Far North Coast Making Waves

Far North Coast Making Waves

Jun 26, 2018

Far North Coast Making Waves

Far North Coast making waves.

Far North Coast Baseball Association made history within their club by having teams selected to represent their region in the National tournaments across all three age divisions: Junior League, Little League and Senior League.

FNC Little League coach, Danny O’Sullivan, shared that “It’s certainly a big achievement for the club, we’ve been struggling for numbers in this area for a while so to have three teams go away is just great and the expectations of the coaches at all those tournaments were fairly conservative, so all the teams have exceed our expectations.”

Senior League coach, Brad Donald, said that the inclusion of the three FNC teams to Nationals paths the way for the future of baseball in the Far North Coast, “just for these kids to get there in the first place is a great achievement, a remarkable effort just being here. [They’re] playing against the best of the kids in Australia and Far North Coast is on that map in three age divisions.”

Baseball Queensland would like to acknowledge Far North Coast Baseball Association’s efforts and we wish to extend our congratulations to the region for their continued professionalism during the recent Australian Little League Championships.

Far North Coast Building for the Future

Far North Coast Building for the Future

Jun 20, 2018

Far North Coast Building for the Future

7 MILLION DOLLAR GRANT BOOSTS LISMORE’S POSITION ON THE MAP

The city of Lismore will be the home of an entirely new and improved baseball complex courtesy of a $7 million grant provided to the city by the state and federal government to upgrade and expand upon the current facilities at Albert Park Baseball Complex.

Far North Coast Baseball Association committee member, Billy O’Sullivan breaks down how the money will translate into the complex, “In total we’ve been given 6.95 million dollars. The grants have come from two different sources, one’s from Federal Government funding and the others from State Government funding. The first one is a million dollar grant that’s been matched by the local council and Baseball Australia; we’ve got two million dollars to spend there and that’s well on the way. That money has to be spent by the end of this financial year so we’re rushing to allocate the money to various tasks because it doesn’t have to be completed right away.

The facility will have new foul fences, new bullpens (four on one side and two on the other), the grandstands will be painted and re-seated. We are building four large shelters for spectators and for teams to gather, they will be roofed and seated. A large BBQ area is also part of that first stage, as well as a small playground for youngsters; a lot of refurbishment is scheduled for the clubhouse. There will be various improvements to the eating area out the front of the canteen. We will also have drainage upgrades around the main field. A new back net will be installed along with larger, longer dugouts. That takes up the two million dollars and sums up the first stage.

The second stage is the 4.95 million and that will be taken up by a lot of earth works, all the fences will be replaced because they were all damaged due to floods last year, the other three diamonds will be refurbished, so by the time we finish the whole of the project, which is likely to be early 2020 Albert Park will look brand new. Albert Park Field 3 will be totally demolished and split into three little league fields, Albert Park Field 2 will be re-fenced and resurfaced. It will have new dugouts and back nets along with improved drainage and watering systems. A big part of the second stage will the another building at the back of Ground 2 which will cater for spectators as well as serve as a canteen. It will really cater to the demand that these tournaments bring with them.”

 

When asked how the upgrades will affect national tournaments O’Sullivan revealed, “One of the main aspirations we have is to establish Albert Park as the Little League centre for Australia. We’ve been doing this for 25 years, we have a tremendous volunteer base which is essential for tournament management, there are very few facilities in Australia that have fours diamonds, and two of them lit, that’s what makes this an ideal tournament venue. That’s the purpose of this upgrade we want this to be a tournament venue, a training camp for all the Australian teams, which is why Baseball Australia has been behind this so much.”

Albert Park Baseball Complex is the home of Far North Coast Baseball Association, the club’s current Little League and Junior League coach, Danny O’Sullivan, adds “[The upcoming upgrade to the facilities] have been a long time coming, the last upgrade was in the 90’s where big money was spent here a lot of work has been put in from a lot of volunteers and it’s nearly on it’s last legs at the moment so to have that come along has put a lot of spirit back into the club.”

