Draws. The draw for week one will be issued Tuesday. The production of the draw has been more complex than ever before. This is because in part of procrastination by clubs either over the grading or even fielding a team. There are teams short of players and are relying on dispensation applications to ease the situation. Really that destroys the integrity of the Dispensation policy:– which originally did not allow ‘to make up a team’ as a reason for requesting a dispensation.

The draws will have games being played on Saturday of the long weekend (29 September) and none in the middle week of the October School Holidays (6 October). That will not apply to Youth, Hay and Douglass Leagues as Baseball NSW for some unaccountable reason has drawn representative games on a Friday night and Saturday morning.

For the first time in our history we will not be able to conduct our usual 18 to 20 game season. It comes about as a combination of a number of events - 26 January (Australia Day) being a Saturday and an ‘early’ Easter (24 March), and the need to provide for a wash out weekend for grand finals.

What is proposed is to commence the season on 15th September, with T Ball commencing 22nd September. Play up to 15th December: 22 December will be a wash out replay weekend and re-start the competition on 5th February. Semi Finals 26 February. Grand Final day will be 9th March with a washout date on 16th March.

• We did not receive enough interest in Under 11 – the three teams nominated have moved to Under 12 Phil Leonard North and South Conferences.
• There was only one team nominated for Under 12 T Ball – obviously clubs consider that there is a stigma attached to playing T Ball. I assure you that the players would be far more involved, and play a lot more innings, in the game of T Ball than the ‘walkathon’ that will occur in both divisions of Under 12 Leonard South and East. At least with every swing in T Ball results in a play having to be made. We are not looking here for future Major Leaguers we are just looking for Baseball enthusiasts.
• If the players can only handle third Division how are they going to cope with a 9” hard ball open competition next year?
• We are going to need to have some discussion tonight about Brian Cashmore North Conference. In the team nominations we have both Carlingford (Travis McDonald) and Kellyville (Blake Palmer and Andrew Olson) playing in that Conference. That means State prospects playing Second Division. The three are the battery of the Hills Representative team - far too good for second division competition. Carlingford are saying that Travis will not pitch or catch all year including the final series. With that concession I can envisage a similar restriction having to be placed on Blake and Andrew. The restrictions would be the entire season, including the final series, not just while Hills are in Youth League. One scenario would have been to 'draft' all three players into different Youth League teams - the reluctance to that is if that happened who would there be to 'get the outs' from the remaining players? Would the team be able to continue to play the season? Who is going to 'get the outs' for the team when Travis, Blake and Andrew do not pitch or catch. It is no use of ignoring the problem because it is only delaying the draw. It is a real problem. I can see no easy solution. Can anyone see a solution?
• I have a problem with Quakers Hill request for Under 12 Phil Leonard League – for mine its Douglass League or not at all. My guess is that they want to put all their good players in one team (I was told that there are seven of Cumberland’s representative players in the team – some are two year players) and rather than beat up other Quakers Hills team in Cumberland they come to Hills. I do not have the same problem with Cumberland Under 16 teams playing lower grades as I guess Cumberland has no Under 16/17 competition.
• There will be a shortage of grounds this season. As clubs have older age group teams it needs more area to ply the games. Winston Hills is a classic example with an Under 17 and three Under 14 teams, this places an enormous strain on the capacity of the ground to host Under 10 and 8’s. Same at Castle Hill now that it has ‘lost’ access to the Samuel Gilbert School ground. I disagree with some of the clubs ideas of what games can be played at the same time at a venue. In the end Hills has a duty of care to provide safe playing conditions. Hills prepare the draw and therefore would be liable. As a general rule I am attempting not to play any Under 12 games and younger (including T Ball) on a diamond which has a mound

Rep team bat. We have purchased a second hand 2 ¼”dia. high performance bat for use by the Under 14 representative team and any Little League team.

Rep Teams. The representative teams have been selected and are published in the newsletter. All teams proved to be challenges to the selectors as the falling playing standard is clearly evident.

There was a complaint received resulting from the selection of the Under 14 team. The player’s parents were unhappy with the selections made. The parents have received a reply. The correspondence is in the mail.

Metal bats - news from USA. Also in the correspondence is an article from New York which states that the New York City Council has officially banned the use of metal bats in Amateur competitions. The ban covers Little League to High School competitions. On appeal a Federal Court judge said it was not his place to overturn a law that was approved by a local government with the public's safety in mind. U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl said there is no clear evidence metal bats cause more serious injuries than wooden bats but added New York's City Council was entitled to make the judgment that the risk is too great.

