Baseball Australia is pleased to announce Mr Cam Vale as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Vale is a seasoned sports administrator; having held executive positions in both AFL and NRL, and most recently as CEO of Hockey Australia.
Vale’s appointment has been welcomed by Baseball Australia Chairman David Hynes, who said Vale was the standout choice in a very competitive field.
“Cam is a strategic-thinking leader who comes to baseball with a great reputation for driving change and setting and successfully implementing the strategic goals of an organisation,” said Hynes.
“Cam has proven himself as an outstanding administrator across various sports and brings with him a wealth of experience across commercial, government relations, community engagement, international growth strategies, stakeholder management and governance.”
“It is an exciting time for baseball in Australia, with the men’s national team about to take on the world’s best at the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo in March and baseball’s recent reinstatement to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”
“Furthermore, participation in baseball is on the increase and the Australian Baseball League (ABL) has never been healthier, with Baseball Australia and our member states now 100% owners of the league.”
“The entire baseball community welcomes Cam and his family to baseball and we look forward to working collectively together to move our sport forward.”
-CLICK HERE TO WATCH CAM DETAIL HIS VISION FOR AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL-
As Chief Executive Officer of Hockey Australia Vale oversaw the successful implantation of Hockey’s 5 Year strategic direction “Hockey’s Winning Edge”, as well driving a ground breaking commercial relationship with Hockey India and further enhancing Hockey’s international strategy with Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand.
Currently there are almost 60,000 Australians playing organised club baseball and a further 135,000 engaged by the sport. Australia has a proud history of developing elite athletes and in baseball has produced 33 Major Leaguers (MLB, USA) and has seen hundreds of Australians play in the Minor Leagues (MiLB, USA) and in leagues throughout Asia, South America and Europe. International growth, particularly through the Asian region, remains a focus of Baseball Australia and Vale’s experience in delivering international partnerships will be a particular focus of his leadership.
Vale’s experience in managing a National Sporting Organisation, coupled with his time in Australia’s leading commercial codes (North Melbourne, AFL and Melbourne Storm, NRL) made him the ideal candidate to lead baseball through this next exciting phase.
“I am very excited to be joining Baseball and driving the growth of the game in Australia,” said Vale.
“Baseball is one of the most played sports in the World and the opportunity for Australians to compete on the world stage are huge, and I am very much looking forward to continuing to support the growth of our national program.”
“However, it is grassroots baseball and participation, particularly through school programs, is where some of our greatest opportunities exist. We have established programs in Little League and the ABL is performing well, but it is developing the ‘pathways’ to connect all these together that needs specific focus.”
“Over the coming months I look forward to engaging with State Bodies, Associations and clubs to best understand how we can collectively grow the sport of Baseball in Australia.”
Vale will commence the role of Baseball Australia CEO in late April.