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20010 / 2011 Pre-season
It is not long now until we can all enjoy being out on a diamond with warm sunshine on our backs and a bat in hand having some serious fun and competition.
A start date has yet to be set for the first playing day this season but generally it will be early October so it is timely that clubs and stakeholders are brought up to date with important information and news of developments for the coming season.
FACILITY DEVELOPMENTS
Hockey / Softball Pavilion
Work on construction of this has all but finished on this exciting development. For those not aware the shared pavilion is sited between the new and old hockey pitches and fronting onto the pathway that looks out to diamonds 1 & 2. There has been a tremendous amount of hard work done by a number of people from both codes for this to come to fruition, but from a softball perspective Darryl Stratford, Derryn French and Roger Thorn deserve special mention and a huge thank you from everyone associated with Softball for their hard work and determination for driving this project forward.
Both local councils have contributed a significant amount of capital towards this and joint fund raising efforts have been going on for some time now and will be ongoing to ensure that both codes are proactive towards achieving the capital contribution required.
Ground Improvements
In case you are not aware there has been significant improvements made to our playing facilities over the last season.
Permanent outfield fencing has been added to diamonds one & two and diamonds 3 & 4 are now fully backnetted and offer fantastic playing serfices.
Both the pavilion and ground development work has obviously had an impact on the past playing season. With the pavilion now completed these developments will move Nelson Softball a huge step closer to the goal of becoming the premier Softball province in the country.
REGIONAL GAME DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
This is a new role created by SNZ. Lesley McIntosh was the successful applicant and arrived in Nelson from the UK early in August 2009. The fact that this position is based in Nelson is further recognition of the position that Nelson holds from a national perspective and will also assist us further towards the aforementioned premier softball province goal. In short Lesley is tasked with growing the game across the Nelson, Marlborough and West Coast regions and I am pleased to have the opportunity to introduce her to the wider softball community in Nelson. I hope to personally introduce Lesley to as many of you as possible at the ballpark during the course of the season.
20010 / 2011 TOURNAMENTS
Annual Labour Weekend Tournament 23rd - 25th October
South Island Secondary Schools Division II Tournament (Late March)
MANAGING THE GAME
I am rapt to be able to report that in the last three years we have been able to increase the number of people involved at governance level by nearly 100%.
We now have nine members on the board namely, Roger Thorn - President, Derryn French, - Vice President, Danielle Fletcher - Secretary, Carol Cook - Treasurer and board members, Daryl Stratford, Hamish Fletcher, Brendon Thorn, Janice Oliver, and Kevin Tippit.
There is a great range of experience & skills across this group to drive Nelson Softball forward. However the most successful organisations are those with a good volunteer base beneath governance level and this is an area we need to continue to grow.
I would encourage anyone who has the motivation and time to assist with the development of Softball in Nelson to approach any of the above. There are a number of areas where help would be appreciated, Umpiring, Scoring, Coaching, Ground Maintenance, Fundraising, Youth development assistance and the list goes on.
There will be periodical newsletters circulated throughout the season and all of the above will be open to fielding queries anytime at the ball park.
Im looking forward to seeing you at the ballpark soon.
Roger Thorn
President
Nelson Softball Association