Annual Report to VSA - 2006 / 2007 Season

The Victorian Softball Association annually presents the Merle Short Service Award in recognition for outstanding service to the sport of softball in Victoria. Eligible recipients need to have been active and to have rendered noteworthy service in a coaching, umpiring, scoring or administration role for at least a ten year period.

At this years VSA May Assembly there were three nominations for this award. Life member of our Association, Bev Beard, was one of the nominees. After a unanimous vote by all affiliated associations present, Bev became the inaugural recipient of this award from our Association.

On behalf of the Wellington Softball Association Executive Committee and all members, past and present, I would like to congratulate Bev on this grand achievement. For a period of thirty years to the present day Bev has been actively involved in all aspects of the game, namely playing, coaching, umpiring, scoring & administrating and has tirelessly contributed to the development of softball in the Gippsland region.

Unfortunately our Association was not able to enter an Open Women's team to defend the B grade title won at the Victorian 2006 State Championships, though we did have representative players involved in the Bairnsdale open team. Playing in B grade, the team won four out of five preliminary games and were narrowly beaten in the grand final by Keilor Park 4-5. Players were Leanne Heywood, Hannah Jackson, Rawinia Te Maru, while Bev Beard scored.

At the June Victorian Masters Championships hosted by Geelong SA we had players involved in the successful Giants mens & women's A grade teams. Well done to Leanne Heywood and Bonnie O'Shanassy who were successful in winning gold medals, while I won a silver medal as runners up to the strong Keilor Comets team.

After many seasons of fluctuating junior player numbers and limited school involvement, our T-ball and Modball competitions faced their biggest challenge yet, to survive with the absence of thirteen coaches / helpers from the previous two seasons.

Player interest was poor from the beginning, with only a handful of prep to grade 3 players returning from last season and only a few new faces from the come'n'try days. Clinics were run for a number of weeks, with the competition problems compounded by the fact that interest was only shown by one coach Peter Johnson. Unfortunately two teams could not be formed and by mid season, with only four or five t-ballers committed, the clinics folded.

A big thank you must go to Peter Johnson for his commitment in traveling to Sale every Saturday morning and for the efforts in attempting to keep the junior competition going. In contrast to previous seasons, expressions of interest from parents to help with the reformation of a junior competition will be called before the start of next season. If the response is positive, we will then proceed to search for junior players to form teams.

With the withdrawal of the Allstars team from our Open Mixed Twilight competition, leaving only three teams entered, the continuation of this regular Tuesday competition was also in doubt. Thankfully, with the return to the game of past president Terry O'Shanassy and with help from Bairnsdale SA president Jean Marriott, a team of mainly junior players was formed and our Tuesday twilight games commenced mid October.

The young Blue Bandits team consistently improved throughout the season, which culminated on grand final night with a well earned 8-1 victory over TNT in the playoff game for third place. The strong New Jays team dominated all season, with Panthers providing some close games along the way and by finishing second on the ladder, would be a worthy challenger for open mixed premiers. This would be the fourth time since season 2002/03 that these two teams have played in the grand final, with Panthers reversing the tables last season to win. In this seasons grand final New Jays had the all round edge and although Panthers came close, New Jays were always able to maintain the advantage and went on to be open mixed premiers, winning 12-8. Next season celebrates the 20th anniversary of this competition.

Even after a mailout to local businesses and a lower entry fee with no prize money, our Slowpitch Corporate Challenge competition also faced the same dire predicament as our other competitions, due to the withdrawal of the Ramahyuck team. Faced with the prospect of a shortened game, three team double header competition, it was with relief that the Fulham Correctional Centre team, under the new name of SERT 1 (Softball Emergency Response Team), made a comeback from four seasons ago. A big thank you to coach Jan Te Maru for her efforts in reforming and organising the team each week, it certainly saved the competition from a possible bleak end.

Once again Heritage was the team to beat this season with six wins from eight games and were favourites to win back to back titles. Even with a rescheduled grand final, Lo-Ded.com struggled to get their full strength team on the diamond, resulting in an easy 18-4 win to Heritage.

After their reaffiliation with the VSA last season and in order to generate some local interest in softball, Bairnsdale SA decided to challenge Wellington SA to a best of three games Open Mixed Challenge series. In the first game played after our mixed twilight games, WSA dominated in defence with some fine pitching from Gavin O'Shanassy and catching from Rawinia Te Maru to win easily. The second game in Bairnsdale on a Sunday morning was a more even affair, with WSA having a narrow win after being down halfway through the game. It is hoped this challenge series can become an annual event and by showcasing the game in both regions, can be productive for both associations.

I would like to welcome a new face to the Executive Committee after our annual AGM in November, namely Gavin O'Shanassy, who took on the role of Publicity Officer this season. It is good to see the return of regular softball coverage in the local paper.

I would also like to thank Simon Pagotto, store manager of Harvey Norman Sale, for his companies advertising support on diamond 1 throughout the season. With revenue flows constantly decreasing for small sporting associations, this financial support was most welcomed.

A surprise announcement at the conclusion of the open mixed presentations caught everyone by surprise, especially myself. When Bev Beard, with Russell Booth and David McGrath present, made the announcement that a special award presentation was about to take place, I had no indication that I was about to be honoured with life membership of the Wellington Softball Association. After all this time I suppose this is what happens after eleven consecutive seasons on the Executive Committee, with six as president.

Though slightly lost for words on the night, I am sincerely honoured to receive such an accolade in recognition of my involvement with softball since the 1991/92 season.

In conclusion, with only two senior competitions left, our membership numbers are the lowest since thirty odd seasons ago. We can only hope that this downward trend can be reversed and softball can once again prosper in this region.

Ross Game

President.

______________________________________________________________________________________