Facilities Strategy 2011 - 2017 Building a Future for British Baseball and Softball

Facilities Strategy 2011 - 2017 Building a future for British Baseball and Softball

1 Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Table of Contents Introduction and Context Welcome and Foreword ...... 3 Facilities Vision: 2011-2017 ...... 4 Facilities Mission: 2011-2017 ...... 4 Facilities Aims: 2011-2017 ...... 4 Facilities Outcomes: 2011-2017 ...... 6 Current Provision and Why Change is Needed ...... 7 Alignment to Strategic Outcomes – Grow, Sustain and Excel Headline Outcomes ...... 13 Strategic Interventions ...... 14 Higher and Further Education ...... 14 New Adult Leagues ...... 15 Children and Young People ...... 15 Club-Focused Prioritisation ...... 15 Local Facilities – the Impact of Growth ...... 17 The Need for Local Facilities ...... 19 What, Where, How and When: 2011-2017 Baseball and Softball Priorities ...... 22 Actions 2011-13 ...... 26 Actions 2011-17 ...... 33 Actions 2014-17 ...... 34 Evidence Open Consultations ...... 38 Focus Group ...... 39 Audit and Mapping of Facility Stock ...... 41 Technical Elements of dedicated baseball and softball facilities ...... 43 Appendices Appendix A - The Role of the Facilities Strategy ...... 45 Appendix B – BSUK Facilities Steering Group ...... 46 Appendix C - Strategy Review Process ...... 48 Appendix D - Softball Facilities in London ...... 50 Appendix E - Developing Facilities Partnerships within the UK Landscape ...... 51 Appendix F - Independent Facilities Inquiry ...... 54 Appendix G - Facilities Modelling ...... 55 Author: John Boyd, Joint CEO and Head of Development For the BSUK Board and Facilities Steering Group Published in April 2011 following 18 months of consultation and preparation.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Introduction and Context

Welcome and Foreword

It gives me great pleasure to launch this important strategic document.

Baseball and softball are sports in which our clubs do not generally own their facilities and we have all had the experience of participating and competing in less than ideal conditions.

However, this is now changing – slowly but surely.

We are seeing an increasing number of diamonds with dedicated features, driven by our most progressive clubs and leagues working together with Local Authorities and/or with BSUK – even if the dream of having a permanent dedicated high-quality facility remains out of reach for all but a few. The transition from renters to owners is one that will not happen overnight and indeed will not happen at all for the vast majority of clubs and leagues. So there is a strong need to work with partners to upgrade and enhance facilities we currently use as well as creating new facilities where we are able to do so.

This document is the first comprehensive Facilities Strategy for our sports and it provides an excellent resource – not just for our member clubs but for our partners in the provision of baseball and softball facilities and development. The ultimate aim of the Strategy is to meet the demands of all levels of the sports development continuum from foundation to excellence. And while the strategy will be of significant interest to those involved in our sports, it is just as important that it reaches others in schools, Local Authorities and the public and private sector who have the ability to help us provide the facilities and development we need.

I hope this document will be of use to every club, league and team. It is essential that we continuously review and update standards and progress in all areas of our sports and this publication is a one-stop shop as far as facilities plans are concerned.

I hope you will refer back to it often.

Geof Ellingham Chair, BaseballSoftballUK

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Facilities Vision: 2011-2017 In its 2009-13 Whole Sport Plan, BSUK offered an aspiration for:

THE RIGHT FACILITIES PROVIDED IN THE RIGHT PLACES AT THE RIGHT TIME AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE

Facilities Mission: 2011-2017

To build and enhance a range of facilities capable of effectively hosting local, regional, national and international baseball and softball competition and development activity, and to provide guidance and support to influence the development of local facilities to increase satisfaction and participation in both sports in the UK.

Facilities Aims: 2011-2017 • Promote sport-specific and priority use of park facilities so that: ◦ Pitches are properly marked. ◦ Permanent or seasonal backstops are provided routinely. ◦ Team seating is provided where possible. ◦ Appropriate access for baseball and softball needs is provided at affordable cost to participants in the sports. • Develop a support package for the improvement of local facilities, including: ◦ Information on approaches to different types of facility providers. ◦ Minimum standards and technical specifications. ◦ Information on processes (planning, grants, construction etc). ◦ Benefits to facility providers from baseball/softball provision. ◦ Recommended ranges for pitch hire fees. • Support clubs and leagues to secure and create sustainable facilities by offering direct help with: ◦ Security of tenure and other negotiations with facility providers. ◦ Local and national grants. ◦ Arrangements with private facility administration agencies. ◦ Support for relationships with contractors and grounds staff. ◦ Business plan models.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 • Provide appropriate outdoor facilities for courses, regional and national competition, The Academy and elite training by establishing: ◦ Dedicated regional baseball facilities in the North and South of England. ◦ A dedicated centre for fastpitch softball in the South East of England. ◦ Enhanced playing surfaces and field equipment at major slowpitch softball tournament sites around the UK. ◦ National elite training centre facilities for baseball and both softball formats (together or separately). Note: All or most of the facilities listed above should include suitable permanent multi-purpose ancillary service structures and adaptable indoor spaces for meetings, courses, catering and office space.

• Provide appropriate indoor facilities for courses, winter league competitions, The Academy and elite closed-season training by: ◦ Establishing minimum requirements. ◦ Detailing feasible use modifications. ◦ Providing financial models. ◦ Providing a register of potential sites. Note: Baseball and Softball Academy sessions are run from October-March, outside the normal playing season, and often need to be held indoors.

• Create facilities appropriate for hosting high-level competition in the UK in baseball and both softball formats (together or separately), including: ◦ Top quality dedicated playing surfaces (including appropriate maintenance provision). ◦ At least two diamonds built to international specifications. ◦ Water and electricity provision to diamonds. ◦ Spectator seating. ◦ Floodlighting. ◦ Suitable permanent multi-purpose ancillary service structures. ◦ Indoor spaces for meetings, catering and office space. ◦ Footprint for further auxiliary infrastructure. Note: This facility or facilities could be based at national elite training centres.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Facilities Outcomes: 2011-2017

OUTCOME MEASUREMENT

More providers meeting sport-specific needs. Increase in the number of park facilities with backstops, team seating and appropriate access arrangements. Increase in park facilities for softball in London.

Security of tenure for clubs / venue-based Increase in the number of facilities with either leagues. lease or use agreements in place for five or more years.

Sustainable facilities used by financially secure Increased spending on both facility use and clubs or leagues. development.

Provision of improved facilities. Increase in the average level of facilities over time.

Increased satisfaction with facilities. Increase in the quality and geographic spread of dedicated or semi-dedicated facilities and increase in throughput.

Provision of appropriate indoor, regional, YES / NO national and international competition facilities.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Current Provision and Why Change is Needed The aim of our Facilities Strategy is to produce a comprehensive and cohesive framework for the development of facilities for baseball and softball at local, regional and national levels to support the delivery of the sports in England. Principal issues examined in creating the Facilities Strategy have included:

• The need for an approach to facilities development that is 'owned' by the baseball and softball community and leaves a legacy in relation to building capacity and management expertise.

• The competition, training and development needs of the sports.

• The process of talent development and player pathways in the sports.

• Location criteria, technical requirements, sustainable management practices and operational arrangements.

• Potential partnership funding sources both for capital and for future running costs to ensure facility sustainability.

The basic aim of the Strategy has been to identify the need for What players say... different types of facilities in strategic locations that reflect the “We need some proper softball sports' development objectives around Grow, Sustain and Excel fields in London. Playing on outcomes. grass on a very busy common isn't ideal. Softball is a The Strategy also addresses the need for provision at all levels of growing sport so we should get participation, from youth and entry-level to elite, to ensure that consideration for these types of proper fields.” - Softball player pathways within the sports are complete and available. player, Clapham Common South Side. Baseball and softball are sports starting from virtually no provision of built or dedicated playing facilities. Up to this point, both sports have been adaptable enough to grow and develop to a certain extent without this.

However, to thrive as non-indigenous sports in the UK, What players say... and to raise levels of interest and participation, baseball “With rare exception, softball facilities and softball need a home – or rather a series of “homes” are non-existent in the UK. Fields are not maintained for this sport which makes spread across the country that playing members can the field dangerous. Additionally, lack of identify as their own and that can raise awareness of the painted lines and proper pitches - sports among members of the public, Local Authorities, combined with a lack of respect for the sporting agencies and the media. sport by non-players - means that games are often interrupted as they are in public parks.”

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 What players say... Central to BSUK's Whole Sport Plan 2009-13 is the premise that “England has a shocking facility development will be an integral part of our wider shortage of sporting facilities. development strategy. The creation and improvement of Hundreds of teams and facilities for baseball and softball will be one of a number of thousands of players are important factors that will combine to build strong, sustainable looking for places to play one of structures for the sports in key areas of the country. the most popular participation sports in the world.” Facilities have been identified by the baseball and softball communities as a common need – an area which is affecting satisfaction and in which we lag far behind other comparable nations, even elsewhere in Europe where baseball and softball are minority sports to an even greater extent than they are in the UK.

Evidenced through both BSUK's Satisfaction Survey of October 2008 and the first Sport England SQSE Satisfaction Survey of March 2009, club members in particular feel that places where the sports are currently played are often below par, unsafe and/or unsuitable for the activities being run.

In short, almost no facilities currently exist in England (or the UK as a whole) that are wholly dedicated to use for either baseball or softball.

However, an indication of what can be achieved by even a small increase in What players say... dedicated provision can be seen in the “Recent grants for improving facilities at several outcomes of a Small Facility Grant baseball clubs in the country has been a real boost. The effect has been very positive and we have had programme run by BSUK in 2009-2010 using great growth in the number of players joining the £25,000 of BSUK's total capital investment of club. But we need to improve facilities further if £290,000 for 2009-13 from Sport England). we are to continue to make such positive steps.”

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 2009-10 BSUK Facility Grants Input Output £25,000 facility grants offered from Unlocked £75,000 of total expenditure for Capital Expenditure allocation. facility development in these five projects. Awarded as £5,000 grants to five clubs or league venues. Five backstops built. Two surfaces improved. A total of six fields developed.

Facility development spurred in two additional clubs.

These outcomes from relatively modest projects provide What players say... a positive indication of the gains in satisfaction and “Being a minority sport, we find great participation that can be achieved if the larger amount of difficulty in getting funding and any help from local councils. Baseball needs its own capital funding available is invested strategically and facilities and generally we find sharing sensibly across our sporting communities. grounds with football teams is not ideal.”

