In early 1999 in Melbourne’s western suburbs, 20 of the best women’s baseball players in Victoria would step onto the artificial turf at the Ballpark in Altona, beginning a legacy that would remain unrivalled 25 years later.
Victoria boasts a rich history of baseball dating back to the mid-1800s, with girls getting their first taste in 1915 via the Victorian Public Schools Championships, while a senior Victorian side contested the short-lived All-Australian Women’s Baseball Championships in the 1930s.
Sadly both competitions would fold in the 1940s, and fifty years would pass before the state would see a return of organised women’s competitions to the diamond.
This welcomed return came after Victorian Baseball Association’s (VBA) Development Officer Grant Weir and VBA President Peter Dihm worked tirelessly to establish Australia’s first stand-alone women’s competition.
For its inaugural 1994/95 season, the league attracted nearly 50 teams. And with the standard of the fledgling competition rising year on year, it would take only five seasons for state representation opportunities to be offered to women.
“We made some phone calls to check out what the appetite was for it and there was appetite,” explained Weir, who represented the Australian National Team at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games. “At our first tryouts, we had a stack of women turn up, around 80, and we got a pretty bloody good team out of it in the end.”
Weir’s squad reigned supreme with a stunning undefeated run across the first three Championships held in Melbourne and Sydney’s Blacktown Olympic Park between 1999-2001. The Victorian dominance was punctuated with 18 of the 20 selections to the inaugural Australian team in 2001.
“From the time we had trials and picked the team, we trained our backsides off, and some of the women still come back to me to say thank you for doing that,” said Weir. “I remember the other teams in the first few years were just really intimidated by our players, the professionalism of what they saw, how our team went about it.”
Weir stepped down following the three-peat, revealing his tenure left an impact that went well beyond his perfect record and swag of trophies.
“I often say it's great to have strong, independent and intelligent women in your life and for three years, I had 30 or 40 of them in my life. So that was pretty cool for me,” revealed Weir.
Listen to Grant discuss the history here.
As it heads into its 25th year, the blue of the Big V is still revered across the country, due in large part to its unequalled Championship record.
The team has featured on the podium in all 22^ editions of the event, with its 13 championship victories nearly double that of their closest rival in New South Wales. A runner-up seven times, Victoria has only failed to make the Championships’ gold medal game on two occasions.
In a romantic script fit for any sport documentary feature, Victoria will host the 2023 National Championships on the same hallowed turf of the team’s first appearance in 1999 - Melbourne Ballpark in Altona.
Inaugural team member Samantha Hamilton, who represented Victoria at the first sixteen Championships between 1999-2014, returns in 2023 at the helm as head coach in the team’s silver anniversary year.
“The traits that Grant Weir instilled in us 25 years ago, those of hard work, commitment, dedication and professionalism, have had a huge and lasting impact on the sport,” said Hamilton, who took the reins as Head Coach in 2022.
“And while we have seen quite a few uniform colour changes, new players and coaches come and go, one thing that never goes away is the utmost pride you feel when you represent Victoria. It is still as strong as ever.”
Hamilton’s love for the team runs deeper than any possible achievements she could make as a player or coach, with the proud Victorian playing an integral role in the team’s 25th anniversary project.
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From 2023, the team has adopted a selection order tradition whereby each player will receive a unique number that represents the order in which they were selected.
In total, 406 selections have been made across 24^ Victorian teams since 1999, with 102 unique player selections receiving a Victorian cap. Member of the inaugural 1999 team Emma Binks was awarded number 1, with 17-year-old Nyah O’Brien the newest to the team at number 102.
“The introduction of selection numbers is a confirmation to all 102 Victorian Women’s State Team players that they are a key part of our sport’s history in Victoria,” said Baseball Victoria CEO Chet Gray.
“In particular, we wish to recognise the players in the inaugural teams who broke barriers in the sport and laid the foundation for today’s generation, but we recognise all players for having contributed to the team's stunning journey across the last 25 years.”
The alumni group will gather for a special function at the 2023 Australian Women’s and Youth Championships on Monday 10 April at Melbourne Ballpark.
