Chapter 17 - Scoring

Chapter 17

SCORING AND STATISTICS

At the end of a softball match the score is what counts! Unlike coaching and umpiring, scoring was largely left in the hands of interested individuals who taught themselves using the guidelines in the back of the official rulebook and learned the intricacies from their peers. Initially softball scorers used baseball scorebooks but as the sports went their separate ways, softball developed its own books. Scoring was the last technical service to be formalized with its own accreditation program.  Scoring softball involves far more than just adding up the number of runs scored by each team. Accredited scorers account for every pitched and batted ball and every movement of each fielder for their own team and the opposition. The statistics garnered from this detailed analysis are presented to the coach and are the basis for the awards to outstanding players and selection in representative teams. The scorer’s job begins well before the first ball is pitched and ends long after the players have cooled down. Before a match the scorer records the players’ names for both teams in the scorebook and on the scorecard. After the match the umpire must sign the scorecard. For club competitions the scorecard is forwarded to the competition Registrar who verifies the playing list against the registrations lodged at the commencement of the season. The Registrar uses the scores to maintain the points table for each grade and any other information required for best and fairest awards. In the higher grades post-match the scorer undertakes a detailed analysis of the performance of each player in offence and defence and provides a summary for the coach. At elite events such as national championships and international events, an independent dedicated team of scorers undertakes scoring while each team has its own scorer.

NATIONAL

Scorers at national championships

Scoring receives few mentions in the AWSC Minutes or national championship programs in the formative years. The State teams did not have scorers. The score was kept by the Manageress or a player on the bench or even a supporter traveling with the team as like Shirley Roberts in 1953:

I went as scorer. Now, the hysterical thing, in those days, the scorer didn’t have a uniform … I wasn’t allowed to sit on the bench, I sat in the grandstand to score … We weren’t as technical … it was whoever had the most runs on the board won.

In the 1955 program for the championship in Sydney, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia included scorers in their team lists for the first time. By the 1956 carnival in Adelaide, all teams except NSW had a scorer in their team list. Thereafter, the inclusion of scorers in each team appears to have been dependent upon the financial status of the team, or if an individual was willing to pay her own way. However, when the Under 16 Girls’ national championship began in 1970, finances limited the State/Territory associations and not all teams had scorers for some years. When the men’s national championships began in 1984, the scorer was part of the team. In 1988 the title was changed to Statistician.
 

Official Scorer

The first mention of an official scorer - Mrs J Rose - was in the program for the 1953 national championships in Brisbane. The AWSC Minutes noted that Mrs Rose was the Official Scorer and that she would make the announcement of the official standings. The first moves to highlight the importance of the scorers came in 1956 when WA’s Val Johnson officially:

handed to Council the official score sheets together with the percentages of each team and every player. Council thanked Miss Johnson for doing this task, and on the motion of Qld, seconded NSW it was resolved that ‘a copy of these percentages be sent to all States’.

Johnson had been the Official Scorer at the 1955 Carnival in Sydney. Following Johnson ‘Miss Preddy, on behalf of NSW, offered to donate a special book, for these records to be kept in, and Council accepted this generous offer’. Kath Correll (SA) was the Official Scorer in Adelaide in 1956. In 1958 AWSC Minutes reiterated ‘that official record be kept by Australian Council of wins, losses and runs scored, the official record book be handed to the official scorer at the beginning of a carnival and to be returned to the Honorary Secretary of the Council at the conclusion of a carnival’. New Record Book were intriduced when national championships were added for Under 16 Girls through to Under 16 Boys. These books were maintained until early in the 21^st century but their use diminished as more information was computerized.1 As the competition expanded and the amount of data extracted from the score sheets increased the Official Scorer became the Tournament Statistician and was supported by a team of four or five.

Australian team scorers

The AWSC was also responsible for appointing scorers for the Australian team although there is no specific mention for the 1949 Test Series against New Zealand. M Thorburn (Vic) traveled with the team for the 1951 Test Series in New Zealand. The first call for nominations for scorer for the Australian team to play a Test Series against New Zealand in Melbourne was included in the 1954 Minutes. M Thornburn was again appointed. Thereafter a scorer was included in all Australian teams except the 1997 tours of The Netherlands and North America by the Senior women’s team. In 2005 a Statistician Exchange Program started with New Zealand and Samoa.  The highlight for Australian statisticians has been their appointment to international events. Mike Hannelly was Chief Statistician for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games with Caroline Buttsworth as a Statistician.

Organisation of scorers

A scorer’s first responsibility is to the coach. Many scorers are content to be part of a team but others want to exchange ideas with like-minded individuals. Until the late 1980s this happened on an ad hoc basis particularly for State team scorers who meet at national championships or in other softball roles such as serving as State delegate to AWSC/ASF meetings. The driving force for formal meetings occurred in 1987 when the ASF formed the National Scoring Committee (NSC) lead by Keith Wise as Co-ordinator with assistance from Barry Jacka and Kerrie Besley. The NSC’s role was to oversee the development of a national accreditation scheme for scorers. The committee was entirely voluntary and reported to the Board via the National Executive Director. The Co-ordinator subsequently became the National Director of Scoring (NDS) and was entitled to attend the Annual Council meeting.  Once the accreditation scheme was in place the State/Territory associations formalized scoring committees under the direction of the State Scoring Directors (SSD). Annual meetings of the SSDs with the NSC provided opportunities to update information and ensure compatibility between national and State initiatives. The NSC meeting in Sydney in 1998 lead by NDS Karen Liddell discussed the role of the Statistician, the benefit of charting and the importance of gaining an edge with the information gathered. Charting became an extension of the Level 3 course with a separate Level 3 advanced accreditation.

