• Since the last meeting the City v Country fixtures have been held. Hills were successful in both
  Under 12 and Under 14 – defeating Ryde in the finals of the two competitions. The results confirm Hills’ domination with the Under 12 being undefeated in the season and the Under 14 losing one game.
• The reports from the Under 12 were that the fixture was not good - other than the team played very well. The less said about the sportsmanship in the Under 14 the better. We won with dignity under provocation. Ryde at one stage on the Saturday took its team from the diamond after its coach was sent off.
• There were no trophies/medallions for the tournament. Castle Trophies have donated trophies recognizing the efforts of the Under 12 team and Hills have paid for similar plaques for the Under 14’s.
• As an aside it is rumoured that the Baseball NSW fees will increase again next season.

Season wrap:

• The grand finals came and went without incident – our greatest fear at that time of the year is weather, but this year was a good year in relation to weather throughout the final series. The games were generally close and produced its usual surprise results.

• Results for all games were tabled.

• The Youth League grand final attracted a very good crowd of approximately 300 people – and from a promotion point of view it was a success. The attendance was greater than some of the Claxton Shield games. We appointed a neutral umpire, Brian McDonald, to plate the game. It was a big disappointment to us not to be able to offer the plate to a Hills umpire to umpire what is our prestige game of the season. Such were the circumstances this season it was not possible to appoint the umpire we would have normally have done as he was linked to one of the clubs playing. This is not to be taken as a precedent for any future year.

• We tried a new idea this year to have a précis of the Grand Final games placed on our web site. Not all clubs bothered to submit a report – while others were not suitable for publishing.

Other matters:

• Winter Juniors commence on 30 April. There will be an Under 12 and 14 competitions and hopefully an Under 16 competition. The question of fees for outside clubs is causing us some problem. Hills clubs will pay $80 a team. We welcome teams from outside Hills but are not prepared to ‘give away’ the cost of participation to teams outside Hills.
• Just a reminder that suggested alterations to the playing rules for next reason are to be submitted in writing by 30 April, 2006.
• The recipient of the President’s award for season 2005/06 was Nigel Hern.
• Hills has made a submission to ACCC re the Australian Baseball Federation’s application for ‘third line forcing’ which is necessary for the Licencing Program to operate. A copy of the submission is in the correspondence. The ABF’s request for an extension to third line forcing certainly is an indicator that the Licensing Issue is not dead nor forgotten. I doubt that there is a club in Hills that supports the concept. It was a case similar to several others – we could have sat back, done nothing and claim it was not our fault – or we fight for what we think is right.
• Hills has again dominated players selected in the NSWJBL touring teams. Players selected are:

Under 12 – Hayden Bray, Graeme Clarke, Eamon Davis, Scott Richards, Zackary Sheppard , Tim Wakefield and Hayden Webster.

Under 13 – Jacob Adams, Jackson Barclay, Jake Bohan, Harrison Garrett, Joshua Guyer, Stephen Kerr, Ryan Nahirny, Cody Packer, Dominic Woodward and Keegan Zografos.

Under 15 – Joshua Henderson, Daniel Kest, Roswell Oey, Simeon Pridmore, Derek Robinson, Henry Smith, Jaryd Speechley, Tim Theos and Alex Walker,

Under 16 – team was finalized last night – there will be seven Hills players in that team.

