Softball Australia - Australian Sports Commission

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
I am very pleased to see that the seeds of change that
have been planted over the past couple of years have
started to take effect. We have been able to implement
a number of changes to the way our sport is run and we
are slowly starting to see the benefits of these changes.
I believe the manner in which we have co-operatively
worked through changes and challenges put before us
and the foundations laid, augers well for the future of
softball in the ACT. I am extremely pleased with the way
we have worked towards common objectives and am
proud to be at the helm of a group of people keen to see
the sport succeed.
While the 2007/08 season once again saw us maintain
our overall membership numbers, a concern is the
decline in the number of junior players and the decline
in our junior affiliate membership. This is an area that
needs serious attention. We need to work together to
address the problems being experienced by our junior
clubs and affiliates. Without a strong junior base we
cannot expect our sport to continue to grow.
Another area that poses some serious questions over
our ability to run our competitions is the impact on
ground usage posed by the drought. We have been
successful in obtaining financial assistance from the ACT
Government to drought proof our fields. The work to be
undertaken will include re-sowing the enclosed diamonds
with drought resistant couch grass, two new skinned
training diamonds and water tanks to assist with the
watering of the internal diamonds.
Unfortunately, we have not had the success we would
have liked in gaining additional income from sponsorship.
We have devoted a substantial amount of effort in
seeking the sponsorship dollar. However, the reality
appears to be that we need to look at other sources for
increasing income, rather than relying on sponsorship.
Nonetheless ,we will continue our pursuits in this area.
It gives me great pleasure to congratulate all players and
officials who represented the ACT in the various national
and international events during the 2007/08 season.
Once again you have done Softball ACT proud. Despite
our relatively small population base, ACT teams continue
to perform well above what could be expected at the
national level.
The strength of the sport in the ACT has once again
been emphatically demonstrated by the excellent
performances of our teams and the success of many
players in being selected for Australian teams and
squads. Congratulations to all players and officials who
have been selected in Australian representative teams or
squads.
Our men have ensured there is no doubt who is the
number one men’s softball state in the country by
winning the open, under 23 and under 19 championships
and finishing a very creditable third at the under 16
level. Our women’s program also made significant
progress this season. Our Open Women, playing
as the ACTAS Diamonds, finished third at the Open
Women’s Championships and third overall in the National
Women’s League competition. Much of the credit for
the improvement of our Open Women’s performances
must go to Lindsey Carroll, the ACT Academy of Sport
Program and the support received from Softball Australia.
In the other national championships, the Under 16 girls
also finished a creditable third, while our Under 19
women finished sixth and our Under 23 women finished
in fourth place.
Of course the success enjoyed by our teams and the
individual honours gained by numerous players would not
have been possible without the dedicated and expert help
provided by our coaches, managers, statisticians and
administrators. These people voluntarily devote many
hours to the development and growth of our players and
the sport. To these people I say a very big thank you
because we couldn’t achieve what we have without you.
On the diamonds at Hawker we have also been very
busy and successful with the staging of the following
events:
Softball Australia 55