​CSJBA President’s Report to the 2024 AGM

With another season in the books and planning well underway for the 2024-25
season it is that time of year again when we thank those who put in so much
time and effort to get kids on the diamond week in and week out.
Stuart (the guru) Hitchcock once again took on the Draw Secretary role, George
(the quiet achiever) Angelis continued with the recorder duties, Bec (I’ll do it
for one more season) Cavill looked after our Rep Teams, Julie (Facebook)
Thurecht took on the Webmaster/Social Media duties and Col (Pa) Bowmaker
was once again the go to guy for all things constitutional and just great advice.
Whilst your efforts often go un-noticed and may not always receive the
recognition and appreciation they deserve, on behalf of the Executive and
CSJBA membership we thank you very much.
I won’t go into detail about the club season as this has been covered off with
my monthly President’s Reports.
On the representative scene our State and Nationals Campaign has been
nothing short of amazing (so far). Our two Senior League Teams led by Jaedan
Cavill and Brian Schwartz took out the gold and silver medal at State
Championships and then backed it up with 3rd and 4th place at Nationals. To
have two teams from the same association represent at Nationals has never
happened before and then to finish with 3rd and 4th placings at Nationals is
unlikely to be bettered any time soon.
After finishing with the silver medal at State Championships and just one week
after our strong showing at Senior League Nationals, Nathan Fuz took our
Junior League team to the Nationals in Lismore. After navigating their way
through pool play and a playoff win they found their way into the final game
against Brisbane North for a spot in the Junior League World Series in Michigan
USA in August. What ensued was a game for the ages with Cronulla eventually
taking the game in extra innings and stamping their tickets for a trip to USA.
Rob Hayes-Conway’s Little League team fought hard and took out 3rd place at
State Championships to earn a spot at Nationals at Blacktown. At the time of
going to print the tournament was just getting underway. Hopefully our Little
Leaguers can draw on the success of their senior counterparts and create some
memorable moments.
Our girl’s program is into its second year and proving to be very popular and
rewarding. We now have more opportunities for our female players and
subsequent strong representation in state and travelling teams. Still a lot more
work to be done in this space with BNSW and BA but nonetheless encouraging
signs.
Finally, I wish to thank my Executive in Paul, Michael, Brian and Tobias for their
time and efforts over the past 12 months. Each year there are many testing
moments, and this year was no exception. I’m sure at different times we all
scratch our heads and wonder what we are doing here and then there are
moments like last weeks Junior League’s success or a T-Baller taking their first
catch and it all makes sense. I wish the incoming Executive all the very best in
continuing to grow the sport and provide a safe and enjoyable environment
which caters for children of all abilities.

Darren Cummings

CSJBA Presidents Report
April 2024

The 23-24 club season is now done and dusted. Congratulations to all teams on
a brilliant Grand Final day. I don’t recall any year where so many games were
decided by a single run. Bonnet Bay did another amazing job keeping us all fed
and watered, the diamonds were in tip-top shape for each game, and they
even managed to scare off some ugly looking clouds later in the day to ensure
all games were completed. Many thanks to our umpires for doing a great job
and keeping the games moving, was great to see so many young umpires
officiating with some of our more senior members.
With the conclusion of club baseball, we now have State Championships
commencing during the upcoming school holidays. We have nine teams across
all age groups competing for spots at the National Championships in May/June.
All teams have been training hard for several weeks and their coaches have
them primed for success. Good luck and best wishes to all teams.
Planning for next season is underway with a couple of proposals to be
discussed at this month’s meeting.

• Possible mid-week IL competition
• Format for TBall and Machine Pitch

Further information on both proposals is provided in the monthly meeting
pack. Delegates will be expected to attend the May General Meeting with a
clear direction of their club’s preferences.

Darren Cummings
CSJBA President

CSJBA Presidents Report
March 2024
 
We are now very much at the “pointy end” of the season with just the grand finals remaining. Many thanks to the East Hills Club for hosting the finals. The bacon and egg rolls were great, the umpires were on point, the weather was perfect, fields were perfect and the baseball even better, making it a very hard act to follow for the Bonnet Bay Club next week.

