On Sunday morning the Queensland Youth Women competed against their parents in their 3rd annual contest. This years game was another tight affair seeing the youth women win 17-14.
Despite having batting superstar Louis Zamora who continually showed the youth women his powerful hitting skills, Roger Bastow’s base running speed being crippled by an unstable knee, the parents seemed to come undone even when fielding 17 players in defence. Even those who know the game well like Brad Hamson, President of Redlands Baseball Club, weren’t enough to get the Parents over the line. Our Youth Women continued to hit gaps and pester the parents to steal the win.
All fun aside, this initiative was introduced by Board Director Geoff Wade who is the Head Coach for Queensland Youth Women. His intention was to help parents understand and appreciate the challenge and skill level required to play the game of baseball. By experiencing the game first hand a true understanding of key elements like concentration and physical endurance was developed so the parents have an appreciation of what their daughters face when they take the field.
Geoff ‘coached’ the parent’s team and Hannah Marshall was appointed the coach of the Youth Women’s team. This was important learning for the girls as they had to work out line ups, positions, and strategy for ensuring equal participation. Having to make these decisions will hopefully help the girls to understand why coaches make the decisions that they do when managing a game.
A fun day was had by all with both teams experiencing new situations that not only will help long-term on the field for our youth women, but also continue to build quality relationships outside of the game.
It is also rumoured that one of our youth women could face a disciplinary hearing at home for striking out her father. We will have more information on this in the coming days.
On behalf of Baseball Queensland, I would like to acknowledge and thank everyone involved in the 2018- 2019 GBL Little League, Junior League, Senior League and U20 competitions, as well as the 2018-2019 Gold Coast Baseball Association Little League, Junior League and Senior League competitions.
The strategic pillars for Baseball Queensland are: Grow our People, Grow our Game, Grow our Brand, Grow our Business.
This season through the collective efforts of so many individuals, Baseball Queensland has seen continued growth within these four key pillars within the sport. It has been Baseball Queensland’s privilege to work with the individuals from our Regions, Clubs, Umpires, Scorekeepers and Volunteers of this great game. Through your collective approach for positive outcomes, Baseball Queensland will continue to “Build a Better Future for Baseball.”
Firstly, I would like to thank Rod Gaunt, Reg Renouf and their respective committees for their tireless and selfless work and efforts throughout the season. There is no GBL or GCBA competition without quality individuals making decisions and putting in the countless hours of work behind the scenes. Thank you for your commitment and passion for developing the game of baseball in South East Queensland.
Secondly, I would like to thank our club President’s, committees, umpires, scorers, grounds crew, parents and families. There is a multitude of people that work day in day out to ensure we have a quality competition for our competitors. Without you, the future of baseball doesn’t have an opportunity to develop and grow.
The GBL and GCBA are successful because of the passion of everyone, that makes our game great. As we continue to build a better future for baseball, we are continually reminded of the dedication of the individuals who play their part to build a great future for the player, club, region and state.
We at Baseball Queensland are grateful to you and thank you for successful Little League, Junior League, Senior League, and U 20 competitions in 2018-2019.
Best Regards,
Paul Gonzalez- Chief Executive Officer BQ
GBL Junior Grand Final Winners
Little League Rams North : Narangba Demons Little League Rams South : Redlands Rays Little league Bandits : Redcliffe Padres Red Junior League Rams North : All Stars Junior League Rams South : Redlands Rays Junior League Bandits : Coomera Cubs Senior League Rams : All Stars/Rapids ( Rapstars) Senior League Bandits : Redcliffe Padres White U20 Rams : Mudgeeraba Redsox U20 Bandits : Carina/Windsor
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY: APPRECIATION By Liv Wilson
Over the past year, Baseball Queensland has actively paved the way for women in baseball by introducing a number of new initiatives into their calendar, all with the common goal of increasing the participation and enjoyment of women in baseball.
As we celebrate International Women’s Day, Baseball Queensland would like to commend the achievements of all the individuals and teams that have been integral to the growth of female baseball. In 2018 Geoff Wade, Director of Participation initiated a sub-committee specifically focussed on ensuring the continued growth of female participation in baseball with many fresh and innovative ideas. Stemming from this, there have been a number of achievements throughout the season that should be acknowledged.
Baseball Queensland ran a Junior Elite Program for females which began with a 5 week Girl’s Development Program that lead into the inaugural Women’s State Titles held in September. The QLD Women’s and Youth State Titles ran over four busy days, with fantastic participation rates and feedback. To encourage women of all ages to play, Baseball Queensland also ran a nine week Open GBL Women’s League in late 2018. Four teams entered from around Brisbane and competed admirably for the Janelle Dunsdon Trophy, which was won by Redcliffe Padres. This inaugural season was very well received and proved to not only be a lot of fun but also assisted in generating significant awareness for the sport within the local media and the broader community. In a fantastic demonstration of what can be achieved through determination and dedication at grassroots level, Western Districts Bulldogs entered a girl’s team into the GBL Junior League competition, and Carina Red Sox entered a women’s team into the GBL Division 4 competition.
July 2018 marked the first time Baseball Queensland were able to field two complete female teams in the Timberjacks International Friendship Series in Lismore. A number of individuals have excelled both on and off the field and we would like to congratulate their achievements. Luisa Gauci, 17, from Carina Redsox Baseball Club will be the first female baseballer from Queensland to be accepted into the U.S. collegiate system. August 2019 marks a special month for Gauci as she will set off for Menlo College, California to embark on the first leg of her college journey. Not only is Luisa the first female baseballer from Queensland to be accepted into college, but only the second female in the entire country.
Queensland also had two very talented local athletes feature on the Australian Emeralds roster for the 2018 Women’s Baseball World Cup. Tammy McMillan and Taylah Welch wore green and gold in August to represent their country in Florida, USA along with 18 other Australians. They competed extremely well and made us all very proud.
Brisbane Bandits Assistant Coach, Lisa Norrie has been an integral part of the Brisbane Bandits 4th consecutive win in the Australian Baseball League. Lisa was the first ever female coach in the ABL and is now the first female coach to win back-to-back championships. Lisa was also the assistant coach for The Australian Emeralds while they competed in the WBWC.
Baseball Queensland would like to acknowledge and celebrate the marvellous contribution of all females in our great sport. Whether you are a player, volunteer, coach, scorer, umpire, club committee representative, regional representative, Board of Management representative, fan, supporter, cheerleader or “Mum’s taxi”, thank you for all that you do and the spirit with which you do it. Baseball is significantly richer because of your involvement – long may it continue to increase.
Baseball Queensland’s CEO, Paul Gonzalez wishes to pass on his congratulations and thanks, “Baseball Queensland and the Board of Management would like to acknowledge the collective efforts of everyone who make contributions within the sport, through continued collaboration and strategic focus, women in baseball will help shape and grow this great game into the future. As CEO of Baseball Queensland, I could not be prouder of the genuine efforts of the collective group’s ability to work towards cohesive solutions within the vision of Baseball Queensland, in “Building a Better Future for Baseball.”
