Do you know a talented young athlete who needs help with their sporting travel costs?
Emerging Athlete Pathways is a Queensland Government initiative that aims to assist young Queensland athletes on their pathway to elite success. The travel subsidy provides financial assistance to athletes and officials under the age of 18 who face long travel times to get to competitions.
Eligible athletes or officials who need to travel at least 250km one way to their event can apply for up to $200 for a state or state school event, $400 for a national or national school event, or $600 for an international event.
Based on community feedback, the Queensland Government has improved the subsidy, with Emerging Athlete Pathways trialling pre-event payments from January 2020 for eligible events.
By supporting young athletes, the Queensland Government aims to assist the next generation of Queensland’s sporting talent and inspire others to lead an active lifestyle.
Pathways for athletes, coaches and officials also helps ensure young athletes are attracted to and stay in Queensland as their home state, and keeps Queensland winning.
The program is now open.
It’s all part of Activate! Queensland 2019–2029, the Queensland Government’s 10-year strategy to get more Queenslanders moving, more often.
Through the community consultation process for Activate! Queensland, athletes told us it would be helpful to receive their travel subsidy before travelling.
As a result of this feedback, Emerging Athlete Pathways will see a trial of pre-event payments come into effect from 23 January 2020.
To view the current list of eligible events, check your own eligibility, or apply for the subsidy, visit qld.gov.au/emergingathletepathways.
Adding an eligible event to the events list
Noting that applications for the subsidy can take up to 10 weeks to process and with applicants unable to apply for pre-event payment less than 8 weeks from the event, it is vital that event nominators provide event details to Sport and Recreation well in advance to ensure they are available for pre-event payment.
Details can be supplied now via a full 12-month calendar of events or, as events are locked in.
If event details are not supplied sufficiently in advance, applicants may not be eligible for pre-payment but they can still apply for post-event payment as per the current program arrangement.
Applicants can apply for the subsidy up to 16 weeks prior to an event and six months post-event.
I would firstly like to acknowledge both Teams who competed at their best during the Nationals. I was quietly proud of the player’s efforts. It was fantastic to see both U16 and U18 play off for the Gold. Our coaching staff did an awesome job in preparing the teams over the last 12 weeks.
A big thank you to our Head Coach’s, Dan Wilson (U16) and David Badke (U18) who were fantastic in managing playing time whilst balancing each players performance.
Personally, it is positive to see how far all the players have come since early 2019. The off season programs have played a massive part in setting a foundation for their success. Though it was a fantastic result and memories have been created, this year was just a blip on the radar for our young baseballers progressing through the Pathway Programs and beyond. Our aim is for our individual players striving for positive holistic outcomes and I am expecting this year’s result will assist with their progression.
I will be sitting down with the coaching staff shortly to review the program. The outcomes from this meeting will commence the early stages of preparation for our 2020 Off Season Programs.
Before the Off Season commences, we still have our Youth and Open Women Teams preparing for their Nationals. The Youth Team are looking at repeating their results and our Open Team have put together a plan to improve their result from 2019
Lastly I would like to acknowledge all the parents supporting our Pathway Programs. Your support is always greatly appreciated.
Thank you to all who contributed and made it a memorable Australian Youth Championships.
Baseball Queensland would like to congratulate Brandan Bidois, Alex Skepton, Liam MacDonald and Kai-Noa Wynyard on being selected in the 20 man roster to represent Team Australia that is set to head to South Korea for the WBSC U-18 World Cup.
Baseball Queensland is inviting coaches to Express their Interest and Register for vacant coaching positions within our QLD Bandits State Teams. BQ strive to deliver programs with holistic outcomes whilst creating an optimal learning environment for our athletes and coaches within our High Performance Pathway Programs.
Vacant Positions
Youth Women
Assistant Coach
Pitching Coach
Executive Officer
U16
Assistant Coach
Pitching Coach
Executive Officer
U18
Assistant Coach
Pitching Coach
Executive Officer
Open Women
Assistant Coach
Pitching Coach
Executive Officer
If you are a coach who wishes to express their interest and register please follow our two step process:
Newly appointed High Performance Manager Shayne Watson is delighted to release the Baseball Queensland player pathway will look like for the immediate future.
Watson, who has been working within the Baseball Queensland (BQ) player pathway for 13 years is excited to tailer design our High Performance (HP) and Athlete Development Program (ADP). His previous role as Junior Elite Program manager was the latest step in widening his understanding of the holistic approach needed to build healthy, passionate baseballers.