After much back and forward with BNSW we have finalised our representative teams for the upcoming State and National Championships. Congratulations to those selected and again many thanks to all the coaches, EO’s & scorers who have volunteered their time and efforts to make this a memorable experience for our players.

Our Rookies had a great day out at Magdala Park, North Ryde a couple of weeks back. We had 4 teams competing on the day and from all accounts another successful introduction to representative baseball for many of our Machine Pitch players and coaches.

On a side note, I feel a review of the representative program (including girls) on offer is warranted. Over the past 4-5 seasons there have been increasing constraints placed on some Associations (incl CSJBA) which provide little or no benefit other than causing increased angst, anger, and frustration at all levels. Most of these constraints are applied under the guise of “increased participation”. To the contrary, there has been a drop off in both participation and the standard of baseball at all levels. Our players are the ones missing out with many now opting for other opportunities outside of the mainstream options.

​Congratulations to the Eastern Suburbs Dolphins Div2 Women’s team for taking out the State League Title. This team is largely comprised of past and present CSJBA players plus led around by a few crafty old stagers (they know who they are) who have been a big part of CSJBA for many years.
 
Honor Role
Congratulations to the following former and current CSJBA players who have recently gained State/National selection. We wish you all the very best and look forward to following your progress.
 
U/16 National Squad
Tahlan Cavill (Giants)
Riley Jones (Yarrawarrah)
 
U/18 National Squad
Jacob Palmer (Giants)
Damien Wilson (Giants)
Liam Grant (Giants)
Max Miotto (Giants)
 
NSW Open Women’s Team
Ticara Geldenhuis (Comets)
 
NSW Youth Women’s Team
Ryleigh Delacour-Batch (Yarrawarrah)
Alysha Mobberley-Barreto (Cronulla)
 
Darren Cummings
CSJBA President
 

With just one round remaining before Santa visits, I have a few issues to raise for clubs and members to ponder over the Christmas break.

​Out of Area Players

We have always had players from other associations playing in our competition. Over the past 3-4 seasons these numbers have increased significantly and exposed some deficiencies with our rules. To address these deficiencies, I am proposing some additions to the rules for the rules committee to review prior to commencement of the 24-25 season.

• Out-of-area players are to be known as Imports
• Imports are automatically classified as DLRP's
• Imports do not gain "home-grown" status
• All import registrations are to be approved by CSJBA Exec

There will be further detail to flesh out, but I feel with the addition of these 4 points we are close to addressing the current deficiencies. Happy to hear and consider other views.

Grading Profile Document

​This document is used as the basis of team gradings, exemption requests, friendship requests and transfer requests for all age groups from TBall minors through to SL. The accuracy of the information included in this document is critical to assist with decision making for the Executive and Grading Committee. We understand there are often last-minute changes but some of the information we are provided is far from reality and well beyond last minute changes. Making clubs accountable for the accuracy of this document will be a topic for discussion at future meetings.

Spectator Behaviour

It has become apparent that some spectators and coaches in the SL1 & JL1 competitions think it is ok to continually question umpires calls and their ability to control a game. We ask clubs to remind their members that this will not be tolerated, it is a breach of the Code of Conduct. Furthermore, as per Rule 3.11 coaches are held responsible for their spectator behaviour. Coaches can be ejected for poor spectator behaviour.

Playing for Sheep Stations

We still have coaches out there looking to fill their coaching resume with T-Ball and Zooka trophies. This is not acceptable, and clubs need to take some responsibility and coach their coaches. I am not a fan of putting more rules in place to combat super competitive coaches as this only serves to complicate what should be a pretty simple and fun game.

Expanding the non-competitive grades into TBall Majors and Zooka is gaining more and more support. This is not something I would like to see but looking more and more likely.

Enough of the cranky pants good luck, and best wishes to all those involved in baseball tournaments and events over the Christmas period. Finally, I would like to wish everyone a very merry and Safe Christmas and look forward to seeing you back around the diamonds in the new year.