During the 1995-96 season the NSC gained comparability with coaching and umpiring when it was expanded to five members and the Co-ordinator was designated National Director of Scoring (NDS). Kerrie Maddern (nee Besley) was the NDS.  The ASF acknowledged the work of the NSC in 2003 by re-designating the NDS as Chairperson and National Chief Statistician. Karen Liddell retained the position. This was short-lived because Softball Australia restructured the NSC during 2004-05. Ken Culpitt, a Softball Australian Board Member, was appointed as mentor to guide the committee and make recommendations of the future structure of the re-named National Statistician Committee. However, the Chief Statistician position remained vacant until Mike Hannelly stepped forward. By 2008 he was in charge of the NSC.

Workload

The workload of the scorers varied according to the number of teams contesting a specific national championship with the maximum occurring when all eight State/Territory associations fielded teams in the women’s competitions. In addition to scoring and compiling statistics, many of the State team scorers also served as one of their association’s delegates to the AWSC meetings held in conjunction with the Senior women’s national championships. Thus scorers had a full agenda of matches and meetings. In 1975 Council meetings were held separately with several State scorers continuing as delegates.  More opportunities to score elite matches occurred with the introduction of the National Club Championships in 1983. The National Fastpitch League further added to the workload. During the 1994-95 season, an official scorer was included for all National Fastpitch League games with up to 18 matches in a single city over one weekend. A total of 234 games were covered giving many Level 3 scorers an opportunity to experience elite competition. When the Gilleys Shield was incorporated into the NFPL, some States elected not to include scorers in their teams but relied on the host association to recruit volunteers. The credibility of results has recently become subject to Quality Assurance reviews undertaken by the NSC with all national championships and international events held in Australia being assessed. In the 2005-06 season 300 games were reviewed.

The scope of the scorer’s workload can be gauged from the topics discussed at annual meetings and details listed in the ASF Year Books. For example, during the 1993-94 season 14 participants attended an Elite Scorers Clinic in Melbourne. Topics included were scouting opposition teams and hints on what to look for in ‘picking the pitch’. Australian pitcher Jenny Holliday and National Coach Margaret Reynolds provided practical insights about watching the pitcher’s actions for clues emanating from the pitch about to be delivered. The increasing sophistication of scoring and statistics can be gauged from the list of projects NDS Liddell included in her report in 1998-99 Year Book: Level 3 tally sheet; Level 3 marking system; various new symbols; new on base percentage; slugging average; update of Scoring Manual; trial of new computer statistics program; updating Scoring Instructors manual; conducting Level 3 lectures and Conducting Level 2 and 3 examinations.

New international procedures were introduced for the 2000 Olympic Games which the Australian scorers had to master in a very short time.  Softball Australia conducted the National Scoring Forum in June 2005 with 18 regional representatives. High on the agenda was a thorough discussion of the Operational Plan, accreditation, historical records, value of scorer, pathway to the elite level (acceptance as integral technical component of the game), competency based learning, technology, consistencies with National Scoring Program and treatment of historical records, quality assurance, communications, marketing and rule books. As with coaching and umpiring, scoring prepared to embrace requirements set by the ASC for inclusion in the National Officiating Accreditation Scheme (NOAS).

Computerisation

Since the mid-1990s scoring and statistics have gradually embraced computerisation. First was the entry of statistics into databases for the use of national selectors whose decisions could be challenged by players who were not selected in representative teams. Second, have been the attempts to directly score matches on computers. In 1995 the ISF trialed Computer Scoring Program at Under 19 World Championships and copy was forwarded to NDS for evaluation. Prior to the 2000 Olympics, a draft of the new international scoring manual was given NDS seeking input for Olympic and World Championships however, Australia’s contribution was overlooked by the ISF which claimed it did not receive it time despite the NDS forwarding it two months before the due date.  Most recently, the ASF has used electronic scoring to present play-by-play reports of championship events on its website. Two Palm Pilots were purchased and the ASF sent two people to events to undertake this task in 2008 until local people could be trained. Operators of the Palm Pilots are required to have Level 1 accreditation. They sit with the Statistician and often act as the “eyes” for the Statistician, however they only record the main plays, not the fine details such as fielder’s choice. The paper score sheet is used to record the official results and statistics for awards.  Scoring has now moved further into the electronic age with manuals on line so printed books are no longer needed. As well the NSC has responsibility for updating player historical records especially following international events.

Accreditation

The turning point for the recognition of scoring was the inclusion in the 1987 Long Range Plan for development of a national accreditation scheme. The NSC released details of the new Scoring Manual and National Accreditation Scheme in the 1988-89 ASF Year Book. Accreditation comprised four levels, each of which required attendance at lectures, successful completion of a written and/or practical tests and prescribed amounts of practical experience – usually one season before the scorer could progress to the next level. The four levels were:

Level 1 Beginners

Level 2 Club & Association Scorers

Level 3 State & Official Statisticians

Level 4 Australian team
 

Scoring underwent a complete revision in 2005-06 to meet the criteria of the NOAS. The accreditation structure was remodeled to six levels in line with coaching and umpiring. Levels 1 to 4 were based on technical competency and Levels 5 and 6 recognised experience. In summary the levels are:

Level 1 Schools Pathway

Level 2 Junior Club Pathway

Level 3 Senior Club Pathway with extensions and statistics

Level 4 State Pathway with game scoring, batting, pitching and charting

Level 5 National Pathway including competencies based on experience and leadership combining technical criteria, interpersonal skills and mentoring

Level 6 International Pathway recognized by the ISF
 

By December 2008 transition to the new NOAS was completed. WA SSD, Lorraine Malcolm, who noted positively in her annual report that ‘Level 2 will now be taken across two levels and the same will apply to Level 3. This will give the candidates an opportunity to take a steadier pace with the more complex issues and achieve more confidence in scoring at a higher level’.Through the NOAS registered scorers were allocated a National Registration Number and their details logged with the ASC at a fee of $2 for 4 years. The fee has progressively increased and by the 2010-11 season was $12. Privacy and confidentiality issues were addressed. To accompany the new scheme a Mentoring Skills Program was undertaken in conjunction with the ASC.
 