My Club. The database has big problems and Peter has covered that in his report.

Douglass League. As was the case last season the teams in Douglass League will be loaned a rubber sleeved bat to use in that competition. The offer will be extended to Phil Leonard North Conference teams this season. The use of the bat is not compulsory but they do assist in the standard of hitting.

The understanding is that the bats remain the property of Hills: cannot be loaned: has to be returned at the end of the season: and any loss or damage be the responsibility of the club for its replacement. Please take care as these bats are expensive:- approx $180 each.

Specials.

• Hills has a source of supply of compression undershirts ( tight fitting undershirts) same style as the popular Under Armour style but at a much cheaper price. Cost is $44 plus delivery. These are the undershirts the Under 16 representative teams are wearing. They are available in all popular colours. Hopefully I can have a sample available at the meeting.
• Also for the older junior players who wear 'sliders' underneath their playing pants they are available at $39 a pair. It is a most competitive price.
• Both specials can be found on www.k2baseball.com

For some time we have made our expertise and knowledge to clubs in an attempt to save them money on purchases of suppliers we are know prepared to offer the same service for individuals. Further information contact J Yard.

Reps. On the representative scene Hills has only have three home U/12-14 games -

• v Manly on 29 September We are playing a full round that day and certainly cannot afford closing Castle Glen, Sutton or Kellyville down that day. Suggest the game to go to Bensons due to its two full size diamonds.
• v Greater West on 14 October.
• v Ryde on 4 November

There were five clubs expressed interest in hosting rounds of representative games. Apart from Hawkesbury there were Winston Hills, Kellyville, Castle Hill and Oakville. This leaves a difficult decision. Hawkesbury ‘missed out’ last year and Winston Hills did not apply after regularly hosting games in previous years as has Castle Hill and Kellyville. It is suggested that a ballot be conducted to host the remaining two games from Colbee, Castle Glen, Kellyville and Sutton. Otherwise it is a straight pick by someone on what criteria?

Having said that we should be always be obligated to Castle Hill their venues are always available for our Development Programs and winter competitions. So in a way what goes round comes round.

We have entered an Under 14 Association Cup team, however it had to forfeit week one, as the Under 14 State Cup team had not been selected. There have been invitations issued to selected players, based on their performance in the trials, but the team’s future depends whether the team has pitchers, catchers and coaches. Players who did not trial for Under 14 representative team will not be considered.

Miscellaneous.

• For those interested in some research into Baseball you may wish to check the following link. http://www.monash.edu.au/muarc/projects/baseball.pdf
• Hills has signed the Little League Charter. Our next step is to advertise our program and seek players (and coaches) to participate in the competition.
• In the correspondence is an extract of criticism of Little League World Series competition from a coaching newsletter in America.
• The Hills 21st Celebratory Video has been completed. Copies are available at $15 which includes postage.
• The break away bases are on order. I expect the first delivery to arrive Tuesday. The system is that Hills will subsidize the costs of the bases. The subsidy is two-thirds of the cost, plus freight. The cost of the base is something like $50 a base. Clubs have the cost of the bases offset against the balance of their Co Op account. We have not ordered any home plates as it is considered a waste of money.

The Secretary’s report was accepted.

• The meeting discussed a preliminary program for next year with invitations received for Thailand (Under 15); Taiwan (Under 13 Christmas Tournament – 100 teams participating); Japan (Under 12, 13 and 16) and Europe (Under 16).
• The Pacific Friendship Tournament was washed out after day one.
• The performance of the touring teams was discussed – the best performed team was the Under 13 team. Under 12 team to Japan has left and is playing

• Statement of Financial Position was presented.
• Payments were approved.
• Debtors and liabilities were disclosed.

I don’t usually do this but we have a lot to get through tonight. We are also well behind our normal level of preparedness this season. That is largely my fault. Many of you would know that I had some family issues to deal with recently which has taken me out of the loop. Together with the work involved with Little League, I have simply not had the time to devote to more routine matters.

BSC. I do not yet have the final report, but I do have the bulk of it. The part that is missing is the conclusion and recommendations. However what I do have leaves me confident that we can greatly improve this area of our operations throughout the season and be in excellent shape for the start of the next one.

COLOURED VEST PROGRAMME We have an offer from NSW Sport and Rec to come and talk to us about implementing the coloured vest programme. I am going to recommend that we accept that offer and invite the guy here next meeting for a short presentation. He will take names and contact details from you and send you all the required kits to introduce the programme once the season has settled down and you’ve had a chance to identify prospective trainee umpires. This programme operates at a club level, so I’m unable to fill out forms and get kits on your behalf.

