HERTS BASEBALL ELECTION 2010: Q&A WITH LEE MANNING

With the 2010 Herts Baseball AGM and Elections coming up this Sunday, 25 October, for the moment the Herts Falcons Manager position is the only one which has more than one candidate running for office. They are Jason Greenberg and Lee Manning.  Following requests from members, both candidates agreed to answer questions from members posted online over the last few days.

 

The answers from Lee Manning are published below. To view the Q&A with Jason Greenberg (click here).

Having been a member of the Falcons for the past twelve years, I have played at every level of the British game, with this experience, I appreciate the skill sets required to play at each of the Divisions within the BBF. I have tried to keep these answers below as short and succinct  as possible.; below  is a list of some of the main priorities and I can go into more details with individuals if requested  

1)      Does the candidate have any plans for coordinated work with the other team managers (whoever is elected)?

 

Ø  The system will only work if all Managers agree to work together and the key to this will be regular communication  

Ø  Start working on the club training schedule with the other Managers  and coaches  at the earliest opportunity

Ø  With Darrin Ward as my assistant manager I hope to spend as much time with the other Managers and teams as possible   

2. What is the plan of the candidate for overall improvement of the skills of club members  overall (in particular in pre-season, as when the season  has started, less time is available for training)?

Ø  I have  conducive Fundamental Drills which will help us all improve throughout the season.

Ø  I will be asking for volunteers to come forward to help with coaching.

Ø  Pre -season training will start as soon as possible – to improve  and  to realise that training is a year round commitment 

3. How does the candidate envisage the role of the first team players in the overall development of the club (i.e. periodical scheduling of training sessions, training sessions for specific positions across the 4 teams, Little League development and coaching, etc.)?

Ø  I will be  requesting Falcons players to assist one night a year on a different night to the club training night to coach specific position training for all to attend. (this includes Little Leaguers)

Ø  I can only speak for myself but I plan to help out as much as I can and I have taken the decision to quit playing Saturday  football in order to allow myself as much time working for the Club

4.  Does the candidate have plans and what is going to be his role in across-the-club events (previous examples have been HSL, Kyle Hunlock, Croydon Tournament)?

Ø  HSL will be a part of our club try outs and assessing the club members

Ø  I would like to take the Falcons to  the Croydon  Tournament with a few players from the Eagles where the aim is to win the  Tournament  I would also like the club to take two other teams. Hawks and Eagles together and the Raptors team to give them more game time.

Ø  During HSL I will be leaving Darrin Ward  with  the Falcons which  would allow me  time to visit other  games and other squads.

Ø  Midweek  friendly games (inter squad and playing some of the local teams.)

Ø  I will be looking to take the Falcons/ Eagles  to the North  of the  UK to play the Northern Knights

Ø  I will also be looking into the Idea of playing some  games  overseas  (Euro)

Ø  I plan to use Guest Managers at club events.

Ø  I’m hoping to set up a “Pony” aged team to enter  the BBF Championship as a Wild Card Entry with some  of the  “Old Little Leaguer  “and minors that I coach privately. This is to bridge the gap between the Little League and the Adult team.

Ø  I’m also planning set up a University Baseball team  based out of Hatfield.

5. What are the overall goals of the candidate for the season – skills improvement, game participation, and (if any) league positioning?

Ø  By the end of Spring Training I would  have hoped to have spoken to everyone  in the club and have worked out how each player would have discussed  their  options on how to possibly step up to the next level in the club.

Ø  3 year plan to make the Falcons the best adult team in the country. This will include Herts baseball continuing to grow to be the best and most successful club in the country. This in turn will filter down to all teams within the club with all players aspiring to become  better ball player s by hard work, practice, commitment and determination and most importantly having fun.

Ø  Practice will be a key element to the improvement  of players.  By introducing  high  quality training schedule 

Ø  Individual player progress reports from the Managers  which will help with player movement

6. How does the candidate anticipate contributing to the recruitment process and to the amelioration of the attractiveness of the club for new players.

Ø  I believe that the work carried out with the University and the Pony  Team  will  provide some new members  to filter into the Club .

Ø  I will have  in place a policy which will allow  new players to try out and fit into the correct team for their level of baseball .

Ø  Recruitment will be an ongoing process that will be a club wide contribution and I will be working very closely with the Recruitment  Manager with procedures that are already in place, and help develop  new recruitment strategies.

7. What other policies does the candidate propose to institute – both for the first team, and if applicable, across the club (policies could be league related, club event related or others).

Ø  I would be asking all players to attend other club games when there is a rain date for their team, to help out where ever possible.  This will include coaching, umpiring, playing, scoring and fan support.

Ø  I will asking all players to attend as many of the training sessions as possible if we are to improve and become the number one club in the UK. I would also like our organization to be one of the top 20 ranked clubs in Europe.

Ø  I will be opening the door to club member to leave feedback and comments  on any issue with the club to be posted in the forum or sent to me via e-mail. ( I promise to handle these matter with care, consideration and privacy ).

8) What are the commitment  levels of the candidates for training as i feel that as every year once the season has started the training drops off to near non exsitant with the managers not even turning out a lot of times

This question was answered  for me by Tiffany my partner. Tiffany and  I are expecting our first baby at the beginning of the year. We talked about baseball and time needed  to do the job right and Tiffany was more than happy for me to carrying on with the game I love. My work schedule would also allow me to spend sufficient time on the admin side of the roll. I will attend every training session and I  shall also attending some of the other teams game when I’m not with the Falcons


9) Do the candidates see the need for more player movement between teams as this season it was proposed that there would be a lot of movement between teams and wasnt hardly any with only a few members moving up/down

Having been a member of the Falcons for the past twelve years, I have played at every level of the British Game, with this experience, I understand the skill sets required to play at each of the Divisions within the BBF. 

 The following team movements would be reviewed on a weekly basis by all managers concerned. The Player movement criteria would be as follows

Ø  Players will move up if they are consistently playing well above their current leagues standard of play.

Ø  Players will move down if for any reason they are struggling with their current leagues standard of play

Ø  Due to the fact that managers will be short of players for a league fixture, some players will be asked to play up or down a division.

 

10)    With babies on the way would you be willing to pledge that the babies will be playing for Herts eventually (i.e. do you promise to start the standard Herts brainwashing early in their childhood)?

A)     It already started. They say that the baby can hear things inside the womb and I’m sure that the microphone is helping. Indoctrination will begin as soon as the baby  starts crying. The first lesson will be “There is no Crying in Baseball”

 

11. Ok. You have made a right administrative cock-up and have accidentally called up Kal Dimitrov to the Falcons squad for a must-win posts season game against the London Mets. How do you explain this to the rest of the guys?

A)     As long as Kal can keep his top on, then he is always welcome.

 

 

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