• That is a total of 33 Hills players having the opportunity to travel overseas and play. That is a representation of 58% of Hills players to those selected. Last year we had 36 players (excluding Singapore) but there was one more team last year – we continue to be pleased with the level of representation we are achieving through the NSWJBL programs.
• In the next few days we will invite players for elite development. Primarily it will be for Under 12 players. It will be midweek at night but will be restricted in numbers. Sunday morning will be opened up to 9 and 10 year olds and will be open to any players up to the age of 12. It is expected that the players will choose to play on Sunday morning rather than train. The Under 12 and Under 13 NSWJBL will also train Sunday morning.
• We will continue with our development of catchers of all age group – that will be a separate aspect of the Winter Development. I have asked clubs to nominate players - our initial aim is to find second catchers for all of next season’s three representative teams.
• One of the questions I have asked is advice from those clubs that require a Level 0 course to be held. Schofields and Rouse Hill have replied. It leads to a quandary - people need a Level 0 before being eligible to undertake Level 1. Baseball NSW will not recognize the Hills’ Coach the Coaches course, while two of our instructors, if not all three, are most unlikely to undertake the course on behalf of Baseball NSW. It is probably be a case where we do nothing – and leave it for Baseball NSW to conduct the course. For this to happen need an indication of the number of people requiring training and the dates and venues possible. As an organization we continue to be prepared to undertake courses for those coaches wanting to further their knowledge without requiring accreditation.
• In the week leading up to the grand finals we advised both Castle Hill and Baulkham Hills informing them that neither Jesse Moralles or James Vergos would be able to play in the Grand Final while ever there was money (Moralles) or uniform top (Vergos) outstanding. Castle Hill paid the money and the uniform top was returned. People may think it is a tough stance but it is the policy that you decided upon.
• My computer had a hard dive crash. So far we have been unable to retrieve any information from the failed hard drive – the end result may be a lot of lost information.
• We were serious with the offer to conduct a T Ball competition for Under 12 – it is an attempt to cater for players who come into the game late and quite often do not have the ability or motor skills to play live ball. We have received no response to the concept however, the people who we have spoken to about it are happy with the concept. Only needs four teams to be a ‘goer’ – but it is not a soft alternative for someone to win a competition.
• As part of the Grand Final presentations the plate umpires were presented with a medallion recognizing their appointment to a Grand Final.
• We also made presentations of plaques to the five umpires, Ken Pridmore, Peter Theos, Moira Kollios, Craig Peterson, and Lawrence Halliday who assisted throughout the season officiating at our home representative games.

Communication Problems at BNSW:

• There has been no advice to Hills re the trials for the Cal Ripken tour will be conducted. The information has appeared on other State’s web sites but not on Baseball NSW’s site. The cost of the tour is between $4.5 and $5k. This lack of information appears to be an indication of Baseball NSW policy to downplay the role of Associations and deal direct with players direct. Another indication of this is the nominations for World Children’s Baseball Fair (WCBF). The advice of the nominations of players and the invitation for applications for a Chaperone for the tour appeared on the West Australian web site on 31 January,2006. The only advice to the Associations was an email on 10 March which stated that “ watch the web site for information to WCBF”. No mention of the applications re the Chaperone at all. That was the only advice received.
• It only gets worse – I was given a copy of a note that appeared on the Baseball NSW web site on a Tuesday inviting applications – the closing date was the following Friday. Four days to get organized. It probably had been missed by all clubs – we were able to have Andrew Woodward nominate Dominic who we thought was clearly the best eligible applicant within the birth-date restrictions.
• Peter Schmidt was told on the Friday that there would be trials arranged – by the following Wednesday, Dominic had received a letter saying he was unsuccessful. That time included the time taken in delivery by the post. It would indicate that the player had already been selected.
• You have two choices – shrug your shoulders and say “so what” or “it doesn’t apply to my child” – or we can take the matter up as forcefully as we can. Your choice – do and say nothing or try to make a difference. Not that you can expect to ever receive a reply – there has been no reply to Rick Cone or Hills re the complaints about last year’s Under 14 Winter Development and State trials.
• Baseball NSW is keen to portray its transparency in its operations – just seem to have trouble delivering it. Just what does Baseball NSW do better than NSWJBL?

• Discussions with Auburn Council have not gone far. Auburn Major League has met with Council. They appear to want the ground retained for baseball.
• NSWJBL made application for use of BOP. No response to two letters written to Baseball NSW – now written to Blacktown Venue Management.
• Submission made to ACCC re third line forcing necessary for the implementation of Licensing.
• Appeal request against a Bankstown judiciary finding.
• Appeal by Mitchell Bray considered and sentence varied.
• Appointment of coaches and mangers for overseas tours named. Under 16 - J. Yard, E. Bray, G. Barnier Under 15 - R. Street, S. Choy, R. Warne Under 13 - J. Catt, A. Farrell, S. Tossell Under 12 - N. Hern, M. Brain, D. Conyard
• Logo being designed for Pan Pacific Tournament
• It was noted that the CHS competition is an unaffiliated organization yet it gets web space and use of facilities. Just another illustration that the dispute with NSWJBL is “personal”.

No report presented as the meeting dates overlap - The April JLSC meeting will be held after this Hills meeting.

• Statement of Financial Position tabled and accepted.
• Accounts for payment approved.

• Nothing presented

• Ages 5 to 6 play a separate competition exclusive for this age
• Age 7 play Under 8 competition where game does not require all players to bat and revert back to three outs constituting an innings.
• Under 10 play graded divisions and Petroff pitch earlier in season.