According to the 2007 Sport + Recreation Alliance Sports Club Survey, 80% of current baseball and softball club or league facilities are owned by Local Authorities and the majority of play takes place in public or private parks set up for multi-sport use or dedicated to other sports, without the infrastructure elements that baseball and softball require.

A multi-sport approach to sports pitch provision usually means that venues are unwilling to make adaptations for a single sport. Moreover, perceptions of baseball and softball as relatively new “niche sports” mean that there is a common approach across facility providers to treat our sports' requirements as secondary.

Quick Facts 2% of baseball or softball clubs own their facility. 12% lease their facility. 76% hire facilities. 45% use public space to play or train. 16% use Local Authority auxiliary facilities for social activities.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Summary of Baseball and Softball Facilities Survey 2010 In the UK Compared to... • 84% of facilities across both sports are Level 1 • The average European baseball and softball (see table of levels on Page 11). facility is Level 3.

• In baseball, 83% of facilities are Level 1 or • This falls well below municipal facilities in Level 2. North America and is comparable only to the lowest school-based clubs in Europe. Our facilities are on a par with provision in developing counties in Africa, South America or Latin America. • One field has permanent batting cages on site. • The ECB requires that cricket fields at all levels provide practice nets.

• Four fields have permanent roofed dugouts. • The ECB prioritises the provision of changing and support facilities at all clubs.

• Two fields have semi-permanent seating for • The majority of cricket facilities have an on- spectators (bleachers). site spectators' and players' pavilion.

• One facility has a purpose-built surface, • Well-maintained cricket squares are an tended by volunteer or permanent expected part of cricket play. groundsmen.

• Four fields have semi-permanent or permanent outfield fences. • The majority of baseball and softball club sites in Europe have semi-permanent or permanent outfield fences. • Two fields are permanently fully enclosed with a fence. • There are only four Level 2 softball diamonds • The work involved in upgrading a field from (excluding on US airbases) in the UK, but 528 Level 1 to Level 2 is comparable to building a adult softball teams. low-cost tennis court.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 What players say... “A lack of quality, reasonably priced facilities hinders the sport.”

In a recent survey1 of baseball and softball club administrators, Level 1 Field has no permanent baseball or softball features (a backstop, mound etc.). The 85% said they felt that more playing field is an open space e.g. recreational land shared with other sports. The playing mainstream sports were given surface is all grass or all dirt. The field receives only basic maintenance. preferential treatment at the Level 2 The field has basic features (a permanent or semi-permanent mound and/or structure as facilities where they play. The a backstop). The playing surface might include some cutout dirt areas around home plate or the bases. There are toilets or changing areas. The field might receive some few dedicated or part-dedicated limited sport-specific maintenance. facilities for baseball and softball Level 3 The field has specific features (permanent mound and developed backstop), a protected are often located in hard-to- seating area or basic dugout for players; the field enclosed by, at least, a temporary outfield fence. There is a clubhouse or structure with toilets and changing areas. The reach corners of fields, occupying field includes dirt cutouts around home plate and the bases. Maintenance is regular with otherwise unused space, while moderate knowledge and application of sport-specific maintenance. ground layouts invariably favour Level 4 The field is sports specific only with all the regular features (dirt cutouts, mound, backstop, dugouts, bullpen mounds etc.). The fencing enclosing the field is either mainstream sports. permanent or semi-permanent. The playing surface has either a skinned infield or dirt cutouts. There is a clubhouse with toilets, changing areas, possibly a bar. The field has protective screens and possibly spectator seating. The field receives regular sport- The upshot is that a Facilities specific maintenance Strategy for baseball and softball Level 5 The field is a complete facility including: scoreboard, a quality playing surface, perhaps is starting from a different point field lighting, professional maintenance, batting cages, protective screens, permanent fencing, perhaps seating to a capacity of 1,500 people, infrastructure for catering to than most other sports – sports spectators, ticketing facilities, a team clubhouse with full facilities in the stadium, a that would normally begin by permanent P.A. System. assessing the quality and quantity of current provision and then take a strategic approach to enhancement and new development.

The average length of a baseball or softball club lease is 1.5 years compared to a sports' average of 20.3 years. - Sport + Recreation Alliance Sports Club Survey 2009

What players say... Baseball and softball's facility stock is clearly sub-par and in all but a “A grant from Sport few rare instances is temporary or makeshift. This Strategy England is essential for the therefore aims to be the foundation stone for a strong future of formation of a baseball facility development, introducing the sports into the consciousness club for both juniors and of facility providers and ensuring that there is a growing seniors as the initial understanding of what makes a baseball and softball facility fit for equipment and field preparation costs will be purpose. This Strategy will have been successful if, in 2017, the quite high.” sports are seen to be more important in the UK sporting landscape and provided for as such.

Baseball and softball have not long been fully engaged with funding opportunities on offer through the sports delivery system, and the 2009-13 Whole Sport Plan cycle marks the first formalised access to capital funding for our sports.

1BSUK Annual Club Data Audit April 2010. 11

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 The capital funding now on offer for facility development will be supported and underpinned by a combination of voluntary investment, revenue-funded programming, club ownership or influence and community buy-in. These elements are crucial to the success of facility planning and delivery for our sports.

What players say... What players say... “Unless you play a mainstream What players say... “We need better purpose-made “Facilities are still the sport like football or rugby, the facilities or funding help from major problem... we all local government and sports governing bodies to negotiate a really need help with this.” organisations and charities do permanent field of play with not want to know.” the local council.”

This Strategy now needs to determine starting points for the use of limited capital funding, in the context of restricted ownership opportunities, that can make the biggest possible impact on existing communities in the 2009-13 period and provide the most effective basis for future facility development in 2014-2017 and beyond.

What players say... “The biggest issue by far in British baseball is the fact there are no quality fields. Without proper playing surfaces it's extremely difficult to improve, as playing on pot- hole covered fields makes the ball move unpredictably. Considering all that is needed is a flat area of grass, a pitching mound, a backstop and some bases it's amazing we don't have a single quality field.”

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Alignment to Strategic Outcomes – Grow, Sustain and Excel

Sport England's chief areas of focus – Grow, Sustain and Excel – feature in the development plan that covers baseball and softball, our Whole Sport Plan. The Plan identified several government-defined regions where the majority of development will take place, prioritising areas where there is an existing player base on which to build. These four regions – London, the South East, the North West and the Midlands – each have full-time development staff based in them, working primarily on the strategic outcomes set within the Whole Sport Plan.

Headline Outcomes The targets to be achieved by April 2013 within the Whole Sport Plan are:

NUMBER EXPLANATION 7000 The TOTAL increase in the number of adults playing the sports weekly. Of this total, 5,500 will come through new organisations and structures in Higher Education and Further Education and new adult leagues. The other 1,500 will come through growth in existing clubs and leagues. 1500 The increase in the number of youngsters playing the sports weekly in community programmes. 2.9 The point increase in participant Satisfaction, from a baseline of 77.1 to a target of 80.

In summary, the sports will grow by 7,000 Total more adults playing more regularly and by Higher Education # of Participants 2000 1,500 more youngsters, and those playing Total Number of Teams 136 will have a noticeably more satisfactory Further Education # of Participants 1500 experience. BSUK has converted these Total Number of Teams 122 targets into numbers of teams, Adult Leagues # of Participants 2000 Total Number of Teams 138 summarised in the table: Club Membership # of Participants 1500 Total Number of Teams 98 PESSYP # of Participants 1500 Total Number of Teams 110 PESSYP Volunteers Young Volunteer Course Attendees 900 Active Young Volunteers in clubs 200 5-19yrs Closely supported Young Volunteers 60 Clubmark Accredited Clubs 30 Welfare Officers 30 Volunteer Coordinators 30

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Strategic Interventions These targets will be delivered through a number of clearly defined and focused 'interventions' and projects. Prioritisation of these targets is shown below.

Intervention 1: Adult Growth

1 Higher Education

y W t

i Further Education O r o R i New Adult Leagues r G P Intervention 2: Club Services Club Membership Increase Club Development

N Intervention 3: Membership Services O I 2

T Facilities y C t i A r Coaching F o i S r I

P Events T

A Officials S Academy

3 Intervention 4: Children and Young People E

G y L N t P

i Youth Club Membership Increase r U O o i O

E Young Volunteers r Y P P Clubmark

Higher and Further Education What players say... Current facilities used for baseball and softball play in “Softball has given me great Higher or Further Education are basic – most university opportunities as a new player and the games are played on grass fields with no sport-specific coaching and dedication from coaches infrastructure around them. But the majority of new and volunteers is exceptional, but there isn't enough funding in the sport and it teams being set up in Higher or Further Education shows.” institutions will not require purpose-built facilities -- these new teams will mostly be intra-mural and therefore likely to be playing on existing grass sports fields. However, facility development advice, partnership building guidance and, in rare cases, financial support will be considered a priority for: • Established community softball leagues based at universities. • University baseball clubs with open membership from the community or if there is a local community need for facilities.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 New Adult Leagues New Adult Leagues will be established in our three major formats: fastpitch and slowpitch softball and baseball. Development advice, partnership building guidance and, sometimes, financial support will be offered as follows: • Slowpitch softball – leagues able to demonstrate security of tenure for at least five years will be eligible to apply for small facility grants from BSUK. • Baseball – club facilities requiring enhancement to accommodate local adult or youth play will be prioritised, eligible to apply for small facility grants from BSUK. • Fastpitch softball – specific plans are in place to develop an appropriate base for fastpitch softball league play in the South East of England. Additional support may be offered for clubs elsewhere within the normal criteria for club grants. Development advice, partnership support and guidance will be available to all developing New Adult Leagues.

Children and Young People A particular prioritisation will be given to clubs developing local Little Leagues or community-based youth leagues. There is a recognised need for the sports to offer more local opportunities, and facilities that allow this to happen will be encouraged. In addition to eligibility to apply for small facility grants from BSUK, there will be a particular focus on building youth facilities as part of the regional club centres referenced in the Action Plan. Priority will be given to clubs with: • Strong links to schools. • Clubmark accreditation. • Plans to run a local young people's league.

Club-Focused Prioritisation In addition to regional prioritisation, a clear commitment has been made to work with clubs (mainly baseball) and leagues (mainly slowpitch softball) throughout the country. A Point Person from BSUK's development staff has been assigned to work regularly and closely with each club and league to help them deliver their development aspirations. This work is an important supplement to our regional focus and means that there is a country-wide reach to our development plans.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 This work ties in closely with our key Strategic Outcomes – Grow and Sustain. Projected increases of 1,500 in adult participation and 1,500 in youth participation will take place in clubs and leagues across the country.

Clubs and leagues, as outlined in the Satisfaction Survey (SQSE), have identified a clear gap in the provision of appropriate facilities. Therefore, developing facilities used by clubs and leagues across the country should play an important role in the achievement of strategic targets as well as marking a step change in grassroots provision for our sports. Prioritisation will go to organisations that have: • Clubmark. • A youth programme. • Plans for localised competitive play. • Established links to the community, schools, County Sports Partnerships and the Local Authority. • A strong membership base.

What players say... “Not enough is provided in terms of facilities, funding and general support for new upcoming clubs like ourselves, and especially for those clubs without junior teams it is very hard to get any financial support.” - Club contact, Berkshire, SQSE 2010

What players say... Following a BSUK Facilities Grant: “The opportunity to develop our youth section and improve club facilities has been fantastic and will help to keep the club going for many years to come. Baseball is very family-friendly and a great way to socialise!!”

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Local Facilities – the Impact of Growth Regional growth will create a demand for more and better local facilities. As more and more people play the sports through different structures and at different times, the need for increased access to facilities and for better facilities will grow. However, the majority of facilities needed will be at Levels 1 or 2, as about 70% of the projected growth in adult participation will be in slowpitch softball, initially requiring minimum-standard park / field facilities.

Facilities as a Catalyst for Participation Growth in Clubs

Improving facilities will be an important hook for driving participation growth. Many baseball clubs and softball leagues have the capacity to grow, but haven't chosen or had the impetus to do so. Undertaking a What players say... facility development project will highlight to them the need to involve more people in their club activities and “No dedicated softball diamonds are to build stronger community links. In order to have a new or improved facility, they will need to be able to slowing the increase in participants in the sport. We have to compete with other demonstrate that the new facility will be: sports for playing area.”

• Used regularly, ideally most evenings, all weekends and some weekdays. • Used by a wide range of people – adults, young people, beginners, experienced players. • Available for use by schools and other local organisations.

Our recent focus on facility development has already become a catalyst for club participation growth. In Bristol, plans are in place to introduce a new adult baseball league with teams from a Further Education College and at least one university. This project was made possible through the club's facility development aspirations and a realisation that there would be limited funding available to a smaller group of club members. Similarly, Herts Baseball Club has undertaken a substantial amount of facility development over the past three years, enabled by a strong development approach. They are setting the example for other clubs by implementing a development plan that reaches into local schools to recruit to their local Little League, a youth development programme for older children and a successful adult recruitment programme, well connected to the local community.

In implementing the larger projects referenced later in this document, BSUK will ensure that strong local and community participation programmes are established. This will extend the reach of our sports into the local community, to educational institutions and more widely to companies and the public sector. This approach, along with the focus on participation growth promoted through club / league grants, will mean that facility development for our two sports is intrinsically linked to growth in participation for adults and young people.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Facilities as a Catalyst for the Growth of New Teams

With the exception of a small number of baseball and fastpitch softball facilities, the facilities that will need to be provided will be to a Level 1 or 2 standard. This means that each facility projected in the table should cost between £200 and £5,000 to establish. As the majority of these facilities will be set up for slowpitch softball and the minimum requirement will be line-marking on a grass field, it is expected that expected that the majority of set-up costs will be related to marking out a multi-sport field and therefore be borne by the facility provider as part of the hire of the facility. Any further developments to these facilities can be achieved through fundraising or through small grants from BSUK, Sport England, Local Authorities or other facility providers.

The current climate of spending cuts applied within Local Authorities will mean that there is a limited amount of available financial support for sporting facilities. Local Authority support might more often mean offering long term leases, or transferring of the facility asset to local user groups. This is an opportunity for baseball and softball to improve the access to and security of tenure of facilities.

The table below shows the number of new facilities needed to deliver BSUK's growth objectives in the 2009-13 period.

2013 New Baseball New Softball Total New Baseline Adult Growth Target Facilities Facilities Facilities London Higher Education 0 40 2 8 10 Further Education 0 30 0 10 10 New Adult Leagues 0 40 0 5 5 Club Development 243 273 0 5 5 Total 243 383 2 28 30 South East Higher Education 3 43 5 5 10 Further Education 0 30 0 10 10 New Adult Leagues 0 40 0 10 10 Club Development 69 99 2 5 7 Total 72 212 7 30 37 Midlands Higher Education 2 32 4 6 10 Further Education 0 36 2 10 12 New Adult Leagues 0 18 0 5 5 Club Development 19 31 5 2 7 Total 21 117 11 23 34 North West Higher Education 0 18 2 4 6 Further Education 0 18 0 6 6 New Adult Leagues 0 24 0 8 8 Club Development 32 46 1 4 5 Total 32 106 3 22 25 Out of Region Higher Education 1 9 4 2 6 Further Education 0 8 1 3 4 New Adult Leagues 0 0 0 2 2 Club Development 124 136 2 2 4 Total 125 153 7 9 16

Grand Totals 493 971 30 112 142

18 Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 The Need for Local Facilities Baseball and softball are sports that can be played on grass fields with limited additional infrastructure. The most popular format of the sports is slowpitch softball, which has developed to its current size playing on grass fields with line marking as the only sport-specific element. For baseball and fastpitch softball, due to pitching speeds, additional backstop fencing is essential for the quality of play and safety of those around the field. 2

However, research conducted as part of the creation What one club president said... of this strategy has indicated that playing the sports “Suddenly, the school where our field is, has on facilities that do not have some basic sport- decided they don't want us there. We face specific provision is unsatisfactory. It compromises not having a home for our club, just weeks the playing experience3 and creates an image before the season starts.” problem for the sports, which are then only perceived as park sports. While recognising that there is a strong and valuable park-based aspect to baseball and softball play, there is also a demonstrable need for appropriate facility improvements to be made for those who undertake the sports more competitively. Respondents to surveys and open consultations have expressed a belief that better

What a League Head said... facilities, even if only used by some, will improve “Our league of 26 teams doesn't have a lease opportunities for play and improve what the sports with the college we play at. We pay £16,000 a can offer further up the player pathway, as well as year for the facility. This is equivalent to the having a positive effect on growth. fees for one pupil to the college. We don't 4 know if we'll be allowed back next year. Our With the exception of central London , where league would fold if we weren't.” there are waiting lists for teams to play in Regents Park, there are a sufficient number of facilities to accommodate current club and league requirements. There are also enough grass field sites available to accommodate projected growth, since baseball and softball are played predominantly in the summer, when fields are less used. The need, therefore, isn't for more access, but rather for better facilities and for improved security of tenure. Of the facilities surveyed in the Facilities Audit, only eight had sport-specific elements provided as part of their lease arrangement. In the majority of cases, clubs or leagues have been responsible for finding ways to pay for essential sport-specific developments. According to the Sport + Recreation Alliance's Sports Club Survey, the average length of lease for our clubs is 1.5 years compared to a sports average of 20.5 years. This reflects the extent to which clubs and leagues are exposed to unnecessary risk in a changing environment.

What the players say... “I don't understand why we don't have a backstop – it's like turning up to play tennis on a municipal court and not having a perimeter fence!”

2The rules of the sport require facilities where baseball and fastpitch softball are played to have a minimum standard of sport-specific provision, specifically related to fences and including a backstop fence. In baseball, a pitching mound is required for all ages above 12 years old. 3As evidenced in the Satisfaction in Sporting Experience Quota (SQSE) survey conducted annually by Sport England 4 See reference below in Appendix D - Softball Facilities in London . 19 Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Some of the main facility requirements identified by clubs are shown in the table below:

Detail Evidence

Access Although access to facilities per se is not a common problem for clubs / leagues across the country, many Extending access to suitable, sport-specific facilities experience issues with appropriate times of use or with appropriate small-ball surfaces, maintained either prioritisation against other sports and other uses. by facility providers or club volunteers.

Security of tenure Over 80% of play currently takes place on LA-owned facilities, without long-term security in place. Extending security of tenure of clubs / leagues in order Around 88% of clubs / leagues either hire or lease to provide longevity and continuity of facility provision. their facilities and the average length of lease is There should be a clear focus on increasing the number 18.8yrs below the average for sports as a whole. This of clubs / leagues with five-year-plus lease or renders clubs / leagues vulnerable to unexpected community use agreements in place. changes in provision. Lack of security of tenure also limits the possibility of sport-specific surface and infrastructure developments.

Surface Development There is a clearly stated need for an improvement in the quality of playing surfaces to make them more Raising awareness of the importance of dedicated appropriate for small-ball sports. Just 11% of small-ball playing surfaces among LAs and facility baseball club members and less than one-third of providers. slowpitch club members are satisfied with their current playing surface. This is a satisfaction issue as well as an issue of safety and quality of play.

Sporting Infrastructure Playing on a purpose-built or part purpose-built facility is important for the satisfaction of users, Improving backstop, dugout, fencing and bleacher safety, enhancement of community involvement provision at baseball and softball venues is important. and the credibility of activities taking place. One aim of this Strategy is to increase by one level the average rating of baseball and softball facilities by 2013. This will be driven by a wide range of support for the development of facility infrastructure specific to baseball and softball.

Indoor Provision Indoor softball in London has used six indoor venues in the past decade. With the exception of the Particularly in London, the North West and the South current venue – Play on Sports, an indoor cricket, East (specifically in the Thames Valley) there are vibrant netball and five-a-side football centre in Canary indoor softball leagues requiring specific indoor Wharf – many operators have terminated the use of provision through the winter. Support in developing the venue due to unconventional wear-and-tear or long-term relationships with appropriate facility damage. Despite a considerable financial case and providers will help to maintain and enhance year-round easy modifications to the venues to protect from playing opportunities. accidental damage, there is a perception that indoor In addition, indoor training options are required by The softball is not appropriate for traditionally built Academy, which runs over the winter months, and by multi-sport halls. elite programmes at all age levels in both sports. Access for elite training through the winter months remains the single biggest issue. While there are numerous venues and centres willing to host, the cost of entire weekend use and the implications this might have on public use are critical obstacles.

What players say... “The coaches do very well in making the most of the facilities that we have but compared to some other sports the funding for facilities is poor.”

20 Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 What, Where, How and When: 2011-2017

Following the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review conducted by the government in October 2010, BSUK will have access, as part of its 2009-2013 Whole Sport Plan funding from Sport England, to an allocation of £290,000 to spend towards the creation or enhancement of playing facilities for baseball and softball in England.

This amount is meant to be match-funded through public and private sources so that something in the region of £600,000 is available for this purpose.

A small portion of the grant – £25,000 – has already been match-funded and spent in 2009-2010 on five projects around the country under BSUK's Small Facility Grants scheme and the response to these small developments in terms of player interest and satisfaction has been encouraging (see Pages 8-9 above). The bulk of the available funding is to be spent during the period 2011-2013.

BSUK has carried out consultations with members of the baseball and softball communities and worked extensively with Sport England and outside consultants to create this seven-year Facilities Strategy that will inform and support decisions about how the initial capital grant should be spent.

The proposal is to develop facilities in 2011-2013 that will start to address the needs of baseball and slowpitch and fastpitch softball across the spectrum of participation from recreational to elite play and create a basis for further facility development in the 2014-2017 Whole Sport Plan cycle should more capital funding be available.

Although some of the proposed developments can be shared across our sports, the organisational principle behind the proposal is to delineate the benefits that the projects, taken together, can bring to baseball, slowpitch softball and fastpitch softball, allied to a determination that each of those communities will benefit from this first round of facility expenditure.

Following this first group of projects, proposals for further facility developments in the period 2014- 2017 are set out in the hope that sufficient capital funding will be made available in the next Whole Sport Plan cycle.

What players say... “The organisational aspect of softball is great but the facilities and access to facilities let it down. We need proper venues for training and games.”

What players say... “Unfortunately, baseball is such an underdeveloped sport in the UK as compared to other countries in Europe and America that there's a lot of room from improvement, starting with facilities, lighting and national events. These basics can make huge improvements to growing the sport's appeal here in the UK.”

21 Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Baseball and Softball Priorities

In the process of establishing detailed priorities for facility development, extensive consultation with the sports' communities was carried out to identify key needs as seen by participants. Some of the key themes that emerged from these consultations are set out below:

General Priorities

Playing Surface Improvements As “small ball” sports, baseball and softball are most enjoyable and safe when played on good quality and sport-specific surfaces. As such, there should be a focus on improving the quality of playing surfaces at facilities and providing for appropriate maintenance.

Minimum Standards There is a need to establish acceptable minimum standards to determine the appropriateness or level of facility provision. These standards would relate to the size of fields, proximity of other fields, multiple field layout, standards of fencing and line-marking, quality of playing surface etc. The existence of such standards would (a) help to ensure or maintain a basic level of provision and (b) limit the possibility of unacceptable compromises being made for financial or practical reasons. However, the setting of standards needs to be balanced against the requirements created by the kind of rapid growth in slowpitch softball participation that BSUK's Whole Sport Plan targets envisage, where new participants will generally need to start out in public parks and on fields with a relatively small amount of dedicated provision. This balance is particularly important to ensure that raised standards do not impair growth potential.

Access and Availability of Quality Park Pitches for Hire Particularly in London, but also in other major urban areas, there is a need to build up access to quality facilities. In London there is a long waiting list of teams wanting to play whose participation is limited by issues of access and availability. In other cities, there is also a need for easy-to-reach and accessible park facilities, close to work places during summer months.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Dugouts • Unlike other sports, a great deal of game activity (strategy and tactics etc) takes place in the dugout. • Health and safety considerations, particularly for children, support the need for dugouts (either temporary or permanent). • The possibility of building on-site storage into dugouts should be explored. • The safety and security of dugouts is more of an issue in the UK than in some other countries. Dugouts will need to be secured from the general public.

Bleachers In both baseball and softball, there is a strong tradition of community involvement in the activity taking place on the field. In most countries, but particularly in North America and Japan and increasingly in Europe, facilities are generally provided to seat spectators. This bleacher seating is seen as an important means of engaging friends, family and the community in club activities. Cricket has long made the case for the provision of ancillary facilities for spectators and the community, leading to the provision of cricket pavilions across the majority of cricket fields. Bleachers, along with catering and toilets, are as integral a part of the social fabric of baseball and softball as pavilions are for cricket. So some basic community spectator seating – specifically bleachers – is needed to provide a welcoming and suitable place for the community to participate in our sports as spectators and fans.

Specific Priorities

Due to the sparse provision of existing facilities for baseball and softball in the UK, it is possible to identify some specific projects as immediate priorities for the sports. These projects will form a base on which future facility strategies can build. These initial projects will include: • Building high-quality club-based baseball facilities – one in the North West and one in London / South East. • Building a high-quality dedicated fastpitch facility in or near South West London. • Enhancing slowpitch softball tournament facilities around the country with permanent and temporary provision. • Supporting local facility enhancement through an extended Small Grants scheme. • Identifying and improving provision of appropriate indoor facilities. • Providing technical specifications and guidance to support the development of facilities at all levels across the country.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Approach and Practice

Combining Facilities Where possible, the above priorities should be delivered by combining facilities and provision. For example, the baseball centre in the South could also be a national training venue, a softball tournament venue and the club venue for fastpitch softball. Equally, where clubs or leagues applying for facility grants can offer a solution that provides the possibility of combined facilities, their applications should be regarded as a priority. This approach will allow for substantial cost efficiencies and reduce the burden of implementing multiple projects.

Match Funding BSUK will need to raise at least £290,000 in match funding as part of the requirements attached to the capital investment from Sport England. This will be raised through club and league grants, an application to the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, Local Authority contributions (predominantly through Section 106 investment) and partnership funding from other national and international organisations.

Means and Resources In order to deliver this Facilities Strategy, BSUK will use: • Capital investment from Sport England - £290,000, match-funded to in excess of £580,000. • A collaboration with Milton Keynes Council to deliver approximately £300,000 worth of facilities through a Section 106 grant. • Access to Iconic Venues and Inspirational Facilities Programmes being run by Sport England as part of their Olympic Legacy programme “Places, People, Play”. • Local low-value non-capital grants through Small Grants schemes run across the UK. • Revenue models and existing revenue streams to enhance and perpetuate facility development (working to ensure that existing revenue leaving the sport is redirected to enhancement of facilities).

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Revenue – Keeping It In The Sports BSUK will work with the baseball and softball communities to identify current areas where money 'leaves' the sports (i.e. when money is paid to other organisations with no comparable return) and will work to find ways of ensuring: a) A greater and more appropriate return for investment. b) Means for redirecting the investment to facilities and projects that benefit baseball and softball.

Club and League Grants BSUK will run a Facilities Grant scheme where funds allow. This scheme is confirmed to run in 2011/12 and 2012/13, with future years depending on resources. The scheme will be open to all clubs and leagues affiliated to the British Baseball and Softball Federations and may be offered more widely to educational institutions, community groups and similar organisations. An application process will be established and run alongside solicited bids, where BSUK will work closely with clubs or leagues when a specific need or priority is identified. All projects funded under this scheme will need to be completed and funds spent by 31 March of that year and therefore applications will generally be required to be submitted the previous April / May. Organisations looking to apply will need match funding, security of tenure (five-year community use agreements to 25-year leases, depending on the size of grant applied for) and it would be advantageous to have planning permission already in place if necessary.

Maximising Use and Revenue All efforts will be made to maximise use of facilities and combining facilities, as argued above, provides an opportunity to do so. Fields can be built that allow for adult and youth slowpitch softball, adult and youth fastpitch softball and Under-13 baseball. Where these can be placed alongside adult baseball facilities, usage of the site will be substantially increased. In addition, the investment will be of benefit to the full baseball and softball community and open up considerable additional community development opportunities such as local leagues play on site, school tournaments etc.

Local Authorities and Asset Transfer Local Authorities, who are the main providers of sports facilities to baseball and softball5, have suffered significant cuts in funding following the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review. These spending cuts, which extend across most publicly-funded areas, have left the Local Authority, health, education and many other sectors preparing to transfer assets to community groups or other parties, along with the liability and cost of maintaining facilities. BSUK will promote this as an opportunity for our sports to secure tenure at facilities that will continue to be used and developed for many years. This will be supported in close partnership with Sport England and County Sports Partnerships. Due to the size and structure of baseball and softball organisations, in most cases Asset Transfer will necessitate close partnership work with other community groups and sports organisations.

5 According to the Sport + Recreation Alliance's Sports Club Survey, 2009.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Actions 2011-13

Club or League Facility Grants Action Reasoning By Date Description: Promotion of sport- Primary Activities: specific use of Local Authority and • League and tournament play by baseball and softball. Throughout the period 2011-2013. private park facilities by baseball and softball through the provision of pitch Rationale: Most baseball clubs and slowpitch softball leagues are locally based and have long- marking, backstops, player seating and established arrangements for the use of community-based facilities, even though these may lack appropriate access; and support for the dedicated elements. In many cases, these clubs and leagues would gain no benefit from using improvement of sustainable local centralised facilities some distance away even if they were superior to local facilities, so the key to facilities through the provision of improving satisfaction is to introduce as many improvements to access, tenure arrangements and information, specifications and business playing areas as funding and facility providers will allow. plan models and participation in negotiations with facility and grant Evidence Elements: providers. • The localised nature of slowpitch league play, necessitated by weeknight games after work. Locations: BSUK will maintain a • The lack of opportunities for facility ownership and the difficulty, in many cases, of priorities list for the development of club obtaining long-term use arrangements. facilities. This will be publicly available • The need for stability in use arrangements before clubs can grow and teams can expand as a download on the BSUK website. to become clubs.

Main Beneficiaries: Baseball and both softball formats.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Club or League Actions

Detail Action

Access Support for securing Community Use Agreements and leases along with maintenance and Extending access to suitable, sport-specific facilities development undertakings or approval from facility with appropriate small-ball surfaces, maintained either providers. by facility providers or club volunteers.

Security of tenure Supporting clubs in taking on asset transfers and building and maintaining strong multi-sport Extending security of tenure of clubs / leagues to relationships centred around appropriate owned or provide longevity and continuity of facility provision. long-term leased facilities. There should be a clear focus on increasing the number of clubs / leagues with five-year-plus lease or Community Use Agreements in place.

Surface Development Providing technical guidance for playing surfaces and setting minimum standards. Working with the Raising awareness of the importance of dedicated sports industry to raise the standard of surfaces used small-ball playing surfaces among LAs and facility for small-ball sports. providers.

Sporting Infrastructure Developing technical guidance that can help to break down barriers to building baseball / softball- Improving backstop, dugout, fencing and bleacher specific infrastructure (for example, explaining what provision at baseball and softball venues is important. a backstop is by comparing it to tennis perimeter One aim of this Strategy is to increase by one level the fencing). average rating of baseball and softball facilities by 2013. This will be driven by a wide range of support for the development of facility infrastructure specific to baseball and softball.

Indoor Provision Developing strong relationships with facilities to allow for safe indoor play. Particularly in London, the North West and the South East (specifically in the Thames Valley) there are vibrant Developing technical advice and understanding to indoor softball leagues requiring specific indoor improve indoor training and game play provision. provision through the winter. Support in developing Identifying low-cost, available indoor facilities to long-term relationships with appropriate facility host The Academy and national team winter providers will help to maintain and enhance year-round training. playing opportunities. In addition, indoor training options are required by The Academy, which runs over the winter months, and by elite programmes at all age levels in both sports.

27 Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Baseball Centre Action Reasoning By Date Description: Development of club- Primary Activities: based baseball facilities: one dedicated • BBF regional and national youth and adult championship play. 31 March 2013 and one secondary diamond plus • Youth and adult invitational tournament play. appropriate ancillary facilities. • Youth and adult league play. • Regional and national Academy Baseball sessions*. Locations: Within the A1 (M), M1, M40, • Regional and national GB Youth and Senior Baseball training*. M4, M3 corridor within 75 miles of • Taster and beginner sessions. London. • Coaching and umpire courses. • Meetings and social activities. Main Beneficiary: Adult and youth • Note: Local softball use of these facilities might also be possible. baseball. * This facility may offer the best setting for Academy and elite training until purpose-built national training facilities are created in the 2014-2017 Whole Sport Plan cycle.

Rationale: Baseball has not had dedicated facilities for top-level domestic play since Pavilion Field at Brighton fell out of national use several years ago. The planned facility would be primarily for club use but would also be used for a range of regional and national activities, with the possibility of softball use.

Evidence Elements: • This corridor houses a number of adult and youth baseball clubs and leagues and is accessible by the majority of the playing community. • Transport links (road, air and rail) are good throughout and it is within easy reach of most parts of the country. • Current National Training Facilities at Upper Heyford, near Bicester in Oxfordshire, are closing in 2011 and may be able to relocate to a good club facility. • An iconic club facility would attract competition from across the country and this corridor will ease access. • Lack of suitable venues to host baseball tournament play, including national championships, without significant one-off expenditure. • Desire expressed in consultations for baseball to have a “home”.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Fastpitch Centre Action Reasoning By Date Description: Development of a Primary Activities: fastpitch softball centre with one • Fastpitch league play. 31 March 2012 dedicated and one secondary diamond • Regional and national Academy Softball sessions. plus appropriate ancillary facilities. • Regional and national GB Youth and Senior Softball training. • Small domestic or invitational international tournaments. Location: Within the A1 (M), M1, M40, • Taster and beginner sessions. M4, M3 corridor within 25 miles of • Courses. London. • Meetings and social activities.

Main Beneficiary: Fastpitch softball. Rationale: Fastpitch has never had a dedicated place to play. The format is currently concentrated in the South and one well-equipped facility could cater for most of its outdoor needs at this point in time.*

* This facility would offer the best setting for Academy and elite training until purpose-built national training facilities are created in the 2014-2017 Whole Sport Plan cycle.

Evidence Elements: • Concentration of fastpitch development and competition activity in the South, now and for the immediate future. • Specialist need for dedicated infield playing surface since so many British national and club teams play fastpitch abroad on such surfaces (far more than play baseball or slowpitch softball abroad). • Need to be able to host informal invitational international competitions in the UK to provide competition experience for British players without always having to travel abroad to obtain it.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Slowpitch Tournament Enhancements

Action Reasoning By Date Description: An extensive range of Primary Activities: small-to-medium-sized grants will be • Slowpitch softball tournament and league play. Throughout the period 2011-2013. provided to enable amenities such as • Taster and beginner sessions. backstops, temporary or semi- • Courses. permanent perimeter fencing, dugouts, • Meetings and social activities. seating, field and maintenance equipment, improved playing surfaces Rationale: Facilities where slowpitch tournaments and league games are held are well etc to be added to existing slowpitch established and widely distributed around the country, serving local and regional as well as softball league and tournament facilities national needs, and there would be little incentive for use of a centralised tournament facility maintained by Local Authorities or even if there was the opportunity to create one large enough. Instead, it makes more sense to private sports clubs. enhance the most important existing facilities to make them as dedicated for softball as possible, for the benefit of existing users and to attract new participants to the sport in a wide range of Locations: BSUK will maintain a locations. priorities list for the development of tournament facilities. This will be Evidence Elements: publicly available as a download on the • The established nature of existing slowpitch league and tournament venues, often tied BSUK website. to revenue streams for leagues. • The localised nature of slowpitch play (leagues within cities rather than teams within Main Beneficiary: Slowpitch softball. cities, as in baseball). • Difficulty of providing a high-quality centralised slowpitch tournament venue with sufficient pitches due to financial and land constraints, and low level of interest in such a venue. • Established practice of travel to weekend slowpitch tournaments, each with unique characteristics (facilities, formats, social enhancements etc). • As local facilities become more dedicated to softball and more recognisable as softball venues within local communities, recruitment possibilities will be enhanced.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Indoor Facilities

Action Reasoning By Date Description: Provision of appropriate Primary Activities: indoor facilities at affordable cost to • Indoor league competition. Throughout the period 2011-2013. support the needs of the sports – • Academy and national team winter training. particularly Youth Academy and elite • Coach and umpire courses. programmes – through the winter closed season. Rationale: Baseball and softball competition, training and courses cannot be conducted outdoors during the winter months, but the ability to carry out these activities during the closed Locations: BSUK will maintain a season is vital at many levels for both sports. priorities list for the development of indoor facilities. This will be publicly Evidence Elements: available as a download on the BSUK • More and more slowpitch leagues are running indoor competitions over the winter based website. on player demand and for revenue and recruitment purposes. • Baseball and Softball Youth Academy programmes are by definition closed-season Main Beneficiaries: Slowpitch softball programmes, since the majority of participants are engaged in domestic and leagues with winter competitions, youth international competition during the outdoor playing season. baseball and fastpitch softball • Serious national team programmes (our senior national teams are highly ranked in Academies, baseball and softball senior European and world standings in all formats) require year-round training programmes. and youth national team programmes. But as our elite programmes receive no public funding, winter indoor training facilities must be affordable – ie, available at considerably below sports hall market rates. • Most courses (coaching and umpiring) are run during the closed season and often need to be run indoors for both classroom and field elements.

Note on Approach: There is insufficient resource currently expected to consider a bespoke indoor facility for national training. Such training will therefore need to be delivered through an appropriate partnership with a provider offering priority and low-cost access to indoor facilities. There will also need to be some form of outdoor grass space nearby.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 National Training Centre

Action Reasoning By Date Description: To conduct a feasibility For over a decade, the National Sports Training Centre Heyford Ltd (NSTCH Ltd) served as a By September 2011. study for relocation from the current home for the development of talented and skilled players baseball and softball as well as other National Training Centre facilities for sports. It was originally set up as a collaboration between six then-Olympic sports, closely baseball and softball at Upper Heyford, supported by the British Olympic Association. On-site facilities included baseball and softball in conjunction with Sport England. fields and a sports centre with an American-style sports hall. The facility had proved to be particularly useful for the training and development of players over the winter off-season. Locations: Currently Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, but a new location needs to Upper Heyford was a valuable, cost effective and accessible site for its user sports for many years. be found. However, due to uncertainty surrounding the ultimate fate of the facilities, they were allowed by their owners (a consortium of house-building companies hoping to develop new housing on the Main Beneficiaries: The Academy, base) to deteriorate year-on-year due to lack of maintenance and investment. By 2010, because national teams. of the conditions, the only remaining sports using the site for talent development were baseball and softball. And in April 2011, the decision was taken by baseball and softball to end their use of the site as it was no longer safe or fit for purpose.

So a feasibility study will now explore alternatives to Upper Heyford for baseball and softball Academy and elite training activities, particularly during the off-season when such activities generally need to be indoors. The requirements will be:

• Accessibility: A national training centre site needs to be available to baseball and softball on 50% to 75% of weekends from October through March or April. • Cost Effectiveness: Baseball and softball teams receive no public funding and limited funding for Academies is available through BSUK's Whole Sport Plan. So facilities need to be found that the sports can afford without excessive costs to participants. • Outdoor Space: Ideally, indoor facilities would have associated outdoor grass fields nearby, if not dedicated or semi-dedicated baseball and/or softball fields.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Actions 2011-17 Technical Guidance

Action Reasoning By Date Support provision in the following areas: These documents will arm the volunteer workforce with guidance and evidence that can be used • Components List. in the development of facilities and in making cases to facility providers for improvements to First draft of guidance • Suppliers. facility provision. documentation should be • Providers' Guidance. completed by end May 2011 and • Maintenance Guidance. The Facilities Delivery Group will be responsible for overseeing BSUK staff input into this area. reviewed continually through the • Minimum Standards. period to March 2013 and beyond. • Financial Modelling. • Business cases for our sports.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Actions 2014-17 National Training Centre Action Reasoning By Date Description: One or more centres with Primary Activities: Completion by: 2015. facilities appropriate for top level training • National team training. by baseball and softball senior and junior • National Youth Academy training. national team and Academy programmes. • Sports science applications. The ideal would be one centre with a • High-level coaching courses. dedicated international-standard diamond • Small invitational international competitions. for each format with shared ancillary • Use by local clubs. facilities including multi-purpose service areas or structures (storage, changing Rationale: Our national teams at all age levels, particularly in baseball and fastpitch softball, are at a rooms and toilets, catering etc) plus indoor significant disadvantage when they travel abroad to official international competitions because they spaces for meetings and offices and a play on dedicated surfaces that are different in kind to anything we have in this country. Basically, our footprint for further auxiliary teams train on grass and play abroad on properly-constructed dirt composite fields, and there is an infrastructure, including spectator seating adjustment to be made that often costs us runs and sometimes games. So our teams need to be able to and floodlighting. Associated indoor train on comparable facilities, dedicated to our sports and prioritised for national team and Academy training facilities, purpose-built and similar use. There are economies of scale in having national training facilities for baseball and both softball to low-cost facilities at Dutch formats in one place, and other benefits in terms of shared sport science capabilities and networking baseball/softball clubs, would be a huge among players and coaches. bonus. Evidence Elements: Locations: Within the A1 (M), M1, M40, See “Rationale” above. Our national team programmes in baseball and in fastpitch and slowpitch M4, M3 corridor within 75 miles of London. softball have achieved amazing results considering the lack of funding and other resources, but these levels will be difficult to maintain. As there is no prospect of future funding from UK Sport for any of our national team programmes since baseball and softball are no longer Olympic sports, one way to provide Main Beneficiaries: Elite/national team our programmes with both support and visibility would be to create an appropriate national training and Academy programmes in both sports. centre or centres for them with capital funding that might be available to us in 2014-2017.