Darren Cummings
CSJBA President

​Presidents Report
November 2023

With Round 8 in the books and heading toward Round 9 we are effectively at the halfway mark of our season. Regrading has taken place with a minimum of fuss and has seen new grades formed in TBall and Machine Pitch. Many thanks to the grading commitee and our 􀆟reless Draw Secretary Stuart Hitchcock for their efforts.

​Over the past couple of weeks, we have had many current and former CSJBA players selected to represent at State and National levels. Congratulations and best wishes to the following players;

Australian National Squad - Jake Burns

Australian U/23 Squad – Jake Burns, Brad Griffin, Danny Bannon

NSW U/18 Metro Squad – Cal Fingelson, Max Mioto, Liam Grant, Lachlan Vella, Damien Wilson, Jacob Palmer

NSW U/18 Country Squad – Lincoln Gruppelaar, Mikah Target, Oskar Boggis, Lewis Mercieca, Liam Anderson

NSW U/16 Metro Squad – Tahlan Cavill, Jackson Griffiths, Riley Jones

Congratulations also to Brad Griffin and Jaedan Cavill on their coaching appointments for this years AYC.

Sydney Cup and Association Cup is ongoing with all teams performing well and in the running for playoffs. Rookies trials commenced last weekend with the aim of entering 3 teams plus on the back of last year’s success another all girls team. Our LL Girls team heading up to Brisbane in December to compete in the Queensland State Championships have a couple of weeks training under their belts and a few scrimmage games planned over the next couple of weeks.

Believe it or not, the next report will see us a couple of weeks out from Christmas, starting to get organised for State Championships and the pointy end of the season.

Darren Cummings
CSJBA President

CSJBA Presidents Report
September 2023
 
After what seemed a long build up to the season, we have round 2 in the books and ready to bring on round 3. I have managed to check in to 8 grounds so far and looking forward to my next Saturday road trip to see more happy faces and plenty of good baseball.

Sydney Cup and Association Cup got off to an earlier than usual start, many thanks to everyone who helped with the selection process and those who took on coaching and team management roles. Best wishes to all teams and hope everyone enjoys the pre-Christmas representative program.

I’m sure most of you will have noticed an improvement with our social media content and activity, many thanks to Julie for her hard work and prompt attention to various requests at all hours of the day. It’s great to see photos coming in from clubs and rep teams, please keep them coming.

We have a CSJBA team of LL age girls travelling up to Queensland in December to compete in the Queensland Girls State Championships, keep an eye out in coming weeks as they will be not only training hard but also undertaking fundraising activities.

Details of the Archer Cup were released last week, this is an opportunity for LA 10, 11 & 12 Girls to participate in a tournament on 26 November at Kelso, hosted by East Hills Baseball Club. Registration links can be found on CSJBA and East Hills Facebook pages.

Onto a few housekeeping matters;

• JL1 and SL coaches are reminded to familiarise themselves with the rules around what constitutes a Local Player, DLRP’s and the number of DLRPS permitted on the field. If coaches/clubs are unsure, please check ignorance is not bliss!
•  Hopefully, all clubs passed onto their coaches the information provided by Nick Pontifex about how to build-up their pitchers for the upcoming season.
• All clubs have a duty of care to provide guidance and protection for their young umpires. Some clubs do this better than others. Please ensure there is an Umpire Co-Ordinator, mentor or person dedicated to providing support and supervision for all games umpired by junior umpires.
•  I have included the memo to T-Ball coaches I wrote last year. It is still relevant, and a reminder of the role T-Ball coaches play.

 
Darren Cummings
CSJBA President
 

Memo to T-Ball Coaches

Every season more time is spent at Monthly General Meetings, Exec Meetings, and Rule Committee Meetings talking about T-Ball than all other age groups combined. We have more blow-ups, complaints, umpire abuse, spectator issues, confusion, and general angst with T-ball than any other age group. Ironically never has the blow-up, complaint, umpire abuse, spectator issue or general angst come from a player. 

The players are not the problem. 
 
​What is the problem?
 
