13 Dec 2013

Chalfont Softball Club has been rewarded for its performances on the diamond and its development work off it by being given the Bucks and Milton Keynes Club of the Year award for 2013 at an awards night organised recently by the Bucks and Milton Keynes County Sports Partnership at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury.

After being shortlisted in 2012, the club captured the title ahead of Milton Keynes Rowing Club and Milton Keynes Springers Gymnastic Club, each of whom have also done a fantastic job this year developing their sports in Milton Keynes.

Great honour

Neil Turner, Chalfont's Development Officer, said: “It’s absolutely fantastic for the club – we’re honoured that we been recognised is this way. Our sport is not as mainstream as some, so it’s great to have our work rewarded on an evening that celebrated the achievements of so many community sports clubs and volunteers.”

Chalfont Softball Club has had a busy year. It now boasts two of the top five teams in the Windsor and Maidenhead Softball League and in August the club captured the BSF Gold National Championship title.

It also expanded its junior activities this year, running after-school clubs in two local schools and then signing up just over 20 of the students to its new junior section.

Volunteers

Club Chairman David Crossman said: "Like every sports club, achievement can only be delivered through volunteers giving up their time. We are fortunate to have a large team committed, not just to our success, but to the development of the sport at all levels."

Asked about plans for the coming year, Neil Turner said: “We’re running indoor softball for junior and new adult players from January, supported by a grant from the British Softball Federation. We have our national title to defend in 2014 along with the challenge of regaining the Windsor League title and starting a new development team. Adding to that will be our first corporate softball events during the summer, so 2014 is going to be as busy as this year was.”