MyClub & Hills Registrations The MyClub system has been exhibiting some serious flaws and shortcomings in the last couple of months. The turnaround time to address the issues is simply too long. I’m afraid that despite the best intentions of BNSW, it’s clear that neither they nor the ABF have the resources to deliver this platform in the shape it needs to be for us to trust vital aspects of our work to it. I am not confident we can use it to replace the Hills registration process this season, so we’re going to have to fall back to the old system. I’ll distribute the spreadsheets at the end of this week, thus allowing BNSW another couple of days to resolve the most important problems.

MyClub again – can we all use it? Is everyone comfortable with MyClub? Do you all have people who can run it? Do you know what a TCO is and do you know who that is for your club? Part of your responsibility to BNSW is to register your players using this system:- it’s not optional. There is help available but the security involved means that nobody other your club TCO can do the work for you.

RULEBOOK The final step before publication of a RuleBook is a decision on what conferences exist. We are now at that stage, so you should expect a Rulebook to be published to the website ASAP after tonight.

There are some pending suggestions/requests from people about the rules which I would like you to consider and resolve tonight. Some of this is covering old ground, but we need formal approval:- the interim changes in November last year were never formally ratified – they became the stuff of urban legend.

• If ModBall progresses to LiveBall during the season, the intent of the current rules is that the teams play exactly to Leonard Sth rules. Anyone have a problem with that? There are a few words that need to be tidied up to reinforce the concept.
• Do we want to allow the use of softball bats anywhere? If so, a slight change to the specifications for permissible bats needs to be made. If not, we need a statement that “softball bats are not permitted”. One or the other.
• The Infield Fly rule previously applied in U/11’s, and this was seen as a drafting error. Although we don’t have an U/11 conference this season, on principle, should this rule apply to it or not? It currently applies in 12/1 but not in 12/2 or 12/3.
• The concept of having an option to bat only nine players in the Finals:- should this apply to all liveball conferences, or only Division #1?
• Rule 3.10.e was previously modified in draft form to allow a Substitute to play only in the outfield. All conferences. Are you happy with that?
• Rule 3.11 (Div #1 only) was amended to allow the provision of Courtesy Players in defence only {at the option of the opposing coach}, in the event that a team starts with nine + players but has less than nine during the game. Previously this rule applied only if a team couldn’t start the game with nine or more.
• Rule 3.11 was also amended to enforce an automatic out only in respect of an inning where there are less than nine batters available. For clarity, that means that it does not apply to any batter where nine or more remain available, even mid-game:- the line up simply compresses around the missing one. Obviously, a batter missing his turn in this situation is out of the game completely (except in the case of injury:- the injury rules already properly cope with this).
• Note that Connexion and similar style bats remain illegal in Hills, despite their acceptance in the rep competitions. Are you happy with that?
• The Protest Fee is now $50, not $20. (correcting a previous error in drafting)
• Rule 10.6 was amended to exclude potential substitutes who may attend the game in case they’re needed, from the definition of “All Available Players”, in reference to being named on the lineup. This was to cover a situation where, for example, somebody’s little brother attends a game in uniform and ready to play (including having the appropriate Dispensation).
• Rule 11.1 introduced a special concession for Youth League, recognising the difficulty in getting some players to the early fixture on a Friday night. The rule allows a team to add players to a line up anytime before the first batter receives the first pitch of his second plate appearance, but only in this conference. It over-rides Rule 5.9 which requires a team to have seven players to start a game without forfeiting.
• Rule 11.5.f clarifies a Modball rule regarding fouls by defining them as being the same as the Official Rules, not the same as TeeBall. Specifically, a third strike hit foul (unless a caught foul tip) is simply a foul. The batter is not out.
• Rule 11.7.c codifies a decision made last season for Teeball in Akers South, West and East. It allows a coach to start an inning with any batter (given that all will bat each inning anyway), so long as the batting order remains the same.
• The Pass Ball rule was streamlined and clarified. The main impact is that the pass ball lines for the purpose of that rule are now defined as the foul lines, even in an enclosed field.

MINIBALL Is anyone planning to run MiniBall in Term 4 apart from Kellyville? If so, you time runs out in about ten minutes to say so. If you have a dozen kids or so who are interested, your best option is to do what Baulko did last year and kit them out in your own club colours and send them off the Kellyville as a club team. If you have 20 or 30, you should consider running your own MiniBall sessions.

