2022 Annual General Meeting - President’s Report
Tom Thornhill, British Baseball Federation President
How can another year have flown by? It seemed like only five minutes ago that we were all meeting for the 2021 Annual General Meeting and now we are at the end of the 2022 season, back in Reading, talking about a productive year in the development of our Federation.
(Chris Deacon, Officials Commissioner, getting prepared to present the morning’s budgets and accounts)
It was fantastic to see so many clubs return to yesterday's 2022 Annual General Meeting and had commit their Saturday to come and talk about British Baseball.
Thank you also to those who passed on their apologies and I look forward to hopefully seeing clubs who couldn’t make it next year.
It was great to have everyone in one room, including the independent leagues, BaseballSoftballUK (BSUK), Major League Baseball (MLB) and UK Blind Baseball, who were celebrating their summer successes in the Netherlands.
(Chris Carter, BBF Senior Affiliated Clubs League Commissioner, presenting the afternoon’s Senior Leagues Congress)
As well as important presentations from BBF Board members, delegates were treated to a series of presentations from our partners during the afternoon.
It was fantastic to have MLB present and they detailed their activities for 2023 including their commitment to grassroots baseball development. It is going to be an exciting year for the British baseball community.
Thank you also to Drew Spencer for his presentation about GB Baseball’s best summer ever. It was a terrific way to cap off a positive and energetic day and I want to thank him for the time he spent chatting to club members throughout the day.
GB Baseball’s Drew Spencer talks about working together
As I mentioned in my Board Report and at the start of yesterday's meeting, it has been wonderful to be surrounded by such positivity from our community this year, and this was reflected in the atmosphere in yesterday's meeting. It was positive and productive.
Kelly Wright from Sheffield Bruins and GB Women reflects on the AGM
I want to thank the BBF Board for all of their efforts this year to develop British baseball and put in place some key plans for the future, as well as all of the volunteers (many of whom were there yesterday) who have embraced our new committee structure and who have come on board to help our Federation.
I am delighted that members have embraced our strategy and have demonstrated their commitment to it by approving the creation of a new Marketing and Communications Board function, which will allow the Federation to delegate more authority to the relevant disciplines we need to boost our support of clubs and players.
I am incredibly optimistic and positive about next year, and we are charging into 2023 with plans already in place and a fantastic team of volunteers all united behind the same objective.
I'd like to extend my personal congratulations to all of the successful candidates who have more than doubled the size of our Board and will enable us to stretch even further and provide more value to our community.
Election Results:
Gavin Marshall – National Teams Programme Official
Chris Deacon – Officials Commissioner
Mike Hayward – Coaches Commissioner
Paul Rance – Youth Affiliated Clubs League Commissioner
Next year, I am excited to continue our progress toward creating a sustainable and proactive Federation.
Tom Thornhill
BBF President
November 2022
