2012 Annual Report - Softball Australia

Community Participation
Softball WA
As a result of the Softball WA’s strong partnership with
the Western Desert community, Softball WA invited a
team from Western Desert Team to attend the Elinor
McKenzie Shield, Australian U19 Women’s
Championship in Perth in January 2012.
Through the generosity of Newcrest Mining and
Softball WA covering travel and accommodation costs
respectively, the team, coached by Aussie Spirit
captain and Indigenous role model, Stacey Porter,
participated in two exhibition matches against a
Western Australian All Stars team.
To coincide with the Western Desert Team visit,
Softball Australia arranged for Aussie Spirit Captain and
Indigenous role model, Stacey Porter, to attend and
work with the team. The team also attended a 2 hour
skill development clinic presented by Stacey and
Softball Australia National Community Coaches Jenny
Cassidy and Raelene Jeffrey which included batting,
pitching and fielding drills.
The following day, the team, coached by Stacey,
participated in two exhibition matches against a
Western Australian All Stars team.
Softball SA
Softball SA, in partnership with the South Australian
National Football League (SANFL) delivered a Level 1
Umpire Accreditation Course in April in the Anangu
Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands (APY Lands) to 13
Indigenous women aged 21-30 years of age. All 13
women successfully completed the course and have
become accredited umpires. On a separate visit to the
APY Lands in June, Softball SA and SANFL launched the
new Far North West Sports League (FNWSL) Level 1
Coach Accreditation Program. This was delivered to
five females, with one of the participants successfully
completing all components of the course and receiving
Level 1 accreditation.
Softball SA is in contact with a number of other
regional offices that have shown an interest in
developing a similar program.
Softball for all abilities
Softball Australia has partnered with Special Olympics
Australia, Special Olympics Victoria and Softball
Victoria to provide coach development opportunities
for over 15 Special Schools in Victoria’s Metropolitan,
Southern and Eastern Regions.
Looking forward, Softball Australia will deliver a
Softball Community Coaching Program to more than
30 teachers. Teachers will learn how to develop a
lesson, learn a range of new Softball activities and how
to deliver them using the game-based coaching
philosophy. It is anticipated that the teachers will
adopt these methods for their school’s Term 4 Softball
program to be delivered in November 2012, which will
lead to the delivery of further Softball programs for
people of all abilities and foster links to local club
programs and competitions.
Resources
Indigenous Softball Program Book
An Indigenous Softball Program Book was developed
and is being used to inform key stakeholders of the
work Softball is doing with Indigenous communities
across Australia. To view the publication, go to
http://www.softball.org.au/_uploads/res/1_66627.pdf.
The FNWSL, formed on the APY Lands in the far North
West corner of the state, continues to pave the way
for other communities around South Australia to
establish their own Leagues. The League has grown
from eight teams in both football and Softball to nine
for the 2012 Premiership season. Tjurma, made up of
the homelands surrounding Amata, will enter the
competition as the first additional team since the start
of the FNWSL in 2007.
SOFTBALL AUSTRALIA ANNUAL REPORT 2012 Page | 56