Numbers of accredited scorers

Given the time and effort devoted to developing a world-class accreditation scheme, it could be expected that Australia would have an abundance of scorers/Statisticians. Data is not available for all years and there are variations in reporting techniques whether emphasis was given to the number of individuals completing accreditation or to the number of course conducted. Unfortunately, the data indicate a major decline in people seeking accreditation. The NDS was responsible for updating the scoring accreditation database and in turn she relied on the SSDs forwarding details at the beginning of each month. However, it was realized that not all scorers were still practicing and during 2001-02 the inactive ones were deleted resulting in a major decline in the number of active accredited scorers. With the introduction of the NOAS sanctioned scheme in 2005-06 the NSC faced an enormous challenge to verify who among the 6,000 listed scorers were active and inactive scorers. A 12-month amnesty period was allowed for existing accredited scorers to apply to change over after which scorers had to fulfill the requirements from scratch. The transition was conducted in two stages. In Stage 1 160 Level 3 and 4 scorers were invited to apply for transition of whom 7 were recognized as Level 6, 8 were awarded Level 5 and 53 became Level 4 scorers and statisticians. In Stage 2 the SSDs were asked to verify Levels 1 and 2.  The decline in the number of accredited scorers is far greater than the decline in the number of teams indicating that many teams do not have accredited scorers. For many people scoring is simply something they do to help their team and they have no personal ambitions that warrant investing time and effort in becoming accredited. As well many people undertook lower levels of accreditation when they scored for the children’s teams but once the children graduated to higher grades or opted out of softball, the parents ceased to be involved.

SCORING FOR WA

Scoring for inter-club matches

While maintaining scores is critical, getting people to score has often been problematic. As the WAWSA took shape in 1948 it was suggested in the Minutes for October that scorers‘be the responsibility of the teams, and that if they did not find a scorer, they would be fined’. However, the motion was carried over to the November meeting at which it was decided that ‘The two teams that have the ‘bye’ each Saturday are required to provide two scorers each for the other matches being played. It was suggested that the Victoria Park Baseball players be asked to act as permanent scorers’. Scorebooks were purchased from Association funds. With only a handful of teams, this was quite satisfactory but by the 1950-51 season each team was responsible for its own scorebook and ensuring that the final scores reached the Registrar. To ensure that the Registrar received all the required information (players’ names, scores and votes for best and fairest players) it was suggested that scorecards like those used in baseball be purchased. Teams had 48 hours after the umpire signed the card to submit it to the Registrar.

When the constitution was updated in August 1952 under item Number 47 Results of Matches it stated:

Each team shall employ a scorer who shall keep a detail score on behalf of her team. The scorer for the winning team shall be responsible to see that an innings to innings score is signed by the Umpire and handed, or posted, to the Registrar by the following Tuesday after the match. The scorer of the winning team shall be responsible to see that the score is handed to the Press not later than 5:30pm on the Saturday of each match.

Generally, the system worked but as the Association grew so did the reminders in the Minutes for scorecards to be forwarded promptly to the Registrar and by the 1954-55 season the Association threatened latecomers with a lose of points. Checking the scorecards on a weekly basis was quite onerous and during the 1950s the WAWSA had a new registrar each season. There was more stability when Shirley Schneider, then Alan Wedlake and Greta Craig took over. Craig held the position for the Summer Competition for over two decades while Lorraine Page attended to the Saturday morning Junior Competition.

Organisation of scorers

During the 1960s the Umpires and Scorers Association formed lead by Pat Tatham. While Scorers were included in the title scant attention was paid to them probably because anyone could become a scorer without the need to pass examinations or attend the infrequent lectures of scoring. Rarely was the full title of the association used, it was simply the Umpires’ Association. Scoring had de facto representation on the WASA Board because Lorraine Malcolm attended meetings as the WASA’s ASF delegate. When the WASA was restructured in 1987 Scoring gained it own State Director, Lorraine Malcolm, who gathered a group of like-minded people around her to form the State Scoring Committee. However, scoring was not recognized as a WASA Board position. Fortunately, Malcolm held a position on the Board as an elected member. In a subsequent restructure in 2000 the Technical Director oversaw scoring along with coaching, umpiring and development.  The officers of the revamped Scoring Committee were Malcolm as SDS, Ev Harvey as Secretary and Graeme Mackay as Registrar. The committee met four or five times per year. The December meeting was a briefing session for all State team scorers prior to national championships and a follow-up meeting in late February or March was an opportunity to share experiences at the championships. Malcolm and Harvey were firm believers in the need for scorers to keep abreast of the rules and usually aim to have a meeting focused on them. Malcolm led by example and for many years, after she ceased umpiring, she still sat the umpires’ theory examination to assist her scoring duties. Indeed, both Malcolm and Harvey have experienced situations at national championships where their advice on rules has been sought by coaches.

