CSJBA are seeking EOI for Coaches for the Development teams, Little League, Junior League and Senior League.

The trials will be held on 14th of November 2021.
The EOI close on Sunday 31st of October COB.
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EOI should be emailed to [email protected]

Season Start:
At this time the roadmap to beginning the 21/22 season remains on track. Some councils are proving awkward in acknowledging that training may commence on Monday 11th October but the government has instructed that sporting facilities may reopen with density limits of up to 20 including coaches and officials. Community sports, as in competitions, are not yet permitted but training can commence under the conditions outlined. Each club will have a Covid safe plan for conducting their training and grading activities.

Pitching restrictions for the first two rounds:
To alleviate concerns over potential injury after such a long break from activity the Executive have decided that for the first two rounds of the CSJBA competition U12 (LL) pitchers will be restricted to 40 pitches, U13/U14 (IL and JL) will restricted to 50 pitches and U16 (SL) will be restricted to 60 pitches. Pitchers may finish the batter if started before the limit is reached. 

Vaccination status:
A reminder that all officials, umpires and players 16 and over must be fully vaccinated to participate. This is a NSW health condition which may be relaxed after December 1st but it is the consideration of the Executive that the vaccination requirement should remain as a CSJBA condition of participation. We have two months to ascertain the wishes of the member clubs on this requirement.

Clubs should be aware that they may have SL players who will turn 16 during the season. These players will need to be vaccinated.

Sydney Cup:
At this time we consider our participation in Sydney Cup, previously a competition completed by Christmas will be unlikely. Our focus at this difficult time, as we re-emerge from the restrictions of lockdown, is the resumption of a healthy club competition.

Transfers and Friendship Players:
Clubs are reminded that all transfers, Joint Ventures and Friendship player arrangements have to be vetted by the Executive. The conditions are set out in Rule 5.13 which begins, “For the purposes of avoiding the creation of inordinately strong teams ……..etc”. 

Rules still to be updated with changes for 2021/22 season:
Because of lockdown this has not been possible but will occur very shortly.

Rep refunds from last season:
I’d like to acknowledge the efforts of our treasurer Michael Tentomas. We recently received significant refunds from Baseball Australia for the National Championships. It worked out at $260 per player for LL and $170 for SL. As a consequence Michael had to seek bank details for around 22 families then enter them into the financial system to enable them to receive their refunds. Those who had not yet settled their outstanding invoices were sent an email advising them that their invoices could be reduced by the relevant amount. The whole process took an inordinate amount of a volunteer worker’s time and I’m sure I represent our baseball community’s gratitude to Michael for his diligence and efforts. 

Grading Committee:
The Grading Committee will be swinging into action shortly and our secretary will be seeking volunteers to contribute. We already have offers of assistance from Peter Archer (East Hills) and Robbie Hayes Conway (Yarrawarrah). Stuart Hitchcock (Marlins) has been an almost permanent fixture for several years as have VP Darren Cummings and myself. Traditionally we have found that the more the merrier in this onerous task which invariably upsets some community members. However the more information we have the more accurately we can operate. Please consider offering yourself as a volunteer especially if you have been involved in club grading and have some experience of what the standard is in various age divisions.

A guideline for grading U/8 tee ball which always causes the most difficulty due to the high number of inexperienced players – last season almost every club that had two or more teams had a team in the top division and their second team in the second division. There was only one club that had both teams in Division 2.

FYI.  Adult Baseball:
I’m given to understand that adult baseball, both local park ball and the interdistrict State League, are not likely to begin their seasons as early as the junior competitions. Possibly not starting until December.

Tuesday night’s General Meeting will be an opportunity for clubs seeking to gain players or find homes for a few players they can’t accommodate. Delegates should be aware of their clubs position with probable teams and numbers so that they can speak to the subject if required. Good luck to all clubs with your recruiting efforts and hopefully our numbers won’t be down too significantly after this serious interruption to a traditional season start.

Cheers,

Peter Barrington