Action Reasoning By Date Description: Development of club- Primary Activities: based baseball facilities, with one • BBF regional and national youth and adult championship play. By 31 March 2017. dedicated and one secondary diamond • Youth and adult invitational tournament play. plus appropriate ancillary facilities. • Youth and adult league play. • Regional and national Academy Baseball sessions*. Locations: 20 mile radius around • Regional and national GB Youth and Senior Baseball training*. Manchester or Manchester to Liverpool • Taster and beginner sessions. (M62, M58, M56) corridor. • Coaching and umpire courses. • Meetings and social activities. Main Beneficiary: Adult and youth • Note: Local softball use of these facilities might also be possible. baseball. * This facility may offer the best setting for Academy and elite training until purpose-built national training facilities are created in the 2014-2017 Whole Sport Plan cycle.

Evidence Elements: • This corridor houses a number of adult and youth baseball clubs and leagues and is accessible by the majority of the playing community. • Transport links (road, air and rail) are good throughout and it is within easy reach of most parts of the country. • An iconic club facility would attract competition from across the country and this corridor will ease access. • Lack of suitable venues to host baseball tournament play, including national championships, without significant one-off expenditure. • Desire expressed in consultations for baseball to have a northern “home”.

Action Reasoning By Date Description: One or more facilities Main Beneficiaries: Baseball and softball national teams at all age levels, Youth Academy Completion by: 2016 or 2017. capable of hosting official (European or programmes, the British Baseball and Softball Federations, European Baseball and Softball World Federation) international baseball Federations. and softball competitions in the UK. This would require (for each sport or format, Primary Activities: but with the possibility of some overlap) • Official and invitational international competitions. two international standard fully- • National team training. dedicated diamonds and appropriate • National Youth Academy training. ancillary facilities including changing • Sports science applications. rooms, showers, toilets, catering/social • High-level coaching courses. facilities, electronic scoreboards and PA, • Use by local clubs. some spectator seating, car parking and ideally floodlighting. Rationale: At this point in time, the British Baseball and Softball Federations do not have the facilities to host official international competitions in this country, except by creating just-about- * These facilities could be created by suitable temporary facilities at large cost. This is what the British Softball Federation did in 2008 enhancement of the national elite training to host the European Slowpitch Championships at the University of Southampton. But the last facilities described in the section above. official European baseball competition held in this country was a B Pool tournament in 1996 and there has never been an official European fastpitch competition in the UK. Britain is regarded as Location: Where opportunity allows, one of the top five countries in Europe in both sports in terms of participant numbers, but ideally central within England. international results and general prestige and “clout”, but the other top countries all have many excellent dedicated facilities and host the bulk of European competitions. We host (essentially) none. Not only does this mean that our national teams are always travelling abroad to compete (at considerable cost), but our inability to host important tournaments is a barrier to gaining increased public awareness and media attention for our sports, which in turn reduces opportunities for media exposure, sponsorship and other funding.

Activity was undertaken to review and qualify the approach contained within this Facilities Strategy over the course of 2010, as follows: • A Focus Group was convened to help test assumptions and ideas and to build up understanding of the issues faced across baseball and softball, from grass roots level through to elite squads. • Open Consultation sessions were held across the country, taking proposals to clubs and leagues for discussion. • An audit of our existing facilities stock was conducted. • The Satisfaction Quota of Sporting Experience (SQSE) survey, conducted by Ipsos-MORI on behalf of Sport England, has also been interpreted to understand more fully the impact of facilities on the playing experience. • The Final Draft Facilities Strategy has been taken through a consultation exercise with members and stakeholders (see Stakeholders above).

Want to know more...? Further information about the summaries contained in this section can be obtained in the Downloads section of the BSUK website or by contacting the BSUK office.

Tyler Yates Rainbow Raiders Softball Club We always suffer from space - we have 7 league teams and 2 development teams. It would be easier / nicer that as a club we could have one central site but this is not possible yet. Also as a Aspi Dimitrov, Herts Baseball Club large club we have a lot of kit and no where to We have a very good quality Pavilion store it. building at the site which is relatively new, but it has been maintained very badly, so As a club that encourages sport within a toilet facilities are not up to standard which minority sector we may not be covered by the proposal. Also as a large club in an discourages some Little League families. metropolitan area, the facilities are not BSUK appear to be Risk of vandalism has been reduced readily available and enable us to create a unique space adopting a systematic over the last few years, but it can be approach and procedure, reduced further by enclosing the so it appears that BSUK is venue completely. giving this important project a good deal of Our first diamond is quite far from our storage room. We may consider creating thought and time. Camilla Guereca, Manchester Junior Baseball dugouts with secure storage room as part It's absolutely right to develop facilities - of the dugout structure. working with young people and families - it Adding kitchen/catering facilities at gives something tangible and visible to focus the venue would open many development on. Seating, toilets, secure Peter Jones, Manchester Outlaws and opportunities for our club. grounds, (no dog walkers, vandalism etc) would Hough End Police Club make games more enjoyable. Facility Luis Pereira, Chalfont I welcome this work as softball is currently a development could support player recruitment Softball Club fairly invisible sport. Many members of my which will hopefully lead to a young person We currently play on a club are interested in playing / recruiting moving on to adult club / game. Facility would football pitch and an open more players only. Any profile on softball / also give a visible focus for recruitment in park with public acess to Nicholas Bustin, Halton Baseball Club baseball will benefit all aspects of the game. schools. The potential to access funding should dog walkers. This causes Bringing existing facilities up to the date enable more clubs and leagues to develop interuptions and health where good baseball is possible - on too and safety issues. many occasions, the greatest challenge is their facilities more readily. Mark Salter, Bracknell Baseball Club overcoming the playing surface. This is and British Baseball Federation particularly important at youth level - one President – This approach to Facility nasty bounce can undo months of fielding Harry Somers, Manchester Softball Development is forward thinking, coaching. League Head - The pitch strong, engaging and dynamic. development has certainly 38 contributed to the visibility of the Tablesport of Contents and to player satisfaction. © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Focus Group Key points raised from the Focus Group were: • Dugouts. Unlike other sports, there is a lot of game activity (strategy and team tactics etc) that takes place in the dugout. This should be articulated in our plans as a need for our sports. There are health and safety considerations to support the existence of dugouts (either temporary or permanent). Shelter from the elements could be regarded as a critical element for children's play in particular. The possibility of building on-site storage into dugouts should be explored. The safety and security of dugouts is more of an issue in the UK than in other countries and dugouts may need to be secured from the general public. • Bleachers. Similarly, the place of some basic community spectator seating – specifically bleachers – needed to be articulated in the Strategy. A crucial and integral element of the sports is their community nature and appeal. This is harnessed and improved by providing a welcoming and suitable place for the community to participate in the activity as spectators and fans. • Deficiencies versus Improvements. Deficiencies were seen to be areas that are critical to play (including surface quality) as opposed to non-essential improvements such as batting cages. Players from all three sports are accepting of sub-par facilities, but it is important to distinguish between essential and desirable improvements. • Minimum Standards. The group felt that there was a need to establish acceptable minimum standards that would govern the appropriateness of facilities provision, such as the size of fields, the proximity of other fields, layout, fencing, line-marking etc. This sort of definition would (a) help maintain a basic level of provision and (b) limit the possibility of compromises being agreed to for financial or practical reasons. However, it was also felt that there was a need to maintain the easy-to-set-up aspect of bases, lines and a grass field, particularly in light of the growth planned for slowpitch softball. • Investment Driven by Need. It was felt that the investment should answer the key needs of the sports. As such, if there was a need for fastpitch to have a dedicated facility in South West London, then the need should take precedence over building it as part of a wider project elsewhere. Similarly, if baseball and fastpitch needed club facilities and slowpitch needed some permanent infrastructure for tournaments, these should be driving considerations, rather than a single solution replicated over four venues. • Facility Needs Baseball ▪ There is a growing need for multiple baseball-field sites with quality surfaces, enclosed by fencing and permanently in place: places that are regarded as permanent homes for clubs and a permanent home for British Baseball. ▪ The pursuit of appropriate places to play the sport rather than compromised solutions (such as corners of fields that have limited access to non-sporting facilities). ▪ A training facility suitable for use by our talent pool.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 ◦ Slowpitch Softball ▪ Minimum standards are needed for tournaments. There are no permanent tournament facilities. All playing infrastructure currently needs to be provided, and thus is temporary in nature. This should be addressed. ▪ Minimum standards for park and club facilities. It's important to get the basics right – line marking, backstops, proximity to other fields etc. Fastpitch Softball ▪ There are virtually no fastpitch softball facilities in the UK apart from foreign schools and US Air Force bases. Due to the nature of the fastpitch community (small, developing) there is a need for facilities to be built for use by national teams and for international club competition and talent pool development as well as community play. ▪ Quality of Surfaces. As a small-ball sport, the surface quality is very important.

• Safety ◦ Surface is an important consideration in safety -- both on and off the field -- and it is often overlooked that the playing field is larger than just the areas between the foul lines. ◦ Other people's safety is also an important consideration, particularly because many of our games – both baseball and softball – are played in parks or public spaces. Making sure that other park users are aware of what could happen is important. ◦ The lack of warm-up areas may well lead to compromised safety. There should be dedicated warm-up areas and safety considerations when warming up should be propagated more thoroughly through the communities. ◦ The location of some facilities may ask people to compromise their feeling of personal safety (being in 'rough' areas). ◦ Close or overlapping pitches are a significant issue. Fencing can help to alleviate this problem. ◦ There should be rule enforcement and minimum standards of facility in place to ensure that safety isn't compromised.

• Quality of Non-Sports Facilities. The sports rarely (if ever) have the whole package – parking, changing, access to club house etc. Availability and access (as primary users) is the issue, rather than the quality of existing facilities. Non-sporting facilities are, however, particularly important in trying to encourage new players, and especially women and girls, into the sports. There are also safeguarding, vulnerable adults and health and safety considerations in providing appropriate non-sporting facilities. Often, the sports share non-sporting changing and shower facilities with rugby or 'messy' winter sports, which compromises the cleanliness of the facilities. On-site storage can also have a particularly positive effect on the organisation of events.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Audit and Mapping of Facility Stock Baseball and softball facilities in the UK are shown below in Purple. Other points are baseball and softball participants.

London Region South East Region

North West Region East Region Technical Elements of dedicated baseball and softball facilities

What are the unique physical elements required to create wholly-dedicated or semi-dedicated playing facilities for baseball and/or softball? Below are some technical specifications and images of example facilities. These are intended as a guide only and specific facility provision should be created according to the site, available resources, planning implications, need and use.

Club Baseball Facility Club / Park Softball Facility Estimated Cost: £100,000 Estimated Cost: £50,000 Backstop (height 40'), dirt infield, fully enclosed with fencing, dugouts, Backstop (height 30'), dirt infield, dugouts, bleachers. bleachers.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 International Standard Field Baseball and Softball Complex Estimated Cost: £500,000 Estimated Cost: £500,000 Seating Capacity: 300 Participation Capacity: 2,500 people per year Lights and auxiliary changing and practice facilities built-in. Multiple fields for adult and youth baseball and softball play (including show pitches for each sport), covered training centre, batting cages and bullpens (pitchers' warm-up areas).

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Appendices Appendix A - The Role of the Facilities Strategy

Baseball and softball, for the first time, will be recipients of Sport England capital funding allocations during the Whole Sport Plan funding period 2009-13 and will need to identify and develop a list of facilities projects to which the funding is to be distributed.

A Facilities Strategy provides the rationale for capital investment, both public and private, by articulating the role of facilities in the delivery of development targets and objectives and by demonstrating that a clear and robust assessment process for decisions is in place. This Strategy should provide the evidence base both to secure and evaluate the investment being made.

The Facilities Strategy should also be able to be used by Sport England and County Sports Partnerships to advocate for our sports' priorities and to lobby on our behalf at national, regional and local levels. This should include support for specific facility developments as well as lobbying for changes with regard to management practices, access issues and other factors that affect the ability of baseball and softball participants to play their sport in satisfactory conditions.

This Facilities Strategy will hopefully put baseball and softball in a strong position to influence planning for sports facilities at regional, sub-regional and local levels over the next eight years by setting out a rationale for facility locations and priorities, identifying key partners and outcomes and providing the basis for long-term sustainability in the facilities created or developed for our sports.

This, in turn, should help provide access to additional funding opportunities that can bring new or enhanced facilities into being.

BSUK's Development Strategy Committee, responsible for delivering the National Facilities Strategy within the organisation, is receiving support and guidance from a Facilities Steering Group made up of representatives from across the organisation. The role of the Steering Group is:

• Defining the scope of the Facilities Strategy. • Ensuring that the Strategy sits comfortably with the sports' strategic direction through the Whole Sport Plan. • Establishing a timetable for production of the Strategy, then monitoring and reviewing progress. • Providing information to assist with research or consultation where appropriate. • Resolving project issues, tensions or conflicts. • Monitoring risks, quality of data etc. • Formal acceptance/sign off of project deliverables.

The members of the Facilities Steering Group can also act as advocates for the Facilities Strategy within their own areas of the organisation, thus helping to embed a feeling of 'ownership' of the strategy across the sports. The Steering Group is made up of people from a number of backgrounds inside and outside the sports:

• The BSUK Board. • BSUK National or Regional Officers. • Experts from within the baseball and softball communities. • Federation Boards. • Facility provider representatives – e.g. Local Authorities. • Sport England Regional Facility Relationship Managers.

Different Steering Group members may take on or be assigned different roles through which to support the project.

46 Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 The BSUK Facilities Steering Group consist of the following people:

Name Role and Responsibilities John Boyd BSUK Head of Development and Joint CEO Lead officer on Facilities Strategy: • Chair the Facilities Steering Group. • Deliver, on time, against the commitments of the capital investment project. • Co-ordinate and oversee the strategic direction of the Facilities Project. • Monitor, evaluate and prioritise projects against strategic direction. • Maintain the rationale for the Facilities Strategy against Whole Sport Plan Grow and Sustain outcomes. Jenny BSUK Head of Operations and Joint CEO Fromer For information, to connect facility development to the Operations and finance aspects of the organisation. Paul BSUK National Club Development Manager Wilkinson • Support the Lead Officer in the delivery of the Strategy. • Lead on the Regional Centres, club involvement, volunteer engagement and community buy-in of the intervention. • Support the extension of the project to relevant parties (including funding pursuit, local support and multi-sport opportunities). • Act as Secretary for the Steering Group. Bob BSUK Communications Consultant Fromer • Support funding applications. • Represent the needs of the fastpitch and elite communities. • Support the Secretarial functions of the Facility Steering Group, including funding applications. Colin Independent Advisor Stone Background as an international consultant in multi-million pound commercial construction projects. Advise on project management and delivery planning. Represent the interests of: − The slowpitch softball community. − Elite slowpitch players. Jon Marsh Independent Advisor Background as a project manager for an international construction firm. Advise on project management and delivery planning. Support directly planning / imaging. Represent the interests of baseball clubs. Geoff Independent Advisor Webb Background with the LTA, specifically on developing facilities (indoor centres), and with the Football Foundation as Director of Facilities, responsible for the grass roots facilities scheme (£45m annual budget). Currently CEO of the Institute of Groundsmanship. Advise on: − Facilities Strategy creation and content. − Appropriate maintenance of facilities specific to small-ball sports. − Project management. − Delivery planning. Rosie Sport England Benson Sport England lead officer on facilities for baseball and softball.

As with any strategic plan, BSUK's Facilities Strategy should be an organic document that forms the basis of work programmes. In order to remain relevant over a period of time beyond the four-year Whole Sport Plan, the Strategy needs to be reviewed and updated regularly, making it clear what actions have been implemented, what are still outstanding etc, as well as reviewing whether the facility needs of the sports have changed or new opportunities have arisen.

There are two groups in place to oversee facility development. Separation between these two groups has been established in order to clearly delineate differences between strategic overview and the hands-on delivery of facility projects. However, it is worth noting that the groups are extremely closely related in terms of responsibility and purview, as well as membership. In many ways, they form two parts to an overview process that in many sports is conducted by one committee.

The Facilities Steering Group is responsible for overseeing, reviewing and defining the Facilities Strategy for baseball and softball and is tasked with the delivery of the strategy, guided by the Action Plan.

Periodic Updates

Periodic updates will be conducted twice a year, to include:

• Tick off actions from the Action Plan that have been completed. • Review projects that have been delivered and how they have impacted on strategic outcomes. • Review best practice of project delivery to share with future projects. • Review project delivery issues and risks. • Identify projects for the next 12 months of investment.

The timing of periodic updates will coincide with reporting cycles, financial planning cycles and those of key partners, and therefore will be best placed in March and September for reporting in April and October, conducted by the Facilities Delivery Group.

Annual Review

An annual review should be conducted by the Facilities Steering group to review the strategy, consider its impact and direction and to make recommendations about improvements.

This should be conducted by the Facilities Steering Group by the end of February each year.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Review Process Formal review is an important tool in delivering a strong and improving Facilities Strategy. Periodic Updates This will aid the Facilities Delivery Facilities Delivery Annually • Tick off actions from the Action Plan that Group's monitoring and evaluation Group. March and have been completed. of project delivery. September, • Review projects that have been delivered and for reporting how they have impacted on strategic in April and outcomes. October. • Review best practice of project delivery to share with future projects. • Review project delivery issues and risks. • Identify projects for the next 12 months of investment. Annual Review This is the first Facilities Strategy for Facilities Annual by Review the Strategy, considering the impact and baseball and softball and this review Steering Group. end of direction of projects and make recommendations will pick up on the need for emerging February. for improvements. improvements. Substantial Review Each four years, strategic focus can Facilities By December Conduct a full review of the Strategy to consider change quite dramatically in line Steering Group, 2012. its relation to strategic re-working likely to take with changes in government guided by place ahead of the next four-year planning cycle. priorities. Review at this stage will Development provide an opportunity to re-assess Strategy the provisions laid out in this plan. Committee's developing plans.

Substantial Review

A more substantial review of the Facilities Strategy should be carried out perhaps every four years as part of the funding review cycle. It should include considering:

• Fundamental changes to the sport’s facility needs – e.g. through changing trends in participation, new innovation in equipment, playing surfaces etc. • Changes to the national Sport England strategy which is being delivered and funded. • Changes to baseball and softball priorities for facility development. • New opportunities for facility provision that may have arisen. • Whether new facility providers are taking an interest in the sport -- for example, the commercial sector.

Even if the substantial review identifies no key changes, BaseballSoftballUK and its partners/stakeholders can be assured that it has an up-to-date, informed view on facility needs for its sports.

What players say... Demand Outweighing Supply “I think further work could be done on the quality of London presently contains over half the playing membership of baseball and softball. There (particularly) London based is a long waiting list of teams wanting but unable to use Regents Park during the summer venues. For the Greater London League, the quality of several months. A small sports area in Hyde Park, designated for informal sports games on a pitch- venues is very sub-par.” up-and-play basis, is home to a number of leagues, including the London Charities' Softball League (with 40+ teams and growing), the Hotel League, the Legal League, the Surveyors' League and many more. In Finsbury Park, two diamonds play host to twenty softball teams. On Clapham Common South Side, there is also a waiting list of clubs wishing to use the one diamond. There are a number of common comments about facility provision in London which are key elements of this Strategy:

• The facilities in London need improving to improve playing surfaces and to define and protect the playing area from other park users. • The number of parks offering 'for hire' softball diamonds to club teams needs to be increased, particularly those near tube stations and within easy access of the central business districts of London. Softball Fields in London` • Clapham Common and Central London and Royal parks need to be approached to make more pitches available on a more regular basis. • The provision of park facilities needs to be improved to ensure lines are properly and regularly marked and that some sport-specific backstop provision is made.

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Appendix E - Developing Facilities Partnerships within the UK Landscape

Stakeholders

In order to best leverage the financial support necessary to deliver this Facilities Strategy, stakeholders will need to be fully engaged and relationships with them will need to be closely nurtured. Stakeholders include:

STAKEHOLDER ROLE Clubs Clubs will play a vital role as stakeholders. They will, in most cases, control the lease of facilities, be the link to the facility users, be an active advocate for the development of facilities and, most importantly, be a vital key-holder for community involvement. Sport England The first substantial capital investment commitment made by Sport England to baseball and softball is contained in the 2009-13 Whole Sport Plan. During this second half of this period, a significant amount will be invested into the sports, unlocking over £600k worth of investment into facility stock. Major League Major League Baseball's Baseball Tomorrow Fund, a charity arm of the Baseball organisation and its Player Union, is a key partner. They will be asked to provide funding towards a baseball facility that will include a heavy focus on youth play. Local Authorities Local Authorities are the largest single source of funding for sport and (Leisure Services, recreation in the UK and the main provider of facilities and venues to sports, Planning providing over 80% of baseball or softball pitches currently used in this Departments) country. They are the single largest investor into facility development and improvement. The nature of our sports' needs means that a strong relationship with Local Authority Planning Departments will be important to the establishment of sport-specific facility elements such as backstops, dugouts and bleachers. Local Authorities are also the provider of a significant percentage of the groundskeepers and maintenance staff responsible for the quality of playing surfaces.

