By Baseball Softball UK
BaseballSoftballUK ‘s Joint-CEO, John Boyd, was officially nominated for election as the Europe and Africa Representative to the Little League International Board of Directors as determined via an e-mail vote. Upon approval, Mr. Boyd, who has been involved with Little League for 30 years, will assume his seat at the November 2016 Board of Directors Meeting, succeeding Kristian Palvia of Skovde, Sweden, as the Europe and Africa Region Representative to the Board.
Mr. Boyd will continue to serve as the Joint-CEO and Head of Development for BSUK, an organisation he helped support since its inception in January 2000.
“John has been dedicated to Little League for a long time and we are very much looking forward to working with him as a member of our International Board of Directors,” said Davie Jane Gilmour, Ph.D., Little League International Board of Directors Chairman. “His years of service to Little League as a coach, manager, League President, and District Administrator give him profound knowledge of many of the important roles within the organization.”
Over the course of the last 30 years with Little League, Mr. Boyd has served for 16 years as a coach, manager, and League President, spent nine years as a District Administrator, and also attended a Little League International Congress.
“I am honoured to serve as the Field Director to the Board for Europe and Africa,” said Mr. Boyd. “As a naturalised European and African by birth, I have some awareness of the great challenges faced on both continents. There is a great opportunity to see baseball and softball become popular on the European continent and I look forward to doing what I can to help this happen. There have also been some very positive examples of how Little League can help communities in Africa and I hope to be able to champion the complex and vast needs of two such beautiful continents.”
Originally born in South Africa, and later raised in the United Kingdom, the development of youth baseball and softball throughout the Europe and Africa Region has been at the forefront of Mr. Boyd’s mind from an early age. Introduced to the sport as a child in Johannesburg, South Africa, Mr. Boyd moved with his family to the United Kingdom where he decided to start a local team with a group of school friends.
With his love for baseball established, Mr. Boyd attended Little League Baseball Camp in Williamsport as a child, where he had the opportunity to speak with Frank Luppicino, the former Little League Director of International Regions, as the two spoke about what Little League could do to help development of baseball in the UK Equipped with a suitcase filled with videos and manuals from Mr. Luppicino and an unforgettable experience in Williamsport, Mr. Boyd, as a teenager, returned home to study how to run a Little League. Soon thereafter, Mr. Boyd had in place a four-team Senior League division, a four-team Majors Division, and a Tee-Ball division.
Throughout his professional career, Mr. Boyd has also served as a member of the World Baseball and Softball Confederation Development Commission, the European Softball Federation and Confederation of European Baseball Join Commissions for Marketing and Development, a past Board Director of the Sport and Recreation Alliance and current chair of the Games and Sports Division, and served as a member of the National Olympic Committee for Great Britain with a focus on baseball. In 1998 Mr. Boyd became the youngest member of the British Baseball Federation board.