Senior Playing Operations - Mid Season Report

I thought it timely to prepare an update for our members on the season to date. From Division 1 through Divison 7, Don Rice League (U19s) and the Women’s Baseball League we have fielded 12 teams this season. At this stage of the year we are tracking successfully across most divisions and teams with the majority of teams currently in the top 50% of their competition.

We have seen fantastic development of our emerging senior players through the continued efforts of Dale Ziersch, Lachlan Eldridge and their coaching staff amongst the entire Division 1 & 2 squad (Lachlan McGearey, Luke Thomson, Jason Scott & Ben Hilterbrand). Seeing not just the debuts but the successful contributions of a number of rookies and second year players has been energising for the entire club, and these young faces have been strongly supported by the play and efforts of our senior players – Beau Bishop, Aled Loy, Max Brown and new team captain Tim Day.

Our division 3 and 4 squads have had very strong starts to the season and the successful promotion of Division 5 medallist Holmes has really provided another spark to the Al Gores.

Due to playing numbers growth we expanded to include two division 5 and division 6 teams this year which has tested our playing depth at times – both division 5 teams are hitting their straps and climbing the ladder whilst our sixes and sevens are having some mixed fortunes. Special mention to Sticks as he continues to develop his squad that will see dividends as the season progresses I am sure. A thank you to all our coaches of these grades – Justin Millar, Brook Kilpatrick, CJ Shaw, Gary Brinkworth, Tony Mezzini, Darren Bails & Marty Beyer.

Our Women’s program continues to be successful with our numbers increasing from last season allowing us to maintain two solid squads. After five rounds our teams are just 1 and 2 wins out of first place respectively in a very even competition. Due to regular scheduling of games most Friday nights at the GBC the club has really become a vibrant place to be on Friday evenings – if you have yet come on down to check out this competition, do yourself a favour in the coming weeks. Jackson Gooddy who has joined the GBC as a first time coach is doing a very good job with his talented squad, if you see him around the club please welcome him and say hi.

Finally the Don Rice League has just restarted in the last three weeks and after a first up loss these young men have responded strongly with back to back wins – with many of these lads getting regular Division 1 & 2 playing time it’s an exciting time for Jeff Down’s young charges as they have a big target on their backs after taking out the title last season.

I hope everyone is enjoying the season so far – as you can see above we have put ourselves in a competitive position across the board and along with some hard work off the field in the first quarter of the year the club is setting itself up for what hopes to be a strong performance in all categories so we can continue to build year on year.

Thank you to the support of the entire support structure of the club, including my fellow board members and also our wonderful volunteers in the bar, canteen and catering committee – its great seeing so many people enjoying their time around the club both on and off the field.

If anyone wants to discuss any matters pertaining to the above teams please don’t hesitate to either see me around the club or drop me a line at craig.handy@hotmail.com – see you at Tiger Land.