NZBCA BAGM PRESIDENTS REPORT 2017
Presented to the membership by Donna McCaskill
The past couple of years have been filled with challenges but challenges in a good way as these are the challenges that have moved us forward as an organization. We’ve achieved many unexpected or unplanned goals but we’ve also faced some realities about what we can achieve as an organization and learnt some of our limits.
5 year Strategic Plan (2013-2018)
The 5 year plan that was originally set out was ambitious to say the least, but it set us goals and targets to look to and hopefully past with a future focused attitude and not just stuck on the here and now day to day running of the organization.
The Objectives
The Objectives never changed and the Executive and our members clubs always had the same end goal in mind, to grow the game of Blind Cricket in New Zealand – we have achieved that by going from one club in 2013 (being Manukau South) to 3 strong clubs (the addition of Waikato Blind Sports and Bay of Plenty Blind Sports) and the potential for 2 more (Napier and Christchurch) in the coming months.
Development
Development, we have provided MANY opportunities through training camps for players to grow and develop new and existing skills. We have actively sought funding external from the standard funder of Blind Sport New Zealand and have, at the same time, strengthen our relationship with New Zealand Cricket. We are moving in to a new error of scoring using electronic scoring which makes it easier for the scorer but also allows those of us on the sideline to be kept involved in the game through live scoring. It also makes for easier stats records.
Growth
Our numbers have increased, as previously mentioned, from 1 club to 3 and a total of 40 members at the close of books at the start of March. This is almost doubled since the original strategic plan was put in place.
So all and all, the strategic plan served it’s purpose in giving the executive something to set targets to and a means for measurement through achievement – this is something the Executive Team’s of the past 5 years need to be applauded for, at many a time it hasn’t been easy to meet the targets but it is great to be able to put “achieved” next to so many items.
The World Cup
At our 2015 BAGM it was decided that we would not commit a team to go to the T20 World Cup due to safety. And right up until May of last year that was still the case – I’m really not sure how things got turned around so quickly but it was definitely a move for the best in terms of getting New Zealand back on the international circuit.
We took a new approach to this world cup, wanting to give it and our team the best shot possible. Although the team may not have come away with that all elusive win that they were all trying and hoping for, there were many a lesson taken away both personally, within the team and in terms of the NZBCA’s learning curve.
The NZBCA exec went in to the World Cup with the thoughts of it being an opportunity for learning and development for the players as well as a chance for NZ Blind Cricket to get back on the map in terms of our international involvement. It is hard to challenge our players back here in New Zealand when the player base is so limited and we wanted to show the players that they aren’t always being pushed back home to reach their full potential. We hope that this World Cup showed them that but also gave the current BLINDCAPS team something to strive for in terms of staying within the team and learning from their experiences against the other teams.
Mid Year Council Meetings
It’s great to allow the clubs the opportunity to be involved in decision making processes through our Mid Year Council Meetings, they do have a huge amount of importance in the direction of our game, especially in terms of rules, growth and strategic direction. Without the clubs involvement we wouldn’t be able to put in to action many plans for the organization.
Summer Series
The Summer Series is just completing its 3rd year of competition and it’s great to see that players and clubs are still enthusiastic about it. The Summer Series and it’s rules and layout were a huge part of discussion in the MYC meeting this year and while the Council can’t always get everything right, it is a group decision in terms of rules, layout and format. It is important to remember that not everyone is going to like the way that something goes but that’s why it’s up for discussion at MYC and then again at the end of the 1st round of the draw – for the opportunity to improve.
Well done to the 3 club representatives for the year Steph from BOPBSC, Parveen from MSBSC and Thomas from WBSRC for the effort you put in to having things sorted for each of the hosted rounds. Thank you to the umpires and scorers who give their time to be involved, without you we wouldn’t have a game. And let’s not forget the volunteer drivers for each team – another key to making sure we all get to where we need to be!
Closing
As some of our executive committee step down from their roles I want to thank you for your contributions to the NZBCA over your time. I would like to make special mention of Neil Fellows who has been a long standing executive member in MANY different roles, as high up as Secretary and Treasurer and more recently as Committee Member, your knowledge and experience has taken us a long way and got us through a few trying times as well. I personally wish you well on your recovery and look forward to seeing you back up and around on the sidelines next season!
To the incoming Executive, thank you for volunteering your time (and possibly your sanity – I’ll let you decide that in the coming months). The membership has elected you to a role which may seem daunting at first, but take your time to settle in and get to know the role your in and the Executive you’ll be working with. As a team we have a lot of responsibility to ensure the growth of this sport continues, but as a team we can easily achieve the goals set out in the Strategic plan.
I look forward to what the near future holds for us as an organization and I look forward to seeing the sport of Blind Cricket thrive in New Zealand once again.
Donna McCaskill
NZBCA President