At the Club’s Annual General Meeting held Friday 9 May 2025 in the clubrooms, the following transacted

• President’s address and welcome
• Confirmation of the previous Annual General Meeting minutes held on Tuesday, 23rd May 2023
• President’s report
• The 2024 Treasurer’s Report was approved – it was noted that the audited Financial Statement will not be presented until after 1 July 2025 and will include results 1 January 2024 – 30 June 2025 to fall in line with the Club Financial year of June – July each year.

The following Members were elected onto the Committee as follows:-

• President – Andrew Kelly
• Vice President – Club Operations – Rodney Gaunt
• Vice President – Baseball – Steve Rogers
• Treasurer – Katia Luck
• Secretary – Claire Stirling
• Registrar – Maite Hubbard
• Ordinary member
  • Ian Thatcher
  • Wendy Gaunt
  • Andrew Rawlinson
  • Kristina Rawlinson
  • Garry Pollock
  • Scot Russell
  • Bradley Brown
  • Sagree Govender
  • James Ronan
  • Bijanca Rogers
  • Bradley Matheson

• Vote of thanks to outgoing Executive
• Particular vote of thanks and best wishes to outgoing President Mark Coogan. A number of members spoke to the great job Mark has done during his tenure
• Other Business – BEN BROAD was given Life Membership during the Seniors Presentation night at The Lion

General Business – the following matters were discussed

• Wests Baseball Academy 2025
• Social functions
• Import players
• Social media
• Come and Try days & pre-season training

The Committee is seeking Expressions of Interest from any Member wishing to take on the role of a Team Coach; Assistant Coach or Pitching Coach for the 2025/2026 summer baseball season.

• Please read the Coach Selection Criteria
• Please also read the Coach Code of Conduct

• Applications to apply for a Coaching position close on Friday 23 May 2025

Coaches seeking a coaching appointment will need the following:-

• Relevant Coaching accreditation – USA Baseball Level A, B & C Certification

• Blue Card – To work or volunteer in regulated child-related employment or operate a regulated child-related business in Queensland, you may need a blue or exemption card.

Application are to be made online – see the form below

• Please apply via this EOI Form.

PLEASE NOTE – all Members wishing to be appointed as a Team Coache will be expected to participate in the Player Academy in July in delivering lesson material and conducting training sessions

All Members who wish to coach a team at Wests for the forthcoming season are invited to attend the forthcoming Coaches Academy. There is no fee payable for this course however a weekly commitment is required.

Please complete the Coach Expression of Interest Form here: https://wests.link/CoachEOI

The Coaches Academy commences on Friday 6 June and goes for four (4) weeks – two sessions per week – Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.

Resource material can be found as follows

• Wests Baseball – Coach Academy Lesson Plan
• Baseball Coaching

Coaches will then be expected to participate in the Players Development Academy which commences in July and goes for four (4) weeks – two sessions per week – Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.

The Agenda follows:

Register here – https://wests.link/CoachEOI

All Players, Coaches, Umpires and Scorers are invited to apply to attend the 2025 Wests Baseball Development Academy.

The Academy will go for four weeks with two sessions per week as follows:

• Starts: Friday 4 July 2025

• Ends: Sunday 27 July 2025

• Sessions: Friday evenings 6.00pm – 8.00pm; Sundays afternoons 3.00pm – 5.00pm

Costs: $100 per member and includes a Wests Academy T-Shirt. Register here now: https://wests.link/Academy

Aim of the Academy: is to provide technical and practical tuition for players, coaches, umpires and scorers. Players will get technical and playing tuition; coaches will coach players by conducting technical sessions and managing on field training sessions; umpires and scorers will be provided practical tuition by umpiring and scoring practice games where the players will play a game between themselves coached by the attending coaches – for umpires call strikes and balls during bullpen sessions will also occur.

Some time will be spent in the clubrooms learning new skills via video and coach discussions while the greater amount of time will be spent on the training track refining skills.