State team scorers

The cost of travel meant that WA did not take a scorer to Adelaide in 1951. Shirley Roberts fulfilled the duties of scorer in Brisbane in 1953 although she was not recognized as a team member and had to work in the grand stand. In 1956 Val Johnson was listed in the national championship program as WA’s official scorer, a role she held through until 1961. Pat Tatham, and Shirley Kennewell (Boyd) attended to it in 1960s until finances again restricted WA’s team size.  For some people scoring has been their passion. Lorraine Malcolm contributed 21 years from 1974 as scorer for the Senior women’s team. Lil Smith spent nine years with the Under 16 Women’s team. Shirley Boyd returned to State scoring with the Under 19 women’s team in 1981 and held the position until 1992. Her daughter, Debbie, scored for the Under 16 Girls’ for several seasons. Debbie Boyd and Debbie Stevenson both gained their introduction to State scoring by working with Shirley Boyd during the 1981 Under 16 Girls’ national championship in Perth. They had, of course, to have approval from the UIC Marj Dwyer.

Lorraine MALCOLM

Life Member: 1981

Hall of Fame: Inaugural Inductee: Team Statistician: 2007

I’ve always believed that if you’re going to do something, you’ve got to

commit to it.

Clubs

Northern Suburbs

Bedford District Youth Club

Veterans

Tom’s Cats/Perth Cats

State

Statistician Senior Women: 1974-94

Under 16 Girls: 1994

WASA

Executive/Board: 1972 to 2004

Junior Committee:

Scoring Co-ordinator: 1988-

Umpires & Scorers Association: Secretary - 85

ASF Delegate: 1974-1993

WASF Delegate: 1999

Co-ordinator Modball & Teeball: 2000-08

Awards

Australian Softball Federation Service Award: 1993

Australian Sports Medal: 2000

City of Stirling: 2003

Department of Sport & Recreation: Volunteer

Bedford District Youth Club: Life Member

As a teenager in the 1950s Lorraine played three or four seasons with Northern Suburbs Softball Club which had been established by her neighbours, the Mews family. When she married she gave softball away until her eldest daughter, Sheryl, began playing at Embleton Primary School:

I was always one of the mum’s that provided transport for everything or was on duty for this or that, and up there after school watching them train, muttering away to myself about different things that were going wrong and eventually Mr Benporer, their teacher coaching the team at the time said would I like to go and help and I thought I’m going to be there so I may as well help him.

About the same time, the Malcolm family joined the Bedford District Youth Club (Bedford DYC) with the girls – Sheryl and Debbie – playing softball in summer and netball in winter, and the boys – Ron, Trevor and Craig – playing a season of cricket and football before becoming immersed in baseball. Within a couple of years Lorraine was Secretary of the Softball Division of the youth club, a position she still holds. In 2002 she became Secretary of the youth club. Such is her contribution to Bedford DYC that according to another Bedford stalwart, Bob McKibbin, some people refer to her as “Mrs Bedford”.  One of her first initiatives at the youth club was to introduce a version of softball – modball – for sub-juniors with a few teams from Bedford DYC and Gee Bees. Soon after she teamed up with Joy Marsland to run it for the WASA. Lorraine progressed to coaching Bedford DYC’s Junior A softball team, experiencing the thrill of playing in most grand finals for ten years but the frustration of never winning the premiership. Many of her charges including Debbie Prince, Vicki Williams and Debbie Dorrington later went on to represent WA at Under 16, Under 19 and Open levels. When she stepped down from coaching the Junior As, she was persuaded to take on the newly formed Junior B3s and they won the premiership at their first attempt.

To ensure that her junior teams actually got to their matches, Lorraine used pick many of them up in the family station wagon. ‘In those days you could pile in as many as you liked. I used to pick them all up on the corner of Grand Prom and Craven Street (Bedford), those who couldn’t get there … they’d come with me’. After coaching the Bedford DYC juniors Saturday mornings plus umpiring, Lorraine then spent Saturday afternoons scoring for the Senior A grade team, a task she still relishes. When the State League was formed in 1991 Lorraine became the Scorer for Bedford Invasion, a task she continued until 2000. Lorraine taught herself to score with some help from Val Johnson and reference to the brief information on scoring in the old rule books. ‘Mind you, when I first started scoring, I’d just sit for the first couple of innings and not write anything. I was too interested watching the game’. In 1974 Lorraine became Scorer for the Women’s Open team, a position she held for 21 consecutive years. In her first year she had to fight off a challenge to her appointment because of her lack of experience. Many changes occurred in scoring, the most significant being the change in title from Scorer to Statistician to more accurately represent the data analysis undertaken during and after each match. Lorraine’s contribution to the WA women’s senior team was best expressed by its coach, Shirley Schneider. ‘Sometimes in my mind I might consider it’s an error when I find the scorer considered every effort had been made so it’s good to get somebody else’s opinion as well which is unbiased’.

Initially Lorraine found some of the scorers from other States were somewhat reluctant to share ideas ‘I’ve never been behind the door in approaching somebody and asking a question because I think the only way you can learn is by asking’. In time she became the Director of Scoring in WA. She found a kindred soul in Neil Brown from South Australia and together they devised scoring accreditation programs for their States. Their initiatives preceded those of the ASF which formed its Scoring Committee in the mid-1980s. Lorraine was a member of the committee. In June 1988 the committee set in place a four-level National Scoring Accreditation scheme aiming to have all levels operational by 1990. This proved to be too ambitious with Level III developed at a Scoring School held in Melbourne in 1991 and implemented in Adelaide and Darwin in 1992 in conjunction with national championships. Lorraine continued to attend courses conducted by the ASF in Melbourne and by 1995 most States had moved to formalize their State Scoring Committees. As with all accreditation schemes, that for scoring has undergone considerable revisions since its introduction. In 2005-06 the NOAS approved scheme was introduced with four levels and a requirement for all existing accredited scorers to make the transition to the new scheme. Despite plenty of reminders and an amnesty period, only about 25 percent of WA scorers fulfilled the requirements. With the original scoring accreditation retrospective accreditation was granted to scorers like Lorraine who had given long service to their State teams and to the promotion of scoring.

