Most sport and fitness clubs and groups wouldn't be able to function without volunteers like these. Their get-up-and-go helps others stay healthy, make friends, enter competitions and more. Read on to find out what inspires them to make it happen for others.

All | Simon | Carrie | Louise | Jane

Thursday Jan 12, 2012

Hooked on the game

Hi, my name is Simon and I am 23 years old and live in Hull. I have been playing baseball since I was very young, the first time I threw a baseball I was around 8 years old.  I have been hooked on the game ever since; playing, watching (the Atlanta Braves are my favourite team) and more recently in the running of the sport, both as a club secretary and a youth panel member.

During my childhood and teen years I was only a player and a fan. With my dad (a former Great Britain player himself) as my coach I achieved quite a lot. In 2001 my team won the Playball World Series and in 2003 I made the step up to senior with the newly formed Hull Baseball Club who won everything they entered that year. Despite representing the Great Britain under 18's side once during a weekend series in Ireland and attending two summer training camps in Florida my playing career has pretty much been restricted to playing in the lower British leagues in recent years.

Although I have always and still enjoy playing, at around age 20 I decided to get into other areas of the game such as coaching and administration. Regarding coaching I took my level 1 in London whist at University and helped out with my home team the Humber Pilots when I was at home. Since then I have taken my level 2 coaching course and am now head coach of the newly renamed Hull Scorpions and I also assist at the baseball academy during the off season. On the admin side of things in 2009 I saw an advert on the baseballsoftballuk website asking for people to apply to participate in a baseball softball youth panel, naturally I applied almost instantly and was thrilled a few months later when I got a letter informing me that I had been accepted. In the numerous youth panel meetings I have attended since then we have discussed how to attract volunteers to the sport, handed out awards for young volunteers of the year, decided to create regional youth panel groups, recruited more members and eaten a rather unhealthy amount of pizza.

Being a member of the youth panel also gave me the confidence to become the Club Secretary of Humber Pilots in 2011. As the Secretary I have organised training sessions, represented the club at AGM meetings, kept records of funds, administered our page on the British baseball website, contacted players late on a Saturday night when our Sunday game has been cancelled and generally been the point of contact for the Governing Body.

In the future I will be posting more about my role as a youth panel member and my activities in other areas of the sport.

Posted by Simon ( 3:57 PM )
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