Also, PLEASE don’t use the term “MiniBall” when referring to your own in-house teeball activites for littlies. Find something else to describe it:- I can help if you like. It’s just going to save confusion, because Hills MiniBall runs to a strict franchise formula which won’t be the same as the conditions you use for your own in-house teeball.

LITTLE LEAGUE OK, I know John said he didn’t want this topic cluttering up this meeting. However, I have to raise it ….

We’ve signed the Charter and thus are committed to offering LL sometime this season. My vision for it is to be a midweek competition among older kids who want to do extra baseball stuff. Whether we get the kids or not is going to be academic if we can’t get coaches. Therefore, I ask you all to start sounding out potential LL coaches as soon as you can. We need about four or six, and the same number of assistant coaches. I’m not worried about managers or umpires yet:- that can wait. Remember that these coaches and teams will play in special colours:- they will NOT be club-based teams. It’s a great training ground for potential rep coaches to dip their toe in the water without committing to a full-on Hills rep team.

E-MAIL ADDRESSES The Hills Newsletter is a valuable resource. It allows us to communicate with all members of all clubs, but ONLY if you allow us to do so. That is by making sure you collect email addresses from your own members and either:-

• Put them in MyClub, in which case BNSW and the ABF can send stuff as well, or
• Just put them on the Hills Team Registration forms, in which case they will only get newsletters from us.

Yes, I know we all hate SPAM, and I know that many people guard their email addresses with almost religious passion. However, after 2 years of newsletters, I’ve come around to the thought that there is far too much information that goes missing somewhere between BNSW or NSWJBL or John or myself and the average family out there. I get about eight or ten emails and phone calls a week from parents who want to know stuff that they ought to know already from reading the newsletter. John probably gets about the same. Glen Willott at BNSW gets some, and Cheryl Barnier at NSWJBL gets some too.

This shouldn’t be happening. Here are some examples:-

• What bat size is my child allowed to use? We spent {some ridiculous amount of money} on buying something that is apparently illegal, but the shop told me it was OK
  • Our legal equipment is fully described in the RuleBook, discussed in several newsletters.
• My child was disappointed that he didn’t know about {insert just about any NSWJBL tour over the last four years here}. He would have been involved but we didn’t know about it.
  • All NSWJBL touring opportunities are promoted through the newsletter
• My son wanted to trial for a rep team, but we didn’t know the trials were on.
  • All trials are noted in newsletters.
• My son wants to play Little League to get a chance at going to Hong Kong, but Hills aren’t offering that opportunity. Where should I register instead?
  • Totally incorrect, on so many levels.
• I joined Greenway to play senior baseball because I didn’t know that my daughter’s club offered a senior competition in Sydney Metro.
  • Sydney Metro routinely advertises in the newsletter
• I’ve just found out that Hills have decided to introduce {insert something important here} at your last meeting. Why didn’t you tell me four months ago when it mattered?
  • Hills minutes are published in the newsletter
• I didn’t know about Winter Development, or Private Coaching, or Holiday Clinics, or WinterBall, or … etc etc etc.
  • All of this stuff gets a run in the newsletter, sometimes over several concurrent issues.

I could go on for pages and pages, but you get the idea. I’m not having a shot at club officials here:- I know you all have enough to do already. So why not take advantage of the support that you have with general news like this? It saves you having to deal with it.

Remember that even if somebody gets included on the mailing list, they can opt out with two clicks of the mouse and will never hear from us again. We’ve “unsubscribed” about a hundred people over the last two years without a single complaint. Their privacy was never breached and their email address was never provided to a third party nor retained on our database.

So, please harvest email addresses from your members and give them to us. As I said above, if they don’t want to know, then they can unsubscribe. However, it’s pretty clear that many who DO want to know stuff are unaware of the channels available to them to find out.

PROMOTION Are any of you still recruiting? I have hundreds of posters and thousands of scattercards that will help. Just ask.

WEBSITE NETWORK For the nerds, our internet presence is going from strength to strength. The only missing link is now a proper series of links from the high-profile BNSW/ABF sites to our own. Once that is in place I’m confident we’ll be in the top few search-engine hits for pretty much anything to do with junior baseball in our area.

Even without BNSW/ABF support, try googling some terms that you think an ordinary parent might use to find a local baseball/teeball activity and I’m pretty sure that one of the Hills sites will be highly visible. They all link back to YOUR club.