Lorraine conducted the first Level I course in WA in 1989 with 12 of the 14 candidates succeeding. Level II followed in 1990. In November 1992 WA hosted the National Scoring Director, Kerry Beasley, who played a major role in training WA’s first Level III scorers. Six of the original 9 candidates were successful and Lorraine then worked with the three unsuccessful ones to help them pass.  Lorraine oversaw the introduction of scoring accreditation courses across WA. She willingly conducted course for clubs and country affiliates and developed a roster to ensure that courses were available on a regular basis. Ever practical, Lorraine realized that it would be far more efficient to encourage people in rural locations to gain their scoring accreditation and then she could hand over the running of future courses to them, saving everyone including the WASA and ASF considerable time and money. By 1995 Lorraine with assistance from Ev Harvey was conducting up to 7 Level 1 and 2 Level II courses. During the 2003-04 season there were 6 Level I courses including Karratha and Port Hedland with 50 successful candidates, 19 of whom were from Port Hedland. Level II and Level III had small numbers. Level III had a specialist pitching and charting assessment which all 7 candidates passed. At the end of this season the total figures were impressive:

Level I 465

Level II 62

Level III 22

Level IV 3
 

As the most senior scorer in WA Lorraine was the logical person to become the Tournament Scorer when national and international events were held in Perth. If these occurred when she was away with the Women’s Open team then she had a ready backup squad of Rose Knight, statistician for the Senior Men’s team and Ev Harvey, statistician for the Under 19 men. From 1990 onwards the ASF computerized its statistics and the Tournament Statistician oversaw the data entry. In 2007 Lorraine was Chief Statistician when WA hosted an Indonesian men’s team.  Scoring led Lorraine into ASF administration. In the 1970s the Scorer and Manageress were WA’s delegates to the ASF meetings held in conjunction with the national championships. Lorraine vividly remembers her very first meeting. Having arrived in Melbourne at 5am Lorraine and co-delegate Pat Grice had a short nap before heading off to the ASF meeting which began at midday and went for 13 hours. Lorraine will admit to falling asleep during the meeting but believes that her hand covered her eyes so no one else knew! If that wasn’t enough for one day, on return to the motel Lorraine and Pat found their room had been completely stripped by the WA team. All that remained was an open Bible resting on the toilet seat. The highlighted text read ‘Now I lay me down to sleep!’ Her initiation was completed when she was tied to the balcony railing and covered with toothpaste. She was only wearing a brunch coat!

By 1975 the amount of work delegates undertook became too great to be completed within the championship time frame. The ASF Council switched its meetings to a full weekend in October each year. The number of delegates was reduced to one per State. Lorraine continued to represent WA. As the ASF Delegate Lorraine held a position on the WASA’s Board of Management. To fulfill her duties she had to alert the WASA to issues raised by the ASF and seek guidance on how WA wished her to present its viewpoint. As the business of the ASF expanded Lorraine often had to convene meetings of interested personnel to review the agenda for Council meetings. After each meeting she presented verbal and written reports to the WASA and undertook follow-up tasks as required. Lorraine continued as WA’s delegate until 1993 when she recommended that WA should follow the other States by sending the president to meetings with the administrator attending as an observer. This change required Lorraine to be listed in the WASA Minutes as Scoring Co-ordinator, the first time scoring was separated from delegate. She then contested and won a position as a Board member.  Lorraine, along with Shirley Schneider, lead constitutional reforms of the WASA to ensure that it complemented that of the ASF as well as the best interest of softball in WA. After the 1999 changes Lorraine became the fourth member of the Executive of the new Board of Management. She also took on the portfolio overseeing Competitions. While always willing to work for softball, she was also very astute and realized that the younger generation had to be given their opportunity to run the sport in WA so when there were three nominees for two Board positions in 2004 Lorraine withdrew her nomination, offering instead to be available as a mentor if needed. Lorraine was well equipped to be a mentor for the WASA having progressed from Bedford DYC’s delegate in the late 1960s to an Executive then Board Member elected in her own right since 1972. As well she accepted the job of Assistant Secretary of the WASA in 1973 and took full responsibility when the Honorary Secretary, Marie Taylor was hospitalized. She was elected to the Junior Committee in 1972 and in 1985-86 was Junior Registrar. Lorraine became part of the workforce at the annual Junior Camp and on several occasions was the camp manageress. In 1987 she was Camp mother for an ASF Junior Development Clinic held in Perth immediately after the Under 16 national championships. When needed Lorraine was always ready to volunteer to visit schools, and the physical education sections of the University of Western Australia and the teacher training colleges to take classes and umpire.

Lorraine was also fully committed to umpiring. In 1971 she successfully passed the theoretical component of the Australian umpires’ examination. She umpired at the national Under 16 girls’ championships held in Perth in 1974. The physical demands of umpiring proved too much for her ailing back and she opted to concentrate on scoring. However, she continued to sit for the umpires’ examination each year ‘because I believe everybody should understand the rules’. She particularly encouraged all scorers to follow suite. With her strong commitment to both scoring and umpiring Lorraine became an active member of the Umpires, Scorers and Coaches Sub-Committee which had been set up by Val Johnson in the early 1970s. When Val relinquished the position, Lorraine took over as Secretary and guided the group for the next 12 seasons. In addition to regular meetings and reports to the WASA Board, the sub-committee oversaw the national theoretical examinations in WA and trained umpires. As each component gained its own national accreditation, they went their separate ways with Lorraine focusing on scoring. Lorraine resumed her coaching career in 1993 when she became Assistant Coach to Tom’s Cats (later Perth Cats) in the Veterans’ competition. Their first Head Coach was Tommy Maher, hence Tom’s Cats. Most of the players were former Bedford DYC players. In 2008 she coached the Metropolitan team to victory in the State Championships.