Victorian Women’s Team Selection Numbers
| Binks, Emma | 1999 | 1 |
| Clark, Diane | 1999 | 2 |
| Clark, Pamela | 1999 | 3 |
| Finch, Paula | 1999 | 4 |
| Gosstray, Narelle | 1999 | 5 |
| Greenwood, Caroline | 1999 | 6 |
| Hamilton, Samantha | 1999 | 7 |
| Hough, Jade | 1999 | 8 |
| Kemp, Kathy | 1999 | 9 |
| Lee, Deanne | 1999 | 10 |
| Lord, Sue-Anne | 1999 | 11 |
| Manzie, Kelly | 1999 | 12 |
| O'Neil, Julie | 1999 | 13 |
| Ross, Shandelle | 1999 | 14 |
| Row, Catherine | 1999 | 15 |
| Ryan, Angela | 1999 | 16 |
| Stokes, Terina | 1999 | 17 |
| Tamburrino, Alisa | 1999 | 18 |
| Wearne, Simone | 1999 | 19 |
| Whitaker, Melissa | 1999 | 20 |
| Cain, Nicole | 2000 | 21 |
| Coombes, Rebecca | 2000 | 22 |
| Grant, Marion | 2000 | 23 |
| Holien, Ella | 2000 | 24 |
| Lillywhite, Shae | 2000 | 25 |
| Marklew, Shelli | 2000 | 26 |
| Papanicolaou, Paula | 2000 | 27 |
| Brisbane, Naomi | 2002 | 28 |
| Palatsides, Maryanne | 2002 | 29 |
| Passlow, Kathy | 2002 | 30 |
| Thompson, Jessica | 2002 | 31 |
| Busbridge, Layla | 2003 | 32 |
| McCann, Amy | 2003 | 33 |
| Whittam, Clare | 2003 | 34 |
| Davidson, Ailsa | 2004 | 35 |
| Hutton, Leanne | 2004 | 36 |
| Walker, Alana | 2004 | 37 |
| Gregory, Mel | 2005 | 38 |
| Kitta, Megumi | 2005 | 39 |
| Adams, Samantha | 2006 | 40 |
| Holmes, Jen | 2006 | 41 |
| Mann, Davina | 2006 | 42 |
| Smith, Alexis | 2006 | 43 |
| Strugnell, Claudia | 2006 | 44 |
| Welsh, Kathy | 2006 | 45 |
| Pastowski, Emma | 2007 | 46 |
| Taylor, Siobhan | 2007 | 47 |
| Anglin, Leslie | 2008 | 48 |
| Brown, Victoria | 2008 | 49 |
| Gell, Bronwyn | 2008 | 50 |
| Howard, Ursula | 2008 | 51 |
| Collins, Erin | 2009 | 52 |
| Flanigan, Sinead | 2009 | 53 |
| Foura, Courtney | 2009 | 54 |
| Pedersen, Vibeke | 2009 | 55 |
| Matsumoto, Kei | 2010 | 56 |
| McKay, Taylor | 2010 | 57 |
| Nakashima, Risa | 2010 | 58 |
| Collins, Amy | 2011 | 59 |
| Binks, Sophie | 2012 | 60 |
| Cannington, Belinda | 2012 | 61 |
| Jackson, Hannah | 2012 | 62 |
| Johnson, Jessica | 2012 | 63 |
| McLellan, Abbey | 2012 | 64 |
| Mills, Autumn | 2012 | 65 |
| Psota, Kate | 2012 | 66 |
| Loon, Shirlie | 2013 | 67 |
| Mcintosh, Cecilia | 2013 | 68 |
| Penny, Paris | 2013 | 69 |
| Asay, Amanda | 2014 | 70 |
| French, Emma | 2014 | 71 |
| Kelly, Abbey | 2014 | 72 |
| Sheldon-Collins, Casey | 2014 | 73 |
| Clifford, Vanessa | 2015 | 74 |
| Deeble, Samantha | 2015 | 75 |
| Harber, Nadine | 2015 | 76 |
| Page, Georgia | 2015 | 77 |
| Tanaka, Risa | 2015 | 78 |
| Byrne-Connell, Sinead | 2016 | 79 |
| Cedelland, Brittney | 2016 | 80 |
| Abe, Rieko | 2016 | 81 |
| Davis, Madeline | 2016 | 82 |
| Goodrope, Ellen | 2016 | 83 |
| Collis, Erin | 2017 | 84 |
| Torrington, Amanda | 2017 | 85 |
| Bastian, Jamie | 2019 | 86 |
| Bebbere, Allie | 2019 | 87 |
| Bevan, Gabby | 2019 | 88 |
| Devine, Emily | 2019 | 89 |
| Doty, Morgan | 2019 | 90 |
| Gildemacher, Famke | 2019 | 91 |
| Patrick, Maddy | 2019 | 92 |
| Beacom, Genevieve | 2020 | 93 |
| Cavanagh, Lili | 2020 | 94 |
| Davenport, Emma | 2020 | 95 |
| Bentley, Jasmine | 2022 | 96 |
| Bell-Tanner, Lilian | 2022 | 97 |
| Brown, Jessica | 2023 | 98 |
| Dale, Ruby | 2023 | 99 |
| Simpson, Lilly | 2023 | 100 |
| Weller, Maddi | 2023 | 101 |
| O'Brien, Nyah | 2023 | 102 |
List updated April 15.
^2020 & 2021 Championships were not held due to COVID, but a team was selected in 2020 before it was cancelled.
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The 2023 Australian Women’s and Youth Women’s Championships get underway at Melbourne Ballpark later this week. Stay tuned for more updates and make sure to follow along with Victoria’s journey on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- Women’s: 7-13 April https://baseball.com.au/events/2023-australian-womens-championship/
- Youth Women’s: 8-11 April https://baseball.com.au/events/2023-australian-youth-womens-championship/