For the first time, Baseball Victoria held a Fixture Day sponsored by Ausport for the upcoming 2019/20 Victorian Summer Baseball League.
The live fixture draw followed Monday's P&S Meeting at Newport Baseball Club. With personalised miniature bats and baseballs courtesy of Ausport, a club name and corresponding number were drawn at random to set up the fixtures for the summer season for Division 1 firsts, Division 2 firsts, Division 3 firsts and Women's Division 1.
The fixtures were updated and printed right away, giving VSBL clubs the chance to meet with their opposition and discuss any field availability or calendar conflicts. This opportunity for discussion and solutions meant clubs could better plan for the year ahead, and the fixture draw was well-received by VSBL club presidents and secretaries in attendance.
Deb Barnett, Secretary of Berwick City Cougars Baseball Club, said the fixture draw was very helpful. "I think it's a great idea, and it gets all the clubs together so we can get it sorted in one night." Deb said, as Berwick preps for their second season in Division 1. "We are having a big ground upgrade and losing our ground for half of the season, but fixture night absolutely helped. We have Mulgrave on board so it's all worked out really well."
VSBL 2019/20 Pennant Committee Member and President of Upwey Ferntree Gully Baseball Club Dwain Richardson echoed the sentiment. "I thought it was a really good meeting and the fixture draw is a fantastic new addition," Dwain said. "It's probably resolved everything a lot quicker than going back and forth 10 times with emails. I think it's worked really well and I hope it makes the process simpler and fixtures can be out really soon."
The Baseball Victoria team was pleased to bring the VSBL clubs together for the random fixture draw as they encouraged cooperation and communication between opposing clubs.
"I'm so glad the fixture draw went well and that our VSBL clubs enjoyed the experience," Competitions and Tournament Manager Kelsey Quinn said. "It was great to see them communicating and working through any conflicts together, and it gives me confidence that the future is bright for our VSBL competition. We're looking forward to getting these fixtures up and live online as soon as possible."
Baseball Victoria Acting CEO Jeff Paull says it was important to offer VSBL clubs this opportunity to collaborate and solve problems together. "We saw so many clubs working out their conflicts and chatting about the upcoming season. We appreciate their willingness to talk things out and the 2019/20 VSBL season may be our best one yet!"
The fixtures for the 2019/20 VSBL season will be updated and available online in the coming weeks.