Three generations of Malcolms have represented WA. Eldest daughter Sheryl was in the Under 16 team from 1971 to 1974 then the Senior team until 1978. Younger daughter Debbie first played in the Senior team in 1984 and was captain for three years from 1989 to 1991. Sheryls’ daughter Tracey, joined the Under 16 team in 1994 and was captain in 1995, the year Sheryl became Assistant Coach. Tracey played in the Under 19 team for three years, two if which she was co-captain. Sheryl became Assistant Coach of the Under 19s and Debbie became Assistant Coach of the Under 16s while Sheryl’s younger daughter Rebecca and Debbie’s daughter Nikki were both in the Under 16 team. Debbie was Coach of the Under 16s in 1999. Grandchildren Nikki, Caris and Luke have all volunteered to coach juniors. In 2008 Nikki’s daughter, Taylah, began playing modball. When possible Lorraine traveled, at her own expense, to the tournaments in which the third generation played and in one instance in 1994 volunteered to score for the Under 16s when the official scorer resigned at short notice. While Lorraine focused on softball (and the youth club), her husband Ron gave as much support as he could and would often be found at the grounds marking diamonds or setting up back nets, stools and shade for Bedford DYC teams. When the Malcolm grandchildren began playing softball and referred to Lorraine and Ron as Nanna and Poppy so did the rest of the players.2

Ron’s focus was on baseball with their three boys who all played under age and senior baseball before joining WA’s professional team, the Perth Heat. Lorraine did help with fundraising and scoring when the boys went away in the State Under 13 baseball teams. Apart from some occasional part-time work Lorraine has devoted herself to Ron, her children, grand children and now great grandchildren. Once the offspring reached school age she has had time and flexibility to focus on softball and Bedford DYC. Stepping back and handing over to younger generations is something she sees as essential for the sport but at the same time believes that she, and all Life Members, have expertise that should be utilized. Lorraine’s contribution to softball and the Bedford DYC have been duly recognized. Lorraine became a Life Member of the WASA in 1981 and is also a Life Member of the youth club as are daughters Sheryl and Debbie. One of the programs Lorraine was involved in with Laura Tolliday at the youth club was the Seniors Sportsfun Program whereby Seniors with experience in sport went into primary schools to assist the teachers instruct the pupils in that sport. She has also received recognition from the ASF with a Service Award, the City of Stirling and the WA Department of Sport and Recreation. In 2007 Lorraine became an inaugural inductee into the WA Softball Hall of Fame in the category of team official.

Australian team scorers

Few West Australian scorers have progressed to Australian teams. Val Johnson scored when Australian played South Africa in Melbourne in 1960. Shirley Boyd had two trips with the Under 19 Women’s team, the first to the Pan Pacific Games in Vancouver in 1986 and the second to the Third Under 19 World Championships in Oklahoma, USA, in 1987. Rose Knight had two appointments with the Australian Senior Men’s team, the first to the Seventh World Championships in Saskatoon, Canada, in 1988, and the second for the WA leg of the series against New Zealand in 1991.

Official Scorer

Val Johnson was the Official Scorer at the national championship in Sydney in 1955 and set a precedent by presenting the AWSC with an analysis of the scores at its 1956 meeting. When the WAWSA/WASA hosted national championships the Official Scorer (more recently called the Chief Statistician) has usually been Lorraine Malcolm except when she has been away with the Senior Women’s team in which case Shirley Boyd, Ev Harvey or Rose Knight have taken the job on. With at least six national championships rostered out each year, the WASA has usually hosted a tournament every year. The State Softball Centre at Mirrabooka provided space for the Official Scorers in the commentary boxes overlooking Diamonds 1 and 2. Since the 1990s, the Chief Statistician has overseen a group of accredited scorers who score while matches are in progress and with entry of data into the computer. The Chief Statistician’s role is to ensure that all data is accurate. Among those who have worked as scorers have been Debbie Stevenson, Trevor Friend, Ann Brooks, Sandra Young, Julie Beresford, Kath Wylie, Jenny Massimini, Helen Onley, Debbie Sleth, Cath Bertolini and Michelle Gunter. Data entry has been undertaken by Connie Montgomery, Hugh Sampson, Julie Beresford, Ev Harvey, Jeff Wight, Kevin Osborne and Shirley Schneider. The 2007-08 Report from NSC praised WA official scorers for their high standards. In the ASF Quality Assurance reviews of national championships result, it was noted that it was hard to find mistakes in the WA prepared data. WA has hosted few international events so WA scorers have had few opportunities to gain elite experience.

Workload

To become a State team scorer, an individual must work their way through the system. Most elite scorers are not only members of their clubs A grade (or highest grade team) but also score for other grades (and often coach lower and junior grades). Some scorers like Ev Harvey admit finding it very difficult to watch a match if they are not scoring! The demand for scorers in WA has increased as the number of teams participating in national championships has increased although WA’s late entry into the NFPL has meant fewer demands than experienced by some eastern State/Territory associations.  The introduction of the State Championships and State League created more opportunities for higher grade club scorers. To inform players of the basics of scoring, the SSD usually made a presentation at the Junior Camp. Most of the workload in WA has been directed at implementing the nationally developed accreditation program.

