Dear VSBL Club Presidents, Secretaries and Members,
Thank you for your continued efforts to deliver grassroots baseball and support our great game. As we approach the end of the 2022/23 VSBL season, there are several ongoing issues that must be addressed. While there are certainly many positives to our Victorian baseball community, we continue to see a concerning trend of inappropriate behaviour from players, coaches, and spectators. There have been numerous violations of the BV Codes of Conduct, which set the standards for all participants in our sport.
It is simply unacceptable to verbally or physically abuse anyone in any baseball game or activity. While we acknowledge the competitive nature of our sport, at the end of the day it is a game, and an experience everyone should get to enjoy. Inappropriate gestures, name-calling, and obscene language bring our sport into disrepute and make it an unwelcoming, unenjoyable environment.
Week after week, we receive reports of verbal and physical altercations at various clubs, and responding to these incidents takes up valuable time and resources when we would much rather focus on supporting and growing the sport. Such negative behaviour also makes it very challenging to encourage more people to step up to the plate and lead the way in gameday management and umpiring.
We currently have very low umpiring numbers with long-standing officials retiring from the game, and we need to build up a new generation of officials to follow in their footsteps. We cannot do this when officials of all levels are harassed and left feeling discouraged and disheartened when they are just trying their best. We understand that not every call will go your team’s way, but it’s essential that all participants remain respectful, from players and coaches on the field to spectators on the sidelines.
It’s become apparent that it’s not just one or two clubs involved; this is a widespread problem within the culture of our sport. We need your help to change this and make baseball better for everyone. Poor behaviour not only affects senior players but also junior players and parents who see this negativity and don’t want to be involved anymore. Equipment abuse, verbal abuse, and physical altercations must stop if we are to grow our sport and build a bigger, brighter future for baseball in Victoria.
As part of the Victorian Government’s 2022 Fair Play Code, clubs are required to draw attention to their own member and spectator behavior and address all unsportsmanlike conduct. This includes social media as well as training sessions, competitions, and tournaments. Clubs with repeated incidents will face sanctions in an effort to stamp out this negative behaviour.
We need your support to improve the baseball environment and experience at grassroots clubs so our sport can thrive. We also want to remind all VSBL clubs of our ongoing umpire recruitment initiatives, including the BV Green Vest & Green Shirt Umpire Programs. All summer clubs have received green vests for beginner officials to wear, yet we’ve observed many clubs not using these vests.
Please make good use of this resource and help create a safe, respectful environment for those stepping up to umpire junior games. If you choose not to implement this program for the safety and well-being of volunteer umpires, please return your vests so we can reallocate them to other clubs that are successfully participating in this program.
We’ve also given clubs several reminders to provide three recommendations for potential green shirt umpires who may be interested in a basic umpiring course. We’ve had a very disappointing turnout with just a handful of clubs providing recommendations thus far. Our BV Umpire Officers have offered to hold umpire info/training sessions for all clubs and while a few have participated, we want to see much more interest and involvement.
We cannot build our umpiring ranks on our own – we need to know from our clubs which current and past players, coaches, parents, and supporters may be a good fit to get behind the plate and see what umpiring is all about.
We ask all clubs to recommend three individuals for the BV Green Shirt Program by Wednesday 15 February 2023. As a show of good faith, we will offer free BV/BA member fees for those who sign up to the program.
Please submit your recommendations online: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/greenshirtumpires. Recommendations must be received by 15 February for your club to be eligible for a free box of balls from BV (maximum one box per club).
We would like to thank the clubs that have participated in these umpire recruitment initiatives, and the clubs that have demonstrated zero tolerance for negative behaviour throughout the season. We acknowledge the many challenges of running a club as volunteers, and we want to reiterate that we are here to support you as best as possible. The fewer incidents we have, the more we can focus on support services and participation programs to give our beloved game the attention it deserves.
Thank you in advance for your understanding and support of this message and our approach to negative behaviour and umpire recruitment. We want to focus on the positives as much as possible, but we need to see changes in the culture and environment to ensure everyone feels safe and welcome in our grassroots sport.
If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch.
Regards,
Chet Gray
Chief Executive Officer
Baseball Victoria
p: (03) 9645 8000
a: Melbourne Ballpark, Merton Street, Altona Meadows, VIC, 3028