British Baseball Beat: Southern Senior League Commissioner resigns

The 2010 British baseball season has ended on a very disappointing note after Aspi Dimitrov resigned from his position as Southern Senior League Commissioner today.

Dimitrov took on the role two years ago on top of his commitments with Herts Baseball Club.  He has been instrumental in taking some of the progressive thinking displayed at Herts and applying it more widely within the British Baseball Federation (BBF).  In particular, Dimitrov was at the forefront of an effort to generate much-needed income and commercial opportunities for the sport, while also pushing forward plans to promote baseball through the media.

In his resignation letter, Dimitrov stated that many of the clubs have been “fantastic in embracing the new more commercial approach”; however there have been some exceptions and there is clear frustration on Dimitrov’s part that his work has not being given due support from the BBF Board.

“From the very beginning, the more commercial approach was relying on the BBF Board being a very efficient and proactive operation. At present, the environment and conditions at BBF Board level are not conducive for adopting this more commercial approach”, said Dimitrov.

The impact of the resignation was made all the clearer as it was accompanied by Dimitrov’s Southern Senior League Commissioner Annual Report for January-September 2010.  The report highlights the progress that has been made over the period, such as the growing number of teams and the media exposure the sport has obtained, while also pointing out some of the problems that were encountered, most notably the “numerous ultimatums and threats of industrial action from ABUA-GB [Amateur Baseball Umpires Association – Great Britain]”.  It also suggests improvements for the future, such as possible ways in which the postseason structure could be revised.

In his resignation letter, Dimitrov was still keen to emphasise “the very positive steps made by British Baseball in the last year or two”, adding that “the next Southern Senior League Commissioner will come into a position with enormous potential for further development”. 

The question then, of course, is where the BBF Board will recruit the next Southern commissioner from?  Dimitrov’s resignation has been preceded by several BBF Board members resigning from their posts over the past eighteen months.  The sport cannot afford to keep on losing dedicated individuals from its leading Board if there is to be a genuine period of sustained growth over the years ahead.

Thankfully Dimitrov still intends to be an active member of the British baseball community despite his resignation from his Commissioner role, stating: “it goes without saying that I am very keen to continue to support British Baseball regardless of whether it is in a Board or non-Board capacity”.