Accreditation

Lorraine Malcolm realized that an accreditation program was needed for scorers and grew impatient with the ASF. She exchanged ideas with Neil Brown from South Australia and developed a program that local WA people thought better than that released by the ASF in 1988. However, from her extensive experience as scorer for the Senior women’s team and as WA’s delegate to the ASF, Malcolm understood that a uniform national system was essential to advance scoring. As the WASA’s SSD she had responsibility for conducting the Level 1 and Level 2 courses statewide. When accreditation was introduced Malcolm was one of three scorers granted retrospective Level 4 accreditation. The other two were Shirley Boyd and Rose Knight. The five West Australians granted Level 3 accreditation were Ev Harvey, Debbie Stevenson, Debbie Boyd, Val Culverwell and Val Johnson. Scoring accreditation courses became a regular part of the WASA calendar. The number and level of courses varied from year to year with efforts made to service the Affiliates as well. Pass rates were very high but not all candidates were successful at their first attempt emphasising that scoring was a serious component of the sport.

While the State Scoring Committee was willing to run courses, there was a growing realization that minimum numbers needed to attend to justify the time and effort of the presenters. Part of the challenge has been providing course for affiliates. Malcolm was pragmatic. She actively encouraged those holding higher levels of accreditation in the Affiliates to conduct lower level courses. Thus costs were reduced and more people gained experience as presenters. To maintain national standards, Malcolm attended the annual National Scoring workshop. When funds permitted, Malcolm was accompanied by an observer, usually Ev Harvey who was invited to join the NSC in 2001 and served until 2004. WA’s opportunities to gain Level 3 scorers were limited because the course was conducted nationally which meant in the eastern States. Any WA candidates had to cover their own costs. This was remedied during the 1992-93 season when NDS Kerrie Besley assisted with a Level 3 clinic in Perth. Nine candidates were assessed of whom six passed on their first attempt and the other three passed on re-examination. This exercise was repeated again in 1995-96 with five candidates passing. As with all accreditation courses candidates had to pay nominal fees to cover costs. In her 1994-95 report Malcolm noted that most States charged for courses with Level 1 being between $20 to $30, Level 2 was $25 and Level 3 was $40. Of the money generated lecturers were paid $10 per hour plus travel expenses. In 2002-03 the WASA secured a government grant to enable the

Evelyn (Ev) HARVEY

Life Member: 2009

I enjoyed pushing the pens around. I enjoyed teaching people how to do it. I still get a lot of queries on things and we talk about it which is good.

Clubs

Nedlands Rookies

South Perth Angels

Morley Eagles

Morley Magic

State Teams

Statistician Under 19 Men: 1989 to present

Statistician Senior Men: 2004-05

WASA

Registrar/secretary State Softball League: 1994 to present

Scorers’ Association Secretary: 2000 to present

ASF

National Scorers Committee: 2002-05

Awards

Australian Softball Federation Service Award: 1997

Other sports

Board, Morley Eagles Baseball

Ev Bertram began playing softball with Nedlands Rookies as a catcher in the lower grades in 1953. Her sisters, Val and Joy, were also members of Rookies. After her second season, just as she was about to leave Rookies and join Blue Jays, she was struck down with an illness which curtailed her participation.  Much later, after she had married Keith Harvey and was raising her family Ev began scoring for baseball for Morley Eagles where her two sons played. ‘I was handed a scorebook at baseball and [the man] said, “This is how you do it,” and that was it’. Ev had the unique privilege of scoring the first game of Tee-ball played in WA when Morley Eagles played a demonstration match against Wembley at the Royal Perth Show in 1974, however she did not continue with Tee-ball.  Keith was a coach for South Perth Angels Softball Club and Ev used to go along to watch his team. One day South Perth Angels A Grade coach, Don Smith, asked her if she would score for them. She did so for about 15 years until the commencement of the State Softball League in 1991.  Scoring was far more interesting to Ev than being a mere spectator. ‘It’s really odd but I hate sitting watching a game if I can’t score it. If I’m sitting there with my book I’m alright. I can watch and do everything at once’. With her passion for softball fired up Ev stopped scoring for baseball but continued to serve as Secretary of the Board of Morley Eagles Baseball Section for over 23 years. She has been Registrar of Morley Eagles Softball Section for over a decade.

In January 1988 the WASA sent an Under 18 Boys’ team on a three-week bus trip to the eastern States to prepare for its entry in Under 19 Men’s national championships which the ASF was planning to introduce in 1989. Ev volunteered to accompany the team as its Scorer and submitted a detail report of the experience. In 1989 she became the first Scorer for the Under 19 Men and has held the position ever since, a total of 22 seasons which makes her the longest serving Scorer/Statistician in WA softball. During this time the Under 19 Men have played in six grand finals and won three of them. Ev considers the first national championship in 1992 to be an outstanding highlight:

the first one we won with … Adam Humble and Ricky Barker. Humble was playing second and we had one out and the tying run on base and a ball was popped up and Ricky Barker caught it and he just rifled it straight to second base and they got the double play and we got them. … Play like that, it was so brilliant, it really was.

Ev’s role with the Under 19 Men has not been limited to just scoring and compiling the post-match statistics but she has immersed herself fully in the team doing whatever needs to be done especially helping the Manager with tasks like laundering uniforms and attending to sick and injured players. ‘Yeah, I used to stay up half the night doing the washing’. In recent times the team has been accommodated in serviced apartments with more washing machines so the players do their own laundry. In his 1994 Under 19 report Coach Reg Page best described Ev’s role. ‘Our Scorer and spare Mum’. This is especially so for younger team members. When the 2010 team did not have a Manager Ev attended to tasks like ordering uniforms and completing registration forms as well as liaising with the family of a pick-up player from New Zealand. While the highs far outweigh the lows, the change in what the players consider to be suitable behaviour has been cause for concern to Ev (and all officials) especially the transition from pranks like having first year players wear a skirt to initiations which are physically harmful. In 1999 Ev, along with all Under 19 Men’s officials, was subject to a WASA disciplinary inquiry which resulted in her suspension. Ev appealed to the ASF against her penalty and the ASF agreed that she had no case to answer because the Duty Statement for Statisticians excludes any reference to responsibility for player behaviour. The overall impact has lead to a more cautious interaction between officials and players. Ev is also the key to the success of the Under 19 Officials’ team in the tenpin bowling competitions that are often arranged when the team is away. ‘It’s good because you put them in teams of four and the officials all go together and we’ve had some really good times … it’s just something different away from the diamond’. During the 1970s and ‘80s Ev regularly bowled at Fairlanes in Adelaide Terrace and had a best score of 124 so can more than hold her own against the Under 19 players. Ev also spent two seasons with the Senior Men when their regular Statistician was unavailable.

