History of St George Junior Baseball Club Inc. Unlike many other sporting clubs, St George Junior Baseball Club Inc. has a relatively short history. The club became known as St George Junior Baseball Club in 1995/96 after its relocation to H.V.Evatt Park at Lugarno. It was also during this season that the club became an incorporated body. With the relocation, the club had space, but needed to invest in the netting for the safety of all which were erected in the 1998/99 season.
The origins of the club actually stem back to 1982/83 when a small group of players with their parents banded together and were known as St George PCYC. In that formative season, the club played games at Ador Avenue in Rockdale and the club had only one team in the Under 10’s. This group was led by Anne Wotton as the inaugural President, as well as many other Committee positions, and with Norm Hord as the coach. The original uniform of the club was red pants and white tops!
The club scored its first premiership win in the 1986/87 season in the Under 11 competition. Since this time, the club has won many more premierships in most ages/divisions.
During the 1989/90 season, the club expanded from the one team, to three spanning Under 10’s, 14’s, and 16’s. The club continued to grow in the early 90’s and this, together with some other issues meant that it was time to find an alternative home ground.
As the club started to expand, considerable stress was placed on the club finances as the players needed uniforms and equipment. A few families decided that in the interest of their children and the sport that they would loan the club some money to help the club out. Whilst it took some time to pay these loans back, the club continued to grow and prosper and without the aid of these families, it is likely that the club may have folded.
The Hurstville Council region (now Georges River) had few areas that baseball could be adequately played. Many of the grounds used in previous years had given way to road widening, other sports, and the growing need for housing. Kempt Field at Hurstville was used for training and some junior games. Donnelly Reserve at Connells Point was used for training. Some grading days and trials were even held at Gannons Park.
The move to Evatt Park at Lugarno provided a further boost to the number of players and teams. At the time of the move, the club had 9 teams competing in the junior competition and the space at Evatt meant that games could be held concurrently with appropriate space for baseball and tee-ball. Whilst we could share the field in summer with the local Cricket Association, the club could not get access to the field for the winter months meaning that a full diamond could not be permanently created and maintained.
In the 1997/98 season, the club entered its first senior team into the Cronulla Sutherland Minor League competition. In its first year in 3rd grade, the team were grand finalists and won their first senior premiership in the 1999/2000 season.
During the 2003/4 season, the club entered a team into the Georges River Softball Competition broadening the base of the club. This venture into softball was only for a short period ending at the conclusion of the 2004/5 season.
In the winter of 2007, the club entered its first senior team into one of the longest running competitions in Australia, the St George Baseball Association. Initially comprised of a number of Dads of junior players, this was the first of many teams to play in this competition.
In 2009, Sydney hosted the World Masters Tournament and our club entered two teams. We had one team in the Over 35’s and one in the Over 45’s. Neither team made the finals but both had a great time competing against teams from other associations and indeed overseas clubs.
Whilst the club is yet to produce a MLB player, there have been many players to attain high individual honours. Several players have made the junior association representative teams over the years. Some of these have gone on further to play for New South Wales. Some players have progressed to local Major League clubs. We have had an Australian representative and had players represent in teams in international tournaments, etc..
Over the years, St George Junior Baseball Club has been a family oriented club with many families staying for many years and having more than one family member being involved over a long period. Several families have had more than one child playing as well as their parent/s being involved as a coach, manager, committee person, etc.. This has provided the club with an enormous strength since its inception as St George PCYC and holds it in good stead today.
The club has also been involved with, and held many social gatherings and events, mainly in the name of fun. Many presentation days were held at Evatt with a players versus their parents baseball game. Some days there was a mothers’ T-Ball game. There used to be an annual Mothers’ T-Ball Gala day at Bosco where the club entered teams. Many laughs were had at all these events with many parents realising it wasn’t necessarily as easy as it looked!
In looking back over the years, it has also been interesting to see the number of junior players who have also taken up coaching of both junior and senior sides, as well as officiating games. A number of parents have also been involved in the management of both the local junior and senior competitions as well as being involved at a state level.