The Committee at MCC Baseball are excited about the forthcoming 2023/24 summer season.
Winter finals are underway, and we have been working hard on getting the club ready for the season.
Hopefully this message provides a lot of the answers to questions relevant to the season, including information on pre-season, playing dates, ground updates, coaching and juniors.
There will be further questions and announcements, so please keep an eye on our Facebook page, Instagram and TeamApp or contact myself or anyone of the committee for more information.
Whitehorse Council have been working on getting the ground ready for summer with more work to finalise over the next week or so.
We will still be able to work a full pre-season around the work, and the result of the works will be amazing. The game lights are tried and tested and ready to go.
Coaching
We are seeking expressions of interest for players or coaches who would be interested in coaching one of our Senior men’s or Junior teams for 2023/24.
MBC will be fielding teams in the Premier League (4) and Metro League (2) and Womens State League plus juniors as mentioned above.
Expectations for the Senior team Coaches will be:
- Game day management of a specific team
- Participate in the overall team’s selection process
- Provide weekly feedback of the team and player performance to the rest of the coaching panel
- Participation at training is optional depending on team coached.
Expectations for the Junior team Coaches will be:
- Provide a safe, fun, learning environment for all junior players
- Encourage teamwork, good sportsmanship and love for the game
- Attend junior team training weekly, working with the training co-ordinator to develop skills
- Be a good role model for the next generation of juniors coming through
All coaches across the club need WWC cards.
If you are interested in nominating to coach a team, please confirm your interest by filling the form available via below
Note that coaches for our senior 1sts and 2nds team are already confirmed.
Welcome Marcel Giraud
Marcel Giraud has agreed to join MCC Baseball for the season. Marcel is a German LHP who is currently playing in France and will play off for the European Championship in late September.
He is currently involved with a youth program for high performance for 12-18 year olds.
Marcel will be our junior training coordinator on a Wednesday night, and also work with the Women’s team, especially focusing on Pitching development.

Season Structure:
Seniors (Division one) has been adjusted to not be a promotion and relegation system. Instead, we have Premier League (16 clubs, 4 teams per club), State League (9 teams) and Metro and Regional Metro Leagues (with a minimum of one team per club but possibly several teams).
The initial draft fixtures for these leagues have been released for comment by the clubs, and we are working closely with other clubs to facilitate a mixture of Saturday games at times for our ones and twos, potentially triple headers with the women (who will play all games Saturday), and Arthur Field games for the Red and Blue teams.
Once all clubs have played each other once, the Premier league shall split to top half and bottom half for the remainder of the season.
More details to follow however feel free to ask Andrew Kent or Steve Pahos if you seek further clarification.
Umpires/ Tribunal
Baseball Victoria and the Umpire’s Association are trying to recruit more umpires, and as such they have created pathways for players to transition to umpiring. This could also be a great way to earn extra money – play an early game and then if you are qualified, throw on an Umpire shirt and get paid for the second game. Contact Steve Pahos for more information.
Baseball Victoria is clamping down heavily on poor player, with a focus on supporting umpires.
Financial penalties for individuals will apply – there are not club penalties so we will ensure all players and coaches are aware of the offences and penalties before the season start.
Posters will be in the clubroom too.
Fees:
Club and BV fees will be published next Friday 1st when the BV portal opens. As a guide, club fees include team entry fees, coaching costs, club running costs including facilities maintenance and utilities, baseball, field maintenance including potentially a new home run fence (in talks with council), umpiring fees, playing equipment like the pitching machine, bases and screens etc.
We do not want anybody to stop playing due to financial hardship.
Please talk to Andrew Kent, Jason Webster, Dominique Williams or Murray Noble if you are experiencing difficulty, we will work with you to ensure you can continue to play. These discussions will be kept strictly confidential.
Senior players coaching junior teams will receive a free ticket to Presentation Night. Note that BV and BA fees must still be paid by all players.

Responsible Service of Alcohol
If you are a player or social member of the baseball club we will cover 50% of the fee for the course (details of social memberships to be released next Friday)
Monday September 4th, 6:15pm – 10:00pm at the clubrooms (dinner provided)
The course cost is $60.00 per person for Good Sports Clubs (they can cost up to $150 at TAFE). Once you have registered.
Send your receipt to Steve via secretary@mccbaseball.org.au so we can reimburse you on the night. In order to attend this Good Sports RSA course, you are required to pre-enrol.
To enrol, go to https://www.liqcon.com.au/goodsports and use the password “Goodsports”. Select the RSA course, click “Book” and complete the enrolment process. As part of the enrolment process, you are required to enter a unique student identifier, a USI. If needed, go to https://www.usi.gov.au/ and follow the prompts.

Canteen/Kitchen/Bar @ Surrey Park
The club are keen to hear from any players, parents or perhaps siblings/friends who are interested in assisting the club with running the canteen and bar. We should be OK for Friday nights with juniors, then we operate the canteen Saturdays during games (not every week), and on Sundays.
Masters on Monday nights have a social meal after games, and there are also meals on Thursdays after senior training.
We would be happy to discuss options of taking responsibility for all aspects of the canteen, with the club prepared to pay the right person in this critical role(s).
Any enquiries please contact Steve Pahos via secretary@mccbaseball.org.au or each out to Murray via 0413 555 892 or chairman@mccbaseball.org.au