DISPENSATIONS  There were a number of dispensations submitted for consideration. These were dealt with by the meeting.

Mr. Yard advised that there needs to be a general dispensation for the Under 11 teams, Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills and Winston Hills to be able to play Under 12, as Hills is unable to have a viable Under 11 competition – a number of these players are aged nine  -  Approved.

Mr. Yard expressed his disappointment in the inconsistencies in the granting of dispensations.  Clubs had the opportunity to enter joint teams but rather, opted to seek dispensations.  In the end it probably cost the Association a first division Under 12 team.  As always, who protects the weaker players playing against older players who have the benefit of dispensations?

Mr. Yard foreshadowed that next year’s dispensations should be handled at a special meeting with the only agenda item being dispensations and possibly rules. 

Rule Changes:

• Mod Ball: If Mod Ball progresses to Live Ball, the rules require that they play exactly to Leonard South rules.  Agreed.

• Use of softball bats:  Insufficient technical information to be able to make an informed decision.  There is a thought that the softball bat offers a better hitting area.  The meeting was divided in its opinion.  The decision was that the rule would remain as to length and diameter.

• Infield Rules:  Decision was that the rule applies in Under 11 first division.  Rule doesn’t apply in Under 12 Leonard North, South and East.

• Option to bat only nine players in finals:  See no reason to change, all live ball teams have the option to bat only nine players in final series.  No change to existing rules.

• Substitutes to play only in outfield:  Convention has had substitutes being allowed only to play in outfield and bat last in line up.  Convention upheld.  Penalty for breaches will be loss of game.

• Courtesy players to be provided by opposition:  This should not have needed to be amended.

• Bats:  raised the inconsistency in rules relating to bats, with Connexion bats being illegal in Hills.  It was reinforced that this ban in Under 14 Hay and Leonard North was  again reinforced.  Only 2¼” dia. bats allowed in Peter Street South.. 

• Protest Fee:  Varied to $50.

• Rule 10.6: was examined to define “all available players”.  “All available players” is defined as players in attendance and named in line up.  Potential substitutes are excluded from this rule.

• Rule 11.l:  was designed to cover early starts in Friday night games in Youth League.  The rule was extended to include all mid week games and in all age competitions.

• Rule 11.5:  clarifies the Mod Ball rules regarding foul balls being the same as defined in Official Rules. Players cannot be struck out of a foul ball – unless a foul tip ‘caught’ on the third strike.  Agreed.

• Rule 11.7c:  codifies a decision made last season for T Ball in Virginia Akers South, West and East where the lead off hitter can vary each innings.  Agreed.

• Pass Ball Rule:  the main impact of this change is that the Pass Ball lines in T Ball and Mod Ball are defined as the foul lines, irrespective of whether the game was played on an enclosed ground.. 

OTHER GENERAL BUSINESS:

Representative fixtures: Mr. Yard advised that Hills had received nominations from Winston Hills, Kellyville, Castle Hill, Hawkesbury and Oakville to host the three home games in the State Cup this season. Hawkesbury has been allocated the round against Manly (Under 12 and Under 14) as Bensons can best cope with Representative baseball on Saturday and with Hills competition games scheduled for the day. Mr. Yard suggested that the remaining games be balloted.  Mr. Yard further suggested that Castle Hill be automatically awarded a round of the representative fixtures in recognition of its support of Hills toward Winter Development, Winter competition and selection trials.  This was agreed.

The ballot resulted in Oakville being successful in obtaining the last Hills home game. There was a further ballot to determine what games were played at what venue. This resulted  in Castle Hill hosting round against Greater Western and Oakville hosting Ryde. Winston Hills and Kellyville will receive precedence should they apply next season.

Under 17 Cashmore North:  Mr. Yard advised that he was concerned with the grading of Kellyville in Cashmore North League.  The team has two possible State players as members – Andrew Olson and Blake Palmer.  It is considered that they would dominate the competition if allowed to compete unrestricted.  The suggestion was that neither player could pitch or catch.

When the playing strength was further explained it was decided the team should be a first division team.

Umpires Policy:  Mr. Yard advised that as an organisation we have done nothing about the Umpiring Policy as suggested by Mr. Bray and Castle Hill.

Future Meetings:  With Baulkham Hills Sporting Club undergoing renovations, it was obvious that we have to find an alternative meeting venue. Mr. Hook undertook to investigate the possibility of a meeting room at the Ettamongah Pub at Rouse Hill.