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GB Women’s Team Manager Simon Mortimer has been nominated for an award for volunteering, due to be presented at the 55th Annual Torch Trophy Trust Awards in London on the evening of Wednesday 7 March at the Army and Navy Club in Pall Mall.
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The Torch Trophy Trust is an organisation that exists to encourage and reward volunteers in sport. Its President is Sir Bobby Charlton, and many famous names in sport make up its Board and Trustees. Trophies will be presented on the evening by HRH The Duke of Gloucester.
Simon Mortimer was nominated for an award by BaseballSoftballUK for his volunteer work over the past five years as a GB National Team Manager and Treasurer of the GB Management Committee, which oversees and supports national team programmes on behalf of the British Softball Federation.
Many hats
Simon Mortimer wears many hats as a volunteer for the Great Britain Softball National Teams programme. From 2013-15, he was Team Manager for the Great Britain Junior (Under-19) National Women’s Softball Team and from 2014 to the present he has held the same position with the Great Britain Senior Women’s Softball Team that has serious aspirations to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
Also since 2013, Simon has served as the Treasurer for the GB Management Committee, which now provides support for nine different national teams across various age-groups and genders. As such, Simon oversees financial planning for all these teams, maintains bank accounts for them and makes payments based on team needs.
Over the past two years, Simon has project-managed the provision of new uniforms for most (soon to be all) GB National Softball Teams, researching several suppliers and then working through a large range of options and designs. The result was excellent and attractive uniforms delivered on time for the 2017 competition season.
Simon has also been responsible for driving the creation and implementation of a range of policies to make the operation of GB National Team programmes more professional and transparent.
Finally, he has taken on the role of mentoring and supporting less experienced Team Managers from other GB Softball National Teams, and he collates information from all players trialling for different national teams as well as collating and summarising player, coach and parent feedback after tours on behalf of the GB Management Committee.
And all this on top of a demanding full-time “day job”!
Support
One GB Team staff member said, “As a National Team Manager, Simon does a great job planning tours, which is no mean feat considering that players on GB National Teams are based not just in Britain but in countries all over the world. His pre-tour communication with players is exceptional and his timely communication to players, other staff and tournament organisers before during and after tournaments, allied with his organisational skills, is a large reason behind the recent success of GB National Teams.”
Running the GB Softball National Team programmes is a team effort and many people are involved, but it would be fair to say that Simon Mortimer is the glue that holds the whole enterprise together.