Major League Baseball Australia Academy Program
Encyclopedia
The Major League Baseball Australian Academy Program (MLBAAP) is a seven-week baseball
development program held on the Gold Coast, Queensland
, Australia
for prospective Australian baseball
players
and officials.
The Academy began in 2001 with the backing of the Australian Baseball Federation
, Major League Baseball
and the Australian Sports Commission
, with the aim of improving the quantity and quality of young Australian baseball players. The Academy has included notable MLB coaches such as Rod Carew
, Pat Kelly, Graeme Lloyd
, David Nilsson, and Luke Prokopec
. MLBAAP has been the catalyst for over 140 professional player signings, boasts 2 Major league players among its alumni (Rich Thompson
and Brad Harman
) and has seen many more progress through the ranks of the Australia national baseball team
.
Radisson Hotel resort, which includes a world-class baseball facility. Players are split into four teams (Roo
s, Wombat
s, Koala
s and Dingo
s) and the program is set up very much like professional rookie leagues in North America
. Academic staff from several Gold Coast state schools and the Gold Coast Institute of TAFE assist with tutoring and supporting the athletes, to ensure their educational requirements are achieved. Teaching staff are chosen on their experience and empathy regarding the difficult combination of balancing elite sport with academic excellence. Education sessions are conducted Monday to Friday, with an expectation that year 11 and 12 athletes set aside at least 2 hours additional time per Saturday and Sunday for private study.
The seven-week program consists of at least one match a day against each other and other touring teams, with a break on Sunday, giving players and officials plenty of match practice. Between 60 and 80 players are given a scholarship from all states and territories of mainland Australia as well as other invitees from countries including Taiwan
, Japan
, New Zealand
, South Africa
, Northern Mariana Islands
, New Caledonia
and Czech Republic
.
The current head coach
is national team manager Jon Deeble
, who is supported by national team coaching
staff Phil Dale, Tony Harris, Pat Kelly, Graeme Lloyd and Dave Nilsson. As of , there are 84 Australians playing professionally in North America
.
Professional baseball
Baseball is a team sport which is played by several professional leagues throughout the world. In these leagues, and associated farm teams, players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system....
development program held on the Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
for prospective Australian baseball
Baseball in Australia
In Australia, baseball is a game that is played in all states and territories of the country, but it struggles for popularity due to the popularity of many other sports, including the comparable sport of cricket, in which Australia has always been one of the leading nations...
players
Baseball positions
There are 9 fielding positions in baseball. Each position conventionally has an associated number which is used to score putouts...
and officials.
The Academy began in 2001 with the backing of the Australian Baseball Federation
Australian Baseball Federation
The Australian Baseball Federation is the national governing body of Baseball in Australia. Baseball is played in all the mainland states and territories, but it struggles for popularity due to the popularity of many other sports, including the comparable sport of cricket, in which Australia has...
, Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
and the Australian Sports Commission
Australian Sports Commission
The Australian Sports Commission is the governing body responsible for distributing funds and providing strategic guidance for sporting activity in Australia. It is an agency of the Government of Australia within the portfolio of Health and Ