There have been several updates to the Baseball Victoria Board and Executive with the appointment of three new directors including a new President, with new Baseball Victoria CEO, Ritchie Hinton, also commencing this month.
The Board of Baseball Victoria confirms President Meghan Mayman has resigned from her role effective 19 November 2021 and will stay on until Christmas to assist with the final stages of transition as part of the Audit, Risk and Finance Committee.
The Baseball Victoria Board met on Saturday to appoint Andy Rose as the new President following Meghan’s departure, which is part of a seamless, planned transition into the next chapter of Baseball Victoria leadership as we get back to baseball after numerous COVID challenges.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the board as a Director and President, and I would like to thank my fellow Directors, previous CEO Kristie Middleton, interim CEO Gemma Scales, and the entire BV team for their knowledge, time, and energy during this challenging six-month period while managing COVID,” Meghan said.
“It’s been fantastic to work with a dynamic and collegiate group of Directors as we reassessed our strategy and implemented changes to benefit Victorian baseball as a whole and ensure BV is in a good financial and governance position leading up to the VSBL season.”
The BV Board would like to take this opportunity to thank Meghan for her leadership through the difficult pandemic period.
Two other new Directors have been appointed to the board in addition to Andy Rose, with Jennifer Pitson and Brett Mitsch also confirmed on Saturday.
“Congratulations to Andy, Jennifer and Brett on their appointments. Thank you to Grant Weir as chair of the BV Nominations Committee, Amy McCann and Joanna O’Connor as Nominations Committee representatives, and Rob Stanley for the extra assistance throughout the director recruitment process.
Thank you to Sportspeople for their guidance on the recruitment process, and all those who nominated - we were thrilled with the number of interested candidates,” Meghan added.
“Of course, thank you also to the players, umpires, coaches, and most of all the committee members who have shown incredible resilience during these difficult times.
I wish the new Directors and the whole BV community all the best for a bright future.”
Andy Rose – President
Andy is honoured to take on the role of Baseball Victoria President to help lead his beloved sport to a bright future across Victoria. Over the last 25 years, Andy has run a successful photographic and digital company, with a strong focus on strategic direction and team management for advertising campaigns on both local and national levels. Over the past decade, Andy has been heavily involved in Victorian baseball, coaching teams, managing committees, and facilitating programs from community t-ball up to high performance.
He has also served as President of North Balwyn Baseball Club since 2010, where he focused on growing junior participation and offering more opportunities to participate in baseball. Andy is excited to direct his enthusiasm and creative thinking to further the strategic plan of growing grassroots baseball and fostering the next generations of talent in Victoria.
“I’m pleased to be appointed Baseball Victoria President and look forward to working with the entire board and our new CEO, Ritchie Hinton, to develop and execute a new strategic plan focused on sustainable success for baseball across Victoria. We have an excellent opportunity to boost our junior development, get more kids into the game at the t-ball and under-12 levels, and we want to make sure all clubs have the resources to deliver a really good product.”
“By giving an amazing experience to all participants, we can see more kids and adults coming out to play baseball. As a state sporting organisation, we will be working towards these strategic goals and ensuring the proper resources are in place to increase the profile of Victorian baseball and empower our clubs and members to make the most of baseball opportunities.”
Jennifer Pitson – Director
Jennifer joins Baseball Victoria with over 20 years of sport industry experience including strategic, commercial, participation, marketing and event positions. Jennifer holds a Master of Business Administration (Entrepreneurial Management) and is currently studying a Doctor of Business Administration at the Australian Institute of Business. Jennifer is a consultant with Woodlyon Pty Ltd., having previously served as General Manager - Commercial & Development at Motorsport Australia and Sponsorship Manager at Bowls Australia. At both organisations, she was responsible for developing and implementing relevant strategic plans to ensure key commercial and participation objectives were met.
Throughout her career, Jennifer has worked for the Australian Football League, Melbourne Racing Club, and City of Melbourne managing strategic partnerships with Cricket Australia, Australian Rugby Union, and Melbourne Vixens to name a few. She’s passionate about strengthening commercial and participation strategies to benefit sporting organisation members and keeping people active. She’s looking forward to influencing the future of Baseball Victoria and ensuring grassroots baseball continues to encourage teamwork, community engagement, and long-lasting connections.
“I’m excited to join Baseball Victoria and lend my extensive skillset and sports administration knowledge to this state sporting organisation in an exciting period of strategic planning and future growth. I believe baseball can influence people of all ages to keep active while building a strong platform to encourage teamwork and community engagement, and I’m thrilled to be involved and to start working with the other directors.”
Brett Mitsch – Director
Brett is an experienced senior banking executive and current managing Director of Steam Plains Capitol. Brett holds a Master of Business Administration and has extensive experience in global executive leadership, NFP governance, and management. His previous roles as an advisor, portfolio manager, and board member allowed him to develop and execute a range of growth strategies, and he has also represented at numerous investor conferences and industry presentations.
As a player who has returned to the sport after 30 years, Brett is passionate about baseball and driving increased participation at the grassroots level.
“I’m really looking forward to working with the board and management team to raise the level of awareness and interest of the game here in Victoria. As part of our new strategic plan, we have the opportunity to get more people involved who love the game but haven’t played it and give Victorians the chance to play baseball at any age through pathways with local clubs and the potential growth of new clubs. I’m excited to see how we can tap into the global baseball community to further enhance the game in Australia.”
The Baseball Victoria Board once again deeply thanks Meghan for her contributions and welcomes Andy, Jennifer, Brett and Ritchie to their roles.
Click HERE to read more about the Baseball Victoria Board of Directors.