#BackOnBase Grants Awarded

The campaign was launched in August and aimed to encourage Clubs to apply for a grant ranging from AU$200 – AU$1,000, with $60,000 to be used for innovative participation and retention initiatives and saw an overwhelming response from Clubs across Australia.

“The response to the inaugural #BackOnBase campaign has been enormous,” said David Pryles, Chief Executive Officer at Softball Australia.

“It was so encouraging to see the sheer volume of applications we received, but above all else, it shows us the softball community is willing to put the extra effort in to do what they can in growing the game.

“Not only was this campaign beneficial to Clubs, it also put us in the spotlight with the launch on national radio and over 260,000 impressions on social media over the course of two weeks.

“Seeing the softball community come together through sharing the initiative and joining our Zoom Q&A sessions was really encouraging for the sport.”

The committee to select successful applicants were able to award 98 Clubs either their full or a portion of their requested funds, over 70% of applications receiving a grant.

Standout applications included establishing a trainee program in the Northern Territory aimed to work in conjunction with Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women’s Council (NPY) to train six Anangu young adults in scoring, umpiring, competition administration.

The traineeship also involves the young adults to work in other remote communities to deliver a softball program. At the end of the proposed traineeship the young adults will administer, umpire and score at the Finke competition.

Comprehensive Softball Batter Up programs received a grant including Maitland City Softball Club’s application who propose to build their junior participation program around hospitality options to not only keep potential junior members on the diamond with SBU drills, but create a welcoming environment aimed at getting their parents involved in the sport.

Melbourne University Softball Club centred their application around three aspects of a LGBTQ+ friendly ‘Come and Try’ event at the University of Melbourne campus. The proudly inclusive Club already has a high proportion of members in the LGBTQ+ community and are passionate about providing a safe and inclusive space for all women to play competitive sport.

They outlined their spend on pre-event advertising through social media posts, local radio advertisements, and posters and signage around their university, as well as giveaways at the University Clubs Day.

Other Clubs outlined local media spends and awareness campaigns including reaching out to their local radio and television stations, developing flyers for letter-box drops in their region and developing collateral to be displayed digitally in shopping centres, bus stops and myriad of other locations.

“The spread of different types of applications we received was really quite broad, and when all these Clubs use their grants to activate, we’re definitely going to make some noise for softball in local communities,” added Pryles.

“I’d like to congratulate all of our successful applicants and to those who missed out, definitely watch this space as we look to create more initiatives to help grow your Clubs.

“I look forward to seeing these initiatives come to life.”

The full list of successful applicants include:

From Softball Australia.