Archive for July, 2009

Major League Baseball, in partnership with the Australian Baseball Federation, is underwriting a national league to begin in 2010.

5 teams from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane are confirmed and there is an invitation for Canberra to be the sixth team if we are able to meet certain criteria.

The criteria is –

The ACT Government commit to upgrade the Narrabundah Baseball Park to AA standard.
$100,000 per annum sponsorship for three years.
5,000, $20 membership pledges.
These goals need to be achieved by the end of September 2009 to enable the Major League Baseball in New York to make their announcement about our involvement in the new League in October 2009.

Put simply, we are competing against ourselves. No other city or region is being offered the opportunity to join the competition.

There are a tremendous range of benefits that will flow to our local Baseball community if we become a part of Major League Baseball.

First of all it will put us on the Major League Baseball map. We will have the highest standard of competition Baseball ever played in Australia right here in Canberra. It will give our local players the opportunity to compete against the best players in Australia. Our players will have a clear pathway and we’ll have a vehicle to promote our great sport to the rest of Canberra and the region.

On August 10, Mark Peters, the CEO of the ABL will be in Canberra to meet with us to explain our opportunity. A public meeting at the McDonald Room, Eastlake Football Club, 7.30pm on Monday 10th August will hear from Mark about the competition structure, the opportunities of being involved in Major League Baseball and the potential spin offs for our clubs.

I’d encourage you to attend and please RSVP by Wednesday 5th August to the ACT Baseball Office on 6247 7244 or by email to actbaseball@bigpond.com
Your support and involvement in this meeting is an important first step.

The Canberra ABL team bid committee.

The following people have been elected the Tuggeranong Baseball Club Committee

President:  Alex Madigan alex_mads77@hotmail.com 0433887733

Treasurer:  Trevor Jenkins trev_jenkins@hotmail.com 0407954819

Secretary:  Kyla Hunt      Kyla.Hunt@defence.gov.au

Vice President:  Brian Shuman   brians_cathy@hotmail.com 0438247818

Registrar:  Trevor Jenkins trev_jenkins@hotmail.com 0407954819

Head Coach  Brett Tait      brett.tait@gmail.com 0402004215

The committee has scheduled a meeting to plan the forthcoming season. It is hoped the majority of players and junior parents will attend in support of the current committee.

Several members of the committee who have volunteered their time to the club over the last several years now see their boys moving to senior grades. It is therefore hoped a new wave of junior parents will step up to the plate to administor the clubs future.

Venue: Vikings Club Erindale.
Date: Thursday 23rd July
Time 7-00pm

America’s Major League Baseball is big backer of bold plans to have a new Australian national league up and running by November 2010.

Ten years after the old Australian Baseball League folded, the Australian Baseball Federation and MLB have begun the groundwork for a new national competition which will have the Claxton Shield as their prize.

The two groups have formed an ABL joint venture which will rely heavily upon the American sporting power for financing a league that will double as a developmental tool for Australian and foreign players.
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