Ev developed her extensive knowledge of softball scoring at a time when people were self-taught. However, as the sport has become more technical scoring has become more rigorous as is reflected in the name change for the responsible official to Statistician. As with coaches and umpires, statisticians have been supported by an accreditation scheme introduced by the ASF in the late 1980s. People like Ev who were established Statisticians when accreditation was introduced were granted Level 2. Ev was upgraded to Level 3 in 1990. Following a revamp of the scheme all accredited statisticians had to re-apply for the new levels. Ev was granted Level 5 making her one of just two in WA to hold this ranking (the other is Lorraine Malcolm). Opportunities to progress to the top level, Level 6, are limited since only statisticians able to travel outside Australia can earn this by scoring in a least two internationals. Tournaments. Ev has had international experience. She was one of three West Australians who scored for the Men’s International Fastpitch Challenge at Mirrabooka in July 2000.  In addition, to becoming accredited herself Ev has willingly lectured in accreditation courses throughout WA. She has also served as Secretary of the Scorers’ Association in WA. This association includes all statisticians for State teams and anyone holding Level 2. For four years Ev was WA’s representative on the ASF Scoring Committee.  In 1994 Ev was asked to attend a meeting of the State Softball League. She left the meeting as Registrar. She has been with the League ever since sometimes combining the role of Registrar with Secretary when no one else would take on the administration and at one stage she was Chairperson. After a particularly tumultuous season in 1997-98 Pauline O’Connor, Chairperson of the League wrote in the Annual Report:

A million thanks must go to Eve Harvey. I am sure in each Club you have a tireless worker like Eve, but she carries this over to YOUR LEAGUE. And in recent months has helped carry the burden in Administration of the Office at Mirrabooka as well as the canteen. Eve, thank you, the road at times has been a little rocky but very enjoyable with a person like you along the way.
 

Initially the League was strongly support by both women’s and men’s teams, but interest has declined and currently the competition revolves around six women’s teams. Ever optimistic Ev has attempted to restore the men’s competition by liaising with teams such as Rockingham, Dale, Bedford and Vikings.  In the early 1990s Ev used to spend each Tuesday at the WASA office at Mirrabooka to fulfill all the paperwork required of the Registrar. When the Office Administrator, took ill Ev was asked ‘if I would work for two weeks and the two weeks are still going’. Such is Ev’s commitment to softball that when the WASA was endanger of closing down in 2000 she offered to continue to answer the phones and do whatever was needed to ensure that Summer (women’s) softball got underway on time. Through baseball Ev had witnessed first hand the devastation wrought by the closure of its headquarters at Parry Field and she knew that softball would suffer the same fate. Fortunately, the Ministry of Sport and Recreation provided a lifeline which enabled the WASA to undertake a full Operational Review (see Chapter 2: Governance). As the Office Administrator Ev works a regular 37.5-hour week for the WASA and then as a volunteer with the Under 19 Men’s team and the State League, Ev spends in the vicinity of 60 hours a week focused on softball. Ev put aside the pens for a short while to become the electronic scoreboard operator for Perth Heat when they played their National Baseball League matches at the home ground at Parry Field during the 1990s. She was well qualified to do this having scored for Morley Eagles Baseball club since 1970. Again she found herself fully immersed in the administration and was Vice President of the Scorers and Statisticians for Baseball in WA. Extra time was given to teaching baseball scoring in the off season. She also served as Secretary of the WA Junior Baseball League as well as Morley Eagles Baseball Club for which she was Registrar. Away from softball and baseball Ev devotes herself to her family although sport is seldom off the agenda with children and grand children involved in a sports ranging from baseball to surf life saving to BMX. Her son, Geoff, was the grounds man at Mirrabooka for a short time in 2000. Her son-in-law, Gary Butler, has coached the Under 16 Boys, Under 19 Men, Under 23 Men and is currently Senior Men’s coach.  National Chief Statistician and National Scoring Committee to visit Perth for two day unaccredited ‘Train the Trainer’ course which allowed senior scorers in WA to hone their skills in teaching how to score.

Numbers of accredited scorers

The number of accredited scorers in WA steadily increased reaching a peak of 495 during the 2002-03 season with the majority being Level 1. In comparison with other States WA had fewer scorers in Levels 1 and 2 than those States with larger numbers of players – NSW, Queensland and Victoria. However, the dedication of Malcolm, Knight and Harvey saw WA rank equal at Level 4. The strength of scoring in WA was shaken during 2007-08 when the transition from the old system to the new NOAS sanctioned scheme was completed. Scorers had been given an amnesty to apply for transition but by July 2008 of the 105 accredited WA scorers notified of requirements only 24 replied. A special mail out to all eligible Level 2s resulted in just two replies. Overall, WA ‘lost’ 400 accredited scorers. A positive outcome was the granting of Level 5 to Malcolm and Harvey. Progressing to Level 6 is extremely difficult because scorers need to score at least two international tournaments of which one must be overseas. The number of accredited scorers in WA may be less than desired but WA includes scorers in its teams and has always met its obligations to provide a team of elite scorers for national championships held in WA.