Senior League coach, Brad Donald confirms that the upgrades will lead Lismore towards having the premier baseball facility in Australia, “We are really looking forward to what the upgrade will bring in the future, potential Major League games, overseas training venues for travelling teams. We’ve had a lot of around what could happen, if do and our kids get to witness those things first hand it’ll really build their confidence and experience. This whole thing will really put the Far North Coast on the map in the years to come.”

Far North Coast Baseball Association have a quick turnover as they prepare Albert Park Complex for the annual International Timberjacks Friendship Series held from the 13th – 15th July.

More details on the park’s developments will be announced soon.

 

2018 MLB Showcase

2018 MLB Showcase

Jun 19, 2018

MLB Testing Day for 2004 & 2005 players

After its successful inaugural year, the Baseball Australia MLB Showcase is on again in 2018. Baseball Queensland had over 80 participants participate in this event last year and we are expecting BIG numbers again this year.

This year the reach has expanded to Cairns in addition to South East QLD. Both venues will be on the same date with information and registration information below.

In conjunction with Major League Baseball (MLB), Baseball Australia and State Associations, participants get the opportunity to showcase their talents going through baseball specific skill assessments. After the completion of the event, each participant will receive their individual results.

This event, part of MLB’s continued effort to help grow the game in Australia, will provide an opportunity to emerging young baseball players to display their talent, in six major Australian capital cities.

Showcase Details

  • Cost- Free
  • Who– Open to baseball and non-baseball members born 2004 and 2005
  • Location
    • SEQ- All Star Baseball Club, Gerler Rd. Hendra
    • Nth QLD- Trinity Beach Baseball Complex, Cairns
  • When– Sunday 1st July
  • Time
    • SEQ- Registered participants will be allocated a session time. #1 8:30am – 11:30. #2 11:00am – 2:00pm
    • Nth QLD- 3pm

 

To register:

Registration will close 12:00pm Friday 29th June.
For additional information please contact Shayne Watson, Junior Elite Pathway Manager, [email protected] or 07 3876 2222

David Nilsson announced as Manager of Team Australia

Jun 13, 2018

DAVID NILSSON ANNOUNCED AS TEAM AUSTRALIA MANAGER

David ‘Dingo’ Nilsson has undoubtedly had one of the most influential baseball careers in Australia. Nilsson was the first Major League Baseball All-Star player to come out of Australia during his time playing for the Milwaukee Brewers. Nilsson is the current Head Coach of the Brisbane Bandits and has been since 2014; during his time as Head Coach he has led the Bandits to three consecutive championship titles. David Nilsson was announced as the fulltime High Performance Manager at Baseball Queensland in July of 2017 and has built successful foundations within this program.

Chief Executive Officer for Baseball Queensland, Paul Gonzalez comments, “I have had the honour of competing on the diamond with David Nilsson and have watched him contribute to the game as, arguably, the greatest Australian player to ever compete in this game. Since David’s appointment as the High Performance Manager, he has helped restructure the programs into five tiers ensuring we not only capture our high performance athletes but we continue meeting the needs of all our athletes. The program’s measurables speak for themselves, with 9 players on the National Team in 2018 as well as three Claxton Shields in the ABL across 2016, 2017,2018. He has 15 players committed to colleges within the Junior Elite Program as well as made Australian history by including the first female coach in Australian Baseball League.  David’s leadership has given Baseball Queensland the ability to grow the sport as well as build foundations for our people.”

Baseball Queensland sat down with David to get his comments on this momentous achievement.

David, it really is an incredible time to be a Queenslander, you’ve just won ‘Coach of the Year’ along with the ‘Queensland Greats Award’, what does it mean to you to represent Australia as the Manager of Team Australia?

“I grew up in Brisbane, Queensland, so you have to grow up here to understand what that really means, I’m a proud Queenslander and without the support of my family and all the other Queenslanders, whether they be players, coaches or staff, there is no way that I would be in this position and it makes it even more special that I am a Queenslander because the public understand what that means.”

Baseball Queensland would like to congratulate David on this wonderful achievement.

Written by Liv Wilson