The discussion that followed indicated that clubs foresee a problem in smaller clubs, as to how to grade players when teams have young players involved. One option is to place players according to school age. Mr. Yard advised that Hills has offered to conduct a T Ball competition for the ‘weaker’ players in Under 12. Mr. Yard suggested that the Under 10 Don Petroff League may be better to be an Under 11 competition – playing live ball. We already conduct graded competitions in Under 10 and always struggle for Petroff League teams. Good Under 10 players continually ‘miss’ the age group and go direct to Under 12 Phil Leonard, in some cases Ken Douglass Leagues. Under 10 Col Daisley would remain as a mod ball concept.

Mr. Yard stated that his observations of Petroff League when they play live ball is that the pitchers cannot throw strikes and game becomes a ‘walkathon’ and made look better than it is by hitters having poor pitch selection. Pitching earlier than after Christmas won’t help overcome these problems – good ‘teaching’ coaches may, but there is a real shortage of coaches who can teach. There was some support for the Under 11 concept. There was also support for an Under 12 Ball conference.

Knights Field: Mr. Ryan advised that Castle Hill is attempting to extend the curfew for the operation of lights at Knights Field.

Rules: Mr. Yard reminded clubs that the suggestions for rule changes close 30 April – to date none have been received. Mr. Yard stated that one rule that will in all probability be altered is a significant reduction in the number of pitchers allowed to be thrown in Under 12 Phil Leonard Leagues presently set at 75 pitches.

Recruitment: Mr. Schmidt reported that we have a data base of 215 schools – the challenge is how we use that information this season to aid recruitment. Clubs have run ‘Come and Try’ days for many years with a better co-ordination than NSWBL which had different clubs from different Associations competing for new players from the same school. Want to consider which clubs handle which schools. How much do clubs want to spend – how much do you want Hills to spend? What do you want to happen? Mr. Schmidt requested all clubs prepare a plan of how they are going to do recruitment.

The newspaper advertisements were not all that successful – some advertising needs to be done however we will redefine our newspaper advertisement. Mr. Schmidt undertook to write a structure for Recruitment of players. Mr. Yard stated that not all clubs will canvass all schools allocated to them. As an example, Castle Hills’ pick up of players compared to brochures issued is much higher than Baseball NSW claim to achieve. This is because they have established a good rapport with the schools they target. Because of their success they do not spread the net wider.

Mr. Tossell stated that the money that Hills spent on T Ball last season was a good investment – however coaches are the key to the retention of players. Mr. Schmidt confirmed that Hills will insist on a code of conduct for all junior coaches and mangers from 2006/7 season onward. Mrs. Fox stated that we should promote the sport irrespective of what club does it where. Mr. Yard stated that he was unsure that all clubs would agree with that concept. Mr. Tossell suggested that colourful action brochures/photos are the key to capturing people’s attention. It is a Hills ‘thing’ rather than a club thing – the brochure supplements the scatter cards. It was suggested that ‘shopper dockets’ are an alternative source of advertising.

Schofields’ Executive: Mr. Tossell advised that Schofields has held its Annual General Meeting. He is the President and the club has a new Executive.

Kellyville: Mr. Petrone advised that Kellyville has approached Council to take the club’s batting cage net to a function in May. The date is to be confirmed – Kellyville will provide the resources necessary and hope to attract new players. The Australia Day function provided the club with a lot of interest from possible new players. There has been no information as to the Kellyville application for a Regional grant.

Mini Ball: Mr. Schmidt advised that we are at the stage with Mini Ball where we talk to clubs to see who is interested. The competition will be at a central venue or venues. It will be conducted during school holidays. The proposed launch date is term four at Kellyville. Are clubs comfortable with the concept?

Newsletter: Mr. Schmidt advised that he is unsure of how many people are receiving the Newsletter. Parents who wish to subscribe to it can do so through registering through the ‘contact’ facility in the Newsletter.

WCBF: Mr. Yard asked whether Hills wished to formally complain about the lack of information being forwarded to it re the World Childrens’ Baseball Fair. The meeting was in favour of lodging a complaint.

Representative baseball: Mr. Schmidt advised that the initial indicator from coaches in Under 12 Sydney Junior Championship is that they would prefer to change to an 8½” dia. ‘hard ball’. The question here is a safety issue and whether the coaches should have the right to make the decision or should it be the decision of Associations. Hills coaches are strongly in favour of retaining the Kenko ball.

Trophies: Mr. Yard asked whether Hills should swap to medallions rather than trophies. He was asking the question as most clubs also give premiers a trophy. He stressed that it was not a cost saving exercise, as the medallions would cost more.