Baseball Victoria is pleased to announce the life membership of Don Stephens following the BV Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 22 February 2022.
“We are proud to confer life membership on Don Stephens in accordance with Article 8 of the Baseball Victoria Constitution,” Baseball Victoria Interim CEO Gemma Scales said. “This is a well-deserved honour for a dedicated administrator who has spent decades serving the Geelong baseball community, working hard to support and ultimately grow the sport. On behalf of Baseball Victoria, we congratulate Don and thank him for his many contributions to Victorian baseball.”
Stephens has been extensively involved with Geelong Baseball Association since 1995 in a variety of roles including registrar, pennant committee chair, vice president and president. He has dedicated himself to supporting winter baseball in the region, serving as the executive officer for numerous GBA carnival teams, as well as umpire and scorer for junior and senior events.
Stephens is known for his positive, caring, and thoughtful approach to the integrity of the sport and the experience of those around him, and was surprised and humbled to hear of his life membership, thanking his fellow administrators at Geelong who nominated him.
“I was very shocked. I’ve lived my life by the philosophy that whatever you do, make sure you enjoy it, and that’s what the sport is to me. Baseball is fun but the lifelong friendships you make on and off the field give you reason to come back and continue. It’s just the people you meet along the way,” Stephens said.
His early days of baseball began when he ran into a schoolteacher picking up baseball equipment. It wasn’t long before he hit the field and fell in love with the game, first playing at Ringwood before moving to Geelong and taking on more of a leadership role at the local cub and association, embracing everything from premierships to running nationals at Geelong Baseball Centre.
“I just kept getting involved, being positive, and enjoying the game. To see the success of the game in Geelong from where we started to where we are now is fantastic, and in the future, I just hope to see the ongoing success of baseball in Victoria and throughout Australia.”