BQ’s Athlete Development and High-Performance programs are listed on our website in detail. Here is a quick summary of how the programs look.
U13s Athlete Development Progam. (Pilot Program)
A new program for 2019 aiming to give little league aged players in-game experience across a wide range of positions. This will run between July and October.
Junior League Athlete Development Program
This program aims to develop the fundamental aspects of baseball whilst engaging the athlete to also increase their knowledge and critical thinking. This program will run between July to August.
Athlete Development Program (U16, U18 and Women)
This program is the entry stage into the BQ High-Performance pathway and is used as quality preparation for the summer season. This program runs from July to September.
QLD Bandits State Team (U16, U18, Youth Women and Open Women)
Another long term athlete development program that tailors to equipping those selecting within our state representative sides competing at National Championships. These programs run periodically based on the timing of National Championships.
State Squad Performance Program (U16, U18, U20 and Women)
This program aims to develop our athletes in preparation for marquee events (Nations, ABL, International College etc). The Long term athlete development program is aimed at our high-performance athletes and runs throughout the year.
As baseball continues to strengthen within our state our focus continues to build a better future for baseball. We are excited about our new athlete development programs to start this year and will continue to inform of new opportunities that are created for more athletes to engage in.
It is with great pleasure that Baseball Queensland [BQ] announces Mr Shayne Watson as the new Athlete Development & High-Performance Manager for Baseball Queensland. Shayne has been a staff member of Baseball Queensland for 13 years and brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and insight to the role. Shayne has been the Junior Elite Pathway Manager for two years and has experienced considerable success, increasing the number of participants in our junior state programs and athlete development programs.
Shayne has designed and developed a program that will engage Baseball Queensland’s emerging, developing and high-performance male and female athletes in the redesigned Athele Development Program [ADP] /High Performance [HP] plan.
His experience also includes being part of the Brisbane Bandits, winning 4 consecutive ABL Championships and the Claxton Shield, as part of the coaching group lead by previous BQ High-Performance Manager and Brisbane Bandits Coach, David Nilsson.
Speaking on his appointment as the High-Performance Manager, Shayne states he is eager to begin a new chapter for BQ and spoke about the areas he is keen to grow for the State.
“I am looking forward to taking on this role. It will provide opportunities for our male and female elite level athletes to develop and strive for holistic outcomes. Not only to improve their sport-specific skills and knowledge but also for them to become future leaders within our sport.
Along with developing individual aspects within their game, our program will also be prioritizing athlete well-being and character building throughout. BQ coaches within the Pathway will also have opportunities to develop themselves as coaches and mentors throughout the Program.
We have several of our Pathway Programs commencing mid-year that will cater to a range of athletes from U13 to Open Women. Our newly formed State Performance Squad has already commenced in South East Queensland, with our North Queensland based athletes commencing mid-year. I have expanded this program to eight months catering for 25 identified athletes from U16 – Open Women. This direction provides more time on task and more opportuntites to develop athletes with access to a greater range of qualified and experienced coaches.”
Our Athlete Development Programs will commence mid-year fostering a Long-Term Athlete Development framework providing support and guidance for our young athletes coming through the Pathway.
As Baseball continues to grow in our state and we experience increased success with our regional and state teams, we are excited to continue expanding how the Athelete Development Program provides for baseball in our state and how BQ can look to increase numbers entering our High-Performance Pathway.
Baseball Queensland’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Gonzalez said Shayne’s appointment will continue to build strong pathways for our Junior and Senior players through the high-quality programs Shayne is creating.
“As CEO of Baseball Queensland, I have been fortunate to watch the sport evolve over the past two years, particularly within the Athlete Development & High-Performance Programs. In 2017, David Nilsson, the then Baseball Queensland High Performance Manager, designed a Five-Tier success program in collaboration with Athlete Development Manager, Shayne Watson and the Queensland Academy of Sport. The focus of the program was to successfully achieve High Performance outcomes within the elitelevels of the game, with a focus on building the mental and physical skill sets of Queensland’s emerging and developing players.
Shayne’s experience working within all tiers of Baseball Queensland’s programs as well as the National program made him the perfect fit for the new program design.”
Through the support of Baseball Australia, the Queensland Academy of Sport, the coaches within the program and newly acquired partners, Pivotal Motion and Acceleration, Baseball Queensland’s vision of “Building a better future for baseball” looks as strong as ever.”
Shayne will take on the High-Performance Manager role immediately and will share his detailed outline of the High-Performance programs publicly next week through the Baseball Queensland website and social media sites.
