Baseball Victoria Hall of Fame Administrators: Les Flower
Les Flower has a long and distinguished career as an administrator in Victorian baseball. He was appointed executive director of Baseball Victoria December 1989 after a success career at the State Bank of Victoria.
Les built relationships with the Department of Sport and Recreation after some turmoil previously. He worked hard to establish a professional relationship with the ABL Teams (the Melbourne Monarchs and Waverley/Melbourne Reds).
Les obtained a substantial grant to enable the hosting of the 1991 AA U 16 World Championship at Altona Stadium. Les worked with Sport and Recreation to establish the second field at Altona suitable to host National Junior Championships.
He managed numerous National under age championships at Altona and Geelong. Les assisted Baseball Victoria entry into the Victorian Institute of Sport Program that ran for many years. He introduced women’s baseball into mainstream competition in 1997 with an immediate success and also runners up receiving the Silver Prime Ministers Award in the first year.
Women’s Baseball is now a strength in the Summer Competition with more than 50 Senior teams. Les applied for and received a grant to commence a Masters’ Baseball Competition from Vic Health Foundation. In the first year the competition commenced with 8 Teams. In 2024 it has grown to 34 teams in 38+ and now a 45 + competition.
With assistance of the Victorian Government Les travelled to Fort Myers in the United States to promote the 2000 World Masters Games. Les was manager of the Baseball Competition of the World Masters Games at Geelong Baseball Centre which was a major success.
Les introduced a state Licensing scheme in the Summer Competition which eventually went National. He was the National Co Ordinator of the scheme until it was unfortunately shut down. Les was heavily involved with the transformation of Baseball Victoria through the amalgamation of the Victorian Baseball Association and the Provincial Baseball League.
Les introduced an incentive program for clubs to pay affiliation fees early to receive a discount which assisted the financial position of the association that was struggling in 1989/90. Les introduced a player registration and insurance fee. After retiring from the position of executive director in 2000 Les continued to maintain the position of financial manager for the next 10 Years.
Les worked with the Geelong Baseball Association in relation to the marketing of the Geelong Baseball Complex. Les continue to maintain the position of managing all match day sheet, including publishing of all statistics, umpire payments and MVP votes. On the playing field Les started as a junior at Williamstown Baseball Club in 1962 and played 785 senior games, retiring in 2020.
His highlight was pitching a no hitter against Waverley in 1973. Les was President of the Williamstown Baseball Club for 5 years, secretary for 3 years and finance Manager for 13 Years. Les was awarded Life Membership of the Williamstown Club in 1978 and Life Membership of Baseball Victoria in 2002. Les was awarded a lifetime of service award to Baseball Victoria in 2018.