2023. 10.12

To all parents, house coaches, competitive coaches

Hello

Over the summer, I have received some clarification from several members of our Board of their intentions going forward to the 2024 season. Specifically, this centers around the lack of new volunteers coming forward to take over from some of us who have dedicated their volunteer time to NDMFA and NMSA over many years. These people include at least four Board members who are looking to step down which will not allow a quorum of five for meetings to be fulfilled. The tasks as outlined below have been necessary to make our club a successful one over many seasons and cannot be lost.

While no one is just walking away from the present responsibilities, new members with new ideas and a desire to take on some of these tasks are required immediately. This may mean that some will step down from the Board although they make act as volunteers for some events but not be the lead or primary person to perform the activities leading up to and through the 2024 season.

For myself, I have enjoyed doing the behind the scenes tasks generally dealing with general issues, letter and policy writing and contact with the City, letters for sponsors etc. while helping out with various field tasks.

However, our fields and scheduling Board member has been overloaded with tasks because of a shortage of people stepping forward. His tasks have included but not limited to:

* House coach recruitment, pre-season training, registration, season configuration, coach and player Registration, team configuration, and team building, all of those in TeamLinkt. Softball BC registration - converting TeamLinkt team data to Softball BC file format for upload into the Softball BC system

* Field and Facility bookings (City, RDN, and School Districts as applicable)

* Season league practice/game scheduling for NMSA and Inter-League liaison & season game schedules with Ladysmith, Nanaimo, Oceanside, Port Alberni (TeamLinkt and Word/Excel documents for external association schedules) (Inter-league game scheduling).

* Ice Breaker & Year End tournament planning and coordination with other Associations, field bookings and game scheduling. Tournament day activities and field prep

* Email, Social Media, and Website posts, Google Workspace administration and management for our nanaimosoftball.ca domain, domain and DNS management for our nanaimosoftball.ca domain (webnames.ca)

* Stripe account management for our credit card payment processing/integration with TeamLinkt and our credit union bank account.

* Scheduling and organizing Photo days with Freezeframe Photography

* Scheduling fields/facilities for Rep coaches tryout dates and winter training

* Providing membership data as requested to Softball BC, City of Nanaimo, and the RDN

* Game day coordination of field prep/bases install.

Tasks performed by others include applying for grants, gaming licenses, gaming reports, budgets, financial reports, and completing necessary paperwork, managing uniforms and equipment ordering, inventory checking, and general fields maintenance, all of which are necessary to being successful.

While some of us have not decided the amount of volunteer time we will be able to commit to, it is obvious that we need new Board members while we step back and assist others in being general volunteers and not being responsible for the planning and administrative duties.

We will be able to assist with a transition by offering support or guidance to new volunteers who can take on these tasks leading up to the season, and as an information resource going forward. I sincerely hope that there is interest from new volunteers who will step forward so that NMSA can grow into the future with a new enthusiasm and new ideas for softball in Nanaimo.

There are five months until the start of the season so there is plenty of time for new people to get up to speed if they step forward in the next month or so. For the 2024 season, we require new volunteers to organize, plan, and run the association for House and Competitive ball. We love what we do but now is the time for others to get involved and enjoy the same experience. No registration or new season can begin until we have an AGM with some new Board members.

If you can commit to the organization, there are two options: first, you may be appointed immediately with Board approval, or second, you may be elected to the Board at an upcoming Annual General Meeting. If you have an idea of what interests you, email to president@nanaimosoftball.ca or secretary@nanaimosoftball.ca or call 250.755.5770. For information, check out our website at nanaimosoftball.ca

Brian Cornborough | President

Nanaimo Minor Softball Association.