment, and other items – and more frequently.
If you have ever tried taking fly ball practice as dusk approaches, with
a ball, which has taken camouflage lessons from the British Army as
there is so little white showing, you will know what I mean. It’s also
nice as a catcher, not to have to sprint down the first base line to
back up a throw, not having to worry about tripping over your leggings,
that are currently flapping in the wind because the straps have fallen
off, and the last person to use them, took back their shoelaces that
were holding them in place!
Bringing more players into the squad does of course bring with it
further problems. The primary one being, how to give everyone as much
playing time as possible. In an ideal world, you have about 11 players,
a scorer and an umpire who are available every week of the season. This
is about as likely as Pompey winning the league (yes, I am a Saints
supporter!). This season, we had 27 players registered by the end of the
season. Now even allowing for the fact that probably about 5 of these
joined after the start of the season, we were still in the position were
we had more than enough to field one team, but not enough to field two.
This means that there is a lot of bench time (OK, this is great for
intimidating the opposition, but not so great when you are always on
it!). In our situation, where everyone pays the same annual fees
(students excepted), and although this covers things such as ground
rent, baseballs, upkeep of facilities, and so in effect a lot of the fee
goes towards providing facilities for practice; it still means than in
all fairness, everyone should get equal playing time. Now this will not
exactly be the case, as we have to give one or two players more game
time than others, just so that we can remain relatively competitive.
However, it does mean that we will have to “weaken” the team every week
by including some of the less experienced (although not necessarily less
skilful) players. It would not only be unfair to just pick the best 9
(out of those available) every week, and let the rest sit on the bench,
and only playing them at the end of games, but it would also result in
many of them getting bored and therefore leaving the club. Thus in the
long run, the club loses out, and therefore so do the players who ARE
playing every week.
With 2 or more teams it means that there are more places available, but
it also means that it is possible to have players playing together,
where the range of skills is not as wide. This season, we have had one
or two players who could play at National League level, playing
alongside complete novices. This is great for the novices, and we are
fortunate that these experienced players just enjoy playing the game for
what it is, but at the end of the day, everyone enjoys the game more,
when it is competitive AND when they feel they can contribute.
2003 WAS THE ONLY SEASON WE HAVE NOT FORFEITED GAME EXCEPT FOR THE
UNBEATEN SEASON OF 1999. So we are moving in the right direction!
So with the continued aim of expanding the club, how do we go about
doing this. You obviously have to publicise the club. Now since the BBF
don’t do us many favours in this direction, this is something we have to
achieve ourselves. As I have said elsewhere, the website has been, by
far, the best piece of publicity material that we have ever had. With
about 80% of our squad having joined in the last 2 years, I would say
that about 75% if not more have found us via the website (and to be
fair, the links to it from the BBF website, that was introduced this
season). More and more people have access to the internet these days
(just type in the search words “baseball” and “Guildford” into any
search engine, and see if we don’t get a mention). This is especially
true amongst people 25 and under, who are exactly the audience we are
targeting.
Channel 5 must also take some credit, as although it is on late at
night, many non-baseball fans are at least aware that it is on the TV;
and for those that do watch, they do make it known that baseball is
played in this country, and also generate enough interest for some
people to seek the game out over here.
NB With the Mavericks being the closest team to Johnny Gould, who lives
locally, we really should get him down to throw out the first pitch one
season. My only fear being that we discover he is better than many of
us!
The other obvious way to publicise the game, is to get some local media
coverage. We have had spots on radio shows in the past, and have also
had reports in the paper. Unfortunately we let this slip, and have only
ourselves to blame that we didn’t take advantage of this. That said,
there is not excuse for not trying again, and really it is something we
must continually do, even if there is little success at first. With the
advent of digital cameras and the widespread take up of PC’s in most
households these days (and even DTP packages), there really is no excuse
for not providing the papers with pictures and reports the day after the
game. This is one particular aspect of the club, that we are going to
improve next season, and hopefully we will be able to find someone
willing to take responsibility for it.
This leads us into the financial side of things. At the moment, the club
is entirely dependant on players fees for the for the provision of funds
for ground repairs, equipment, registration fees etc. Additionally, all
the players not only buy their own gloves, but also pay for their own
uniforms.
This season, we charged £100 per player, for the whole season. This was
sufficient to cover all our immediate needs (even allowing for a loss,
as a result of TriplePlay UK who are refusing to return money owed to
use, when they were unable to supply kit). However, if we want to take
the next step up, and purchase items such as a pitching machine, or even
consider relocating to a better facility, then we need to bring in money
by other means. I could try and double the player fees by charging on a
“per strikeout” basis, but I suspect this might meet with some
resistance! So the only option is to seek sponsorship.
Now Sponsorship is a subject I am often asked about, but remember, in
order for companies to part with their money, they have to be seen to be
getting something in return…….
….So let me see, we play a minority sport, on a school field, which is
located away from the road, at the back of the school, where no one
passes by, and without any coverage in any of the local media…..
This is not exactly going to persuade companies that emblazoning their
logo across our uniform, is going to bring them any more revenue, from
increased exposure. And even if the players themselves supported these
sponsors, I really don’t think that the likes of the Hogshead or Burger
King are going to see a noticeable increase in revenue…..although I
imagine if certain nameless players were to threaten not frequenting
these establishments, they might notice a difference!
Hence the reason we need to get some sort of media coverage next season,
in order to able to push the idea of sponsorship.
As well as growing the squad numerically, and getting more media
exposure, we also need to improve the playing side. As all of us have
found, playing the game is not as easy as it looks (Pete – if you’re
reading this..shut up!). However it is a hell of lot easier if you start
at a younger age. It is no coincidence that in general, the most gifted
players on the team, played the game growing up. So if we want to not
only improve the level of baseball the Mavericks play, but also the
level of the game in this country, there is no doubt we need to run a
junior section. Not only this, but in time running a junior section,
will provide more players for the senior team.
The problem with running a junior, is time and commitment. The coaching
side is easy – kids are a lot easier to coach than adults, believe me!
However, with all of us practicing once a week and playing once a week,
running a junior team would in effect double this. The way round this,
would be to have several players on the club helping out with it. In
theory, if a player could put one weekend a month, and one midweek
practice a month, aside, then we would probably only need 8 players to
volunteer, in order to get this off the ground.
Next: Ideas |