Following the Comprehensive Spending Review announcements in October 2010, local government will face the following cuts: • Government revenue funding to councils will reduce by 28% over the Spending Review period. However, local councils also receive funding from other government departments and from Council Tax. • When grants from other departments are included, the overall reduction in revenue grants will be 26%. • Currently, local government finances are set in two-year periods, so revenue grants may be reviewed in 2013/14. • Local Authorities will see forecast reductions of around 30% in overall capital expenditure, including reductions of around 45% in capital funding from government departments and an OBR forecast of a 17% reduction in self-financed capital expenditure.

This is likely to mean that local government will seek alternatives to managing and maintaining current sporting facilities in order to reduce overheads, specifically through arrangements with voluntary and community organisations. Local government will also become less likely to provide facility maintenance, grass cutting and line-marking.

51 Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 County Sports CSPs will play a vital role in the development of facilities, promoting and Partnerships advocating for this Strategy and identifying local opportunities for facility and (CSPs) participation development. They will be a local ally and source of information, facilitating and enabling relationships with Local Authorities and stakeholders across the county. In some cases, CSPs may also support grant funding applications and partner with work being done within the sports. Football The Football Foundation is the UK’s largest sports charity. Funded by the Foundation Premier League, The Football Association and the government, the Foundation directs £40m every year into grass roots sport. The Foundation receives money from the very top of the professional game and also from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport through Sport England. It then uses this money to leverage even more partnership funding to deliver a programme of new and improved community sports facilities in towns and cities across the country. The Foundation also funds projects that increase participation in football and other sports and that address some of society’s key challenges such as social inclusion, health, education and equality. Their mission is to improve facilities, create opportunities and build communities throughout England.

Additional partnership and project support will be sought from the Football Foundation within multi-sport projects. The Foundation has invested over £875m in facilities projects, with 54.5% of their funded facilities offering other sports. Institute of The Institute Of Groundsmanship is the body representing grounds staff of all Groundsmanship kinds, and it promotes the use of the profession to ensure quality surfaces for (IOG) and sport, leisure and recreation. Baseball and softball do not currently have a Grounds Staff wealth of in-country experience in building and maintaining quality facilities. As such, BSUK should plan to extend and solidify a partnership with the IOG to develop such schemes as: • Facilities Envoy – the placement of an expert in the UK for a number of months to work with amateur and professional grounds staff and to become involved in the practice-sharing aspects of the IOG's professional development work. • Baseball and Softball Head of Grounds – Voluntary Position – the recruitment and appointment of a Head of Grounds within the UK to lead on the development of quality facilities. This role can benefit from professional development opportunities on offer through Major League Baseball, Little League Baseball and Softball and the International and European Baseball and Softball Federations. • Advising on Technical Publications – working with the IOG to produce industry-relevant technical publications detailing appropriate specifications. National Governing The British Baseball and British Softball Federations will be the key Bodies beneficiaries of this Facilities Strategy. The Strategy has been created with the federations' direct involvement and final sign-off. Both will be important champions of the impact that facility development can have on the sports and they may contribute financially, albeit from limited means, to some of the developments proposed within the Strategy. Little League Technical and financial support has been offered by Little League Baseball and Baseball and Softball International, particularly in the establishment of appropriate high- Softball quality community youth facilities. International BSUK Regional BSUK regional staff will play an important role in building and strengthening Staff links between clubs and other stakeholders. They will be a resource for advice, support, partnership development, relationship building and good practice.

52 Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 The Education School and university facilities are often used by our sports, particularly Sector: schools, HE, slowpitch softball. Establishing strong reciprocal relationships with these types FE of facility providers will lead to improved facility provision across the sports. Particular focus should be placed on creating partnerships with both private and state-funded schools. Other Home This Strategy has relevance for all four home countries. Scotland, in particular, Countries has long-established baseball and softball organisations and there are pockets of play in Wales and Northern Ireland. Principles contained in the Strategy, particularly with reference to park facilities, are applicable in all four home countries. It is hoped that this strategy will influence projects across the UK. Building Schools for In July 2010, the Department for Education called a halt to the Building Schools the Future (BSF) for the Future programme. A total 706 schools already in the programme will be opened under new arrangements whilst 715 schools will no longer be rebuilt or refurbished through BSF. The halting of the Building Schools for the Future programme may result in the short term in significantly fewer opportunities for the development or improvement of new sporting facilities. However, the BSF programme contained lasting principles about community use and access that will continue to be employed for many years to come.

Barclays Spaces for This programme was launched in 2004 in the UK and has delivered 200 Sports community sports sites in partnership with two charities, the Football Foundation and Groundwork, an organisation committed to environmental regeneration. Barclays is also working with the Football Foundation to ensure the 200 UK sites become self-supporting with a sustainable future. This programme should be explored for partnership options.

PlaySport London The fund is an integral part of ‘A Sporting Future for London’, the Mayor’s plan Facilities which aims to get more people active in sport, strengthen sporting Investment infrastructure in the capital, build capacity and skills and strengthen delivery. Programme The plan sets out four key goals to get more people active, transform the - The Mayor's Fund sporting infrastructure, build capacity and skills and maximise the benefits of sport to our society. The PlaySport London Facilities Investment Programme is aimed at improving Londoners’ access to good quality affordable facilities. The programme offers grants of up to £250,000 to develop new, or refurbish existing, facilities across London. A total of six bidding rounds will be held across three years. The programme will offer two levels of grant – small grants up to £50,000 and large grants up to £250,000. The small grants are designed for small-to- medium size developments and upgrades of facilities. Examples include multi- use games areas (MUGA’s), refurbishment of indoor facilities and estate-based ball courts. Large grants are designed for medium-to-large size developments and the building of new sports facilities. Examples include multi-sport hubs and indoor facilities. The Mayor wants to ensure that Londoners benefit from a genuine grass roots sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympic Games and he set up the Playsport London Facilities Fund to invest in new and improved sports facilities. The Playsport London Facilities Fund is being managed by the Football Foundation on behalf of the Greater London Authority. There is a significant shortfall in the supply of sporting facilitates in London compared to demand. The city's sports halls are oversubscribed by more than 25% and artificial pitches by as much as 40%. By investing in local projects and increasing the capacity of these and other sports facilities, it is hoped that some of these imbalance can be addressed. This Fund may prove to be a useful source of London-based facility projects for baseball and softball.

53 Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Appendix F - Independent Facilities Inquiry Driven by a panel led by sports broadcaster John Inverdale and supported by a range of sporting and governmental organisations, the Independent Facilities Inquiry, which reported in May 2010, maintained that little or no new spending on sport and recreation facilities is required to sustain any significant increases in participation. The Inquiry members, after five months of evidence-taking, visits and deliberation, concluded that there are currently enough sport and recreation facilities in the UK, but many are either in too poor a condition to b e used or frustratingly sealed off to potential users. Specifically the panel recommends two priority actions: • Local authorities should not be afraid to ‘rationalise’ facilities where they are no longer fit for purpose or are located in the wrong place. • Schools should be forced to open their premises for out-of-hours usage. These recommendations could play a key role in delivering the participation targets set as part of the legacy from the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Commenting on the fact that many new school sport facilities are closed to the public even when demand to use them is there, John Inverdale said: "It’s madness that we are spending hundreds of millions on gleaming new sports facilities around the country which then lie vacant at weekends and evenings when community demand for them is the greatest. Schools already have the option to open them up – and some do – but they need to be compelled to improve access so that everyone has the chance to use them. "The public spending environment isn’t going to get any easier. There’s no point in sport shouting into the wind for more money. That’s just not realistic any more. This country has to be a bit smarter about how it spends money on sports facilities and how it uses them and that will go a long way to solving some of the problems we have now." It is the assumption that this approach can only apply to those sports where there is an already established stock of facilities within reach of the vast majority of people who wish to use them. This is not the case for baseball and softball. However, the principles of access and partnership with schools are very much of import to our sports, particularly in relation to our requirements for indoor facilities.

What players say... “We have very poor indoor training facilities – a leaking roof, warped floor, rats, cold.” - National Squad Baseball Player

Table of Contents © BaseballSoftballUK 2011 Facilities Strategy 2011-2017 Appendix G - Facilities Modelling In order to assist engagement with project stakeholders, particularly in capital building or major refurbishment projects, BSUK will develop a standard facility usage and revenue model. A robust, sustainable revenue plan will help to strengthen the case for attracting investment to facilities, particularly where capital investment may not be available from BaseballSoftballUK.

The modelling information will contain:

• The type and specification of facilities required for different types of clubs, competitions etc. • The amount of expected usage and likely revenue generation. • Projected running costs. • Access requirements and preferred management or staffing arrangements.

Templates will be produced to align with the sports development objectives of baseball and softball, providing the case for club venues, league sites, school fields and Regional and National Centres. The template will provide standard outlines of the following:

FACILITY DETAILS SIZE, EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENT LAYOUTS, SPECIFICATIONS, EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS ETC. Development plan • Indicative programme of use. • Outline of how the facility will be available to non-club users/other sports. • How the usage of the facility will contribute to development objectives. Management plan • Staffing structure required to operate the facility. • Facility operator (Local Authority, club, private sector etc). • Community Use Agreement requirements. • Management structure to oversee development and sustainability and ability to tie into existing management structures. • Maintenance requirements for the facility – playing surfaces, equipment, lighting etc. • Commitment to a replacement fund over a given period of time. Business plan Income projections (derived from the Development Plan) and expenditure projections (derived from the Management Plan) are brought together to demonstrate a viable, sustainable facility delivering on shared outcomes.

Facilities Strategy for Baseball and Softball 2011 – 2017 © BaseballSoftballUK Ltd Ariel House 74a Charlotte Street, London w1T 4QJ T: +44 (0) 20 7453 7055 www.baseballsoftballuk.com Hard copies, translations, Braille or copies for visually impaired available on request.