2012 Annual Report - Softball Australia

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Chairman’s Report Chairman’s Report The highlight of the year was our national teams' performances on the international stage. Congratulations to Kere Johanson and the Australian Open Women’s Team, Aussie Spirit, on finishing 3 rd and 4 th respectively at the Canadian Open International Women’s Fastpitch and the World Cup of Softball VI in the USA. Supported by a 4 th place from the Australian U19 Women’s Team, Aussie Pride, in the IX ISF Junior Women’s World Championships in South Africa, it makes future successes on the world stage look very promising for our women's program. Australia maintains its place as the World’s Number 1 Softball nation, due to the success of the Australia Open Men’s Team, Aussie Steelers and the Australian U19 Men’s Team, Aussie Colts. With international achievements in mind, we also recognise three outstanding individual contributors, Bob Harrow, Peta Edebone and Paul Maisey, who were inducted into the ISF Hall of Fame for their outstanding performances in the elite realms of Softball. Operationally, the past year for Softball Australia has been challenging. We saw the resignation of our CEO, Sue Noble, after 3½ years of service to Softball Australia, the departure of Julie Anderson, Manager High Performance Pathways and Matt Cairns, Business Development Manager. There was also the resignation of two Board members, Ashley Klein and Vicki Lahey. We thank them for their contribution. Financially also, Softball Australia has experienced its most demanding year. Two world championships to attend in the one year along with staff changes resulted in a significant financial loss. While a sizeable operating loss was budgeted due to the timing of the new world championship calendar, the magnitude was greater than anticipated due to many unforseen events and circumstances faced. Having now put all of these issues behind us, we can look forward to a brighter future for Softball as we continue to address the many legacies, and restructure the organisation for improved outputs whilst aligning to stakeholders’ needs and minimising operational costs. The Governance Committee has met bi-monthly over the past 12 months to review Softball Australia’s policies, guidelines and regulations, as well as confer on governance matters raised by the Softball Australia Board. This year has been particularly productive for this Committee with the revision of administrative and governance policies and the review of existing documents. All documents were made available as a resource tool for use and adoption by Softball Australia and Member States. By the conclusion of 2012 we anticipate the completion of a revised eCommunications Policy and Risk Management Policy and operating documents will also be reviewed. A refined Membership Policy will be developed to reflect the recommendations of the comprehensive membership review, including new membership categories. Work continues to align Member States Constitutions, purposes and objectives with Softball Australia. In addition, the Softball Australia Ambassador program continues to provide support for Member State Boards as required and a direct line of communication between a Softball Australia Director and State President. Internationally, significant steps have been made for the inclusion of women's Softball back onto the Olympic Games program. At the XXV World Congress in 2011, the ISF committed to a strategy of a joint bid with Baseball in an attempt to regain admission into the 2020 Olympics. The position of the Softball Australia Board and other ISF members, supported by feedback received from IOC members, was that Softball had an improved chance of inclusion with a joint bid with Baseball, rather than standing alone. The ISF Congress overwhelmingly voted to pursue this strategy and a Working Party was established to progress this direction. Albeit slowly, the framework is being prepared for a joint legal identity internationally and targeted strategy developed for presentation and formal consideration at a World Softball Special Congress scheduled for October 2013. Softball, together in a joint bid with Baseball, is one of seven sports bidding for inclusion in the 2020 Olympics, the decision to SOFTBALL AUSTRALIA ANNUAL REPORT 2012 Page | 3
Chairman’s Report be made at the 2013 IOC Session scheduled for September in Buenos Aires. Other sports bidding are Climbing, Karate, Roller Sports, Squash, Wakeboard and Wushu. While there is never any certainty, we remain quietly confident that our joint proposal is an enhanced and attractive proposition for Olympic Games inclusion if that is the direction taken by the ISF at Congress. Recognition I would like to acknowledge the contribution and achievements of the volunteers who support our sport and make it possible for many Australians to participate, day in and day out. As in most sports, the majority of recognition is bestowed upon front-line personnel and the elite. Whilst their contribution is certainly noteworthy and deserved, it is often the volunteers behind the scenes who make it all possible. There is a plethora of coaches, scorers, umpires, grounds-personnel, administrators, committees, parents and supporters who donate huge amounts of their personal time to make this sport possible. These volunteers contribute enormous amounts of work-time freely to enable the registered players to participate in officially organised and recognised Softball. I also take this opportunity to thank the Softball Australia Directors, our Member State Boards, and association and club committees for giving their time freely to support the running and development of our sport. Being a volunteer administrator in sport can be a thankless task, attracting as it does the brunt of criticism for decisions made for the overall good of Softball, rather than parochial interests. Following the departure of our CEO in June 2012, Chet Gray was appointed Acting CEO. A restructure of all Softball Australia operations was immediately conducted with a view to streamline operations and reduce expenditure, while maintaining focus on resourcing key deliverables. As a result, a number of portfolios were amalgamated to develop a new operations team. We thank Chet for the job he has done during this period and to the Softball Australia staff who have collectively supported and contributed to achieving these endeavours, and now, we look forward to the New Year with renewed vigour and enthusiasm. The recruitment process for the CEO position will be contemplated early in 2013. Thank you also to the remaining Softball Australia Board members for their persistence and resilience for not only addressing the many challenges we faced, but remaining unified and steadfast in our conviction of creating a better 'go forward position' for the sport. Board numbers remained at a minimum during this period and we are now in the process of recruiting and increasing our numbers back to full complement for customary operating levels. Finally, we would like to thank our Principal Partner, the Australian Sports Commission who supported Softball Australia during this difficult period. Without their ongoing support and offered assistance we would have struggled to endure this period. Softball Australia appreciates the support of the ASC as we look to the future. Dennis Cullen Chairman Karina Cannon (NSW) with the Gilley’s Shield Image courtesy Donkin Gook Photography SOFTBALL AUSTRALIA ANNUAL REPORT 2012 Page | 4
Page 1 and 2: ANNUAL Report 2012 DIVERSITY COMMUN
Page 3 and 4: Contents Highlights ...............
Page 5: Highlights Transitions Aussie Steel
Page 9 and 10: Acting CEO’s Report Congratulatio
Page 11 and 12: Acting CEO’s Report Building part
Page 13 and 14: ASC Message Message from the Austra
Page 15 and 16: Strategic Plan • effective commun
Page 17 and 18: Organisational Structure Organisati
Page 19 and 20: New Branding for National Teams Sof
Page 21 and 22: High Performance Elite competition
Page 23 and 24: High Performance Events Review In F
Page 25 and 26: Membership Membership Management Pl
Page 27 and 28: Membership Membership breakdown (co
Page 29 and 30: Membership Membership breakdown (co
Page 31 and 32: Member Recognition 2011 Softball Au
Page 33 and 34: Member Recognition Peta Edebone Pet
Page 35 and 36: Member Recognition SOFTBALL AUSTRAL
Page 37 and 38: Member Recognition Paul Maisey Paul
Page 39 and 40: Member Recognition Softball Austral
Page 41 and 42: Coaching Coaching Our coaches conti
Page 43 and 44: Scoring Scoring The National Scorin
Page 45 and 46: Scoring Scoring courses Member Stat
Page 47 and 48: Scoring The NSC will continue its b
Page 49 and 50: Umpiring Umpiring National ACT NSW
Page 51 and 52: Umpiring Five year trend ACT NSW NT
Page 53 and 54: Umpiring International umpiring app
Page 55 and 56: Umpiring Helen Strauss (Qld) umpiri
Page 57 and 58:
Community Participation Community P
Page 59 and 60:
Community Participation Softball WA
Page 61 and 62:
Softball Community Coaching Program
Page 63 and 64:
Softball Batter Up Softball Batter
Page 65 and 66:
Softball Batter Up A new feature in
Page 67 and 68:
Teams Teams Australian Open Men’s
Page 69 and 70:
Teams Australian Open Women’s Tea
Page 71 and 72:
Teams AIS Women’s Scholarships De
Page 73 and 74:
Teams Australian U19 Men’s Squad
Page 75 and 76:
International Results International
Page 77 and 78:
International Results Argentina Cha
Page 79 and 80:
Australian Championship Results Aus
Page 81 and 82:
Australian Championship Results Nox
Page 83 and 84:
Australian Championship Results Art
Page 85 and 86:
Australian Championship Results Aus
Page 87 and 88:
Other National Results Internationa
Page 89 and 90:
Life Members/Hall of Fame Name Year
Page 91 and 92:
ISF Hall of Fame Inductees ISF Hall
Page 93 and 94:
Partners and Sponsors Partners and
Page 95:
Glossary Glossary AASC AIS ASC BNOL
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2012 Annual Report - Softball Australia

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