Rules 

• Every season there are new rules proposed and hotly debated for T-Ball, changes are sometimes agreed upon and implemented.
• We have a set of rules in place which must be followed.
• If you feel strongly about rule changes, jump on the rules committee and/or put your argument forward in the correct format/forum otherwise abide by the rules that are in place.
• If you don't like the rules, don't coach T-Ball.
• We are aware of the common practice of coaches changing the rules at the plate meeting or prior to game commencement. This is totally unacceptable and is one of the major contributors to the confusion and angst that causes blow-ups and the like.
  • Most T-Ball umpires are 12-14-year-olds and how are they supposed to interpret the rules when you have something different happening each week?
  • A 12-14-year-old umpire is unlikely to argue with an adult coach. It is the coach's responsibility to leave them alone and let them umpire and learn their craft. Not to walk up to the plate and say ok so this is what we are doing this week - it's just not on!
  • How do the players learn when you play to a different set of rules each week?
  • Many Mum's and Dad's and Spectators are new to baseball at this age and don't understand why the rules change from week to week.  This often leads to umpire abuse and other ill-informed and inappropriate comments from the sidelines.

Coaches  

• It is really easy to coach your T-Ballers to win, not so easy to coach them how to play
  •  If you are not sure what this means, you may be part of the problem 
    • Normal baseball fielding positions do not have a shortstop in a line between 3rd base and the pitcher. Shortstop is behind the 2nd-3rd base running line and your outfield is in the outfield. The outfield is not just defined by the space outside the bases. Yes, the infield continues past the baselines.
    • There are very few instances in baseball where a fielder picks up the ball and takes more than 2 or 3 steps to beat the runner to a base or home plate. Always encourage the kids to throw the ball to get the out.
    • The Elephant in the Room - The Running of the Bases
      • Why should a player be penalised for smoking a ball into the outfield and only getting one base?
      • The one-base-at-a-time approach is terrible and slows the game down. 
      • Where this comes undone is where we have coaches who take advantage of players who cannot throw or catch and junior umpires frightened and too inexperienced to make a call
      • It is not in the interest of the game to encourage runners to run with the aim of drawing an error, good coaches understand what this means and manage their runners accordingly.
      • If the ball is on the way in from the outfield, treat it as if it's an MLB game. Yes this is open to interpretation and abuse but a good coach will understand it and play by it
      • Teach your runners to run the bases hard and turn the corners hard but don't be frightened to send them back if the ball is on the way
• If you walk away from each game and deep down know the kids had fun and learned something, then maybe none of this memo is directed at you keep up the good work.
• Unfortunately, there are always going to be people with a win-at-all-costs attitude, don't lose your cool, remember the kids and perhaps ask if they got the memo.
• Never argue or lose your cool, nothing looks worse even if you are right, always walk away knowing you did the right thing by the kids

 
 Umpires

• Seriously guy's they are kids and some of you use this to your advantage!!!
• If you have a problem in a game, call time and casually walk up to the umpire and have a chat, if it is a judgment call just smile and walk away. If it is a rule/technical issue, ask the other coach over and try to work it out. Clubs are supposed to have someone roaming around who looks after the Junior Umpires, you can ask for the Umpire Surpivisor but bear in mind it is T-Ball and what are we playing for and weigh up the time it takes to overturn a decision.
• You are going to get bad calls, get over it
• Teach your team to respect the umpire

 
Spectators, Mum's and Dad's 

• For many mums, dad's and grandparents this will be their first baseball experience and they will follow your lead.
• You are not only coaching 10 or so kids but another 25-30 parents and grandparents. Their behaviour and actions are on you!
• They will all think you are wonderful because you are taking time out of your life to teach their little Johnny or Julie and rightly so but don't forget you are coaching T-Ball, not the MLB
• If you have some "overly keen" parents/spectators who like to "bark" it is your responsibility to reign them in
• Coaches can be tossed from a game because of spectator behaviour.
• Clubs need to keep on top of this, particularly where you have junior coaches. Junior Coaches should not have to deal with unruly parents from either side. Clubs need to be all over this and where necessary deal with such matters in-house or report to CSJBA where opposition spectators may be a problem.

 
I'm sure there are other aspects I could have included in this memo but I'm also sure you get the gist.
 
Darren Cummings
CSJBA President
Dec 2022