Register online here: https://wests.link/Academy

The Club has contracted Cooper Thomson – a professional groundsman at one of Brisbane’s largest golf courses and also a professional baseball field design and maintenance person. Cooper is a member of Windsor Baseball Club playing in the Division 1 Premiership team of the 2024/2025 season. He looks after the Windsor field for both Windsor and the Brisbane Bandits – arguably the best kept field in the GBL summer competition.

The repairs to Field 2 were completed today – larger cutouts around the bases and no grass/gravel lips to trip over.

Field 1 will be repaired by Cooper in a months time when he is back from a well deserved holiday.

Wests have become a Corporate Member of The Lion and we are encouraging all members to also join The Lion as a corporate member.

FREE corporate membership at The Lion includes 15% off all food and beverage. If any of you have a membership card with The Lion, they can easily swap over to corporate membership for you.

It is the Club’s intention to use the facilities at The Lion more often during next season including monthly get togethers after a Sunday Division 1 game for a meal and drinks – it is only ten minutes down the road from our Club

If you wish to join, please use the following link

https://wests.link/TheLion

Wests are pleased to announce the DATES for our 2025 pre-season Come & Try Days

1. Come & Try Day (1) – Saturday 2 August – 3.00pm – 5.00pm
2. Come & Try Day (2) – Sunday 3 August – 9.00am – 11.00am
3. Come & Try Day (3) – Sunday 10 August – 3.00pm – 5.00pm

To enable the Club to conduct these sessions, we will need a lot of help from all members

We will need

1. Coaches to teach baseball skills to new players
2. Parents to help in talking to new player parents about their experiences at the Club
3. Any member to assist with the administration of each day such as record keeping and helping set up and put away all the equipment needed for each session

Please email Rodney if you can help via ClubOps@WestsBaseball.com.au

JOB DONE

Thanks to Jim Laird and his crew – the pouring of two concrete slabs on Field 2 so that we can permanently affix the metal dugouts so they do not continue to be blown over during strong winds has been completed successfully.

Thanks to the two volunteers that attended – Robert Madden and Shaun Hunter

This is Phase 1 of our improvements to Field 2

Phase 2 will be the installation of a permanent backnet and scorers hut for the Rookieball field which can also host Little League games possibly including a permanent Little League distance pitching mound.

Phase 3 will be the removal of the brick dugouts on the Field 2 Little League field and installation of the 10 metre long metal dugouts that have been on site for the last few years.

We wiill need significantly more volunteers to attend and assist if Phases 2 & 3 are to be completed successfully.

It is with great pleasure that the Committee has bestowed the honour of Life Membership to Club stalwart – Ben Broad.

Ben received his award in front of all of his friends and team mates at the recent Seniors Presentation Night held at The Lion.

Ben has been with the Club since his junior playing days back in the 1980’s. He has played at our many and various fields over the ensuing years including Hero’s Park at Taringa; Western Districts Australian Football Club in Chelmer; Sherwood Australian Football Club’s ground; Dunlop Park, Corinda and finally Atthow’s Park Westcombe Street Darra.

Ben has done it all at Wests – player, coach and supporter.

Ben is one of the nicest and kindest persons you will ever have the pleasure of meeting.

Well done Ben – an honour truly deserved.

From the Morriss Family

Our daughter and sister in law Chantelle, a loving mother of four beautiful children, has recently been diagnosed with Acute myeloid leukaemia.

We are launching this GoFundMe to provide financial relief to Andrew & Chantelle, helping to cover medical expenses, everyday living costs, and any additional support they may need in the months to come. No donation is too small, and every contribution will make a world of difference in easing the financial burden on this family while they focus on what truly matters—Chantelle’s health and recovery, and their time together as a family.

Please join us in supporting Chantelle through this incredibly tough journey. Your generosity, love, and prayers mean the world to her and her children. Together, we can help them fight, heal, and stay strong during this unimaginable time.

https://gofund.me/143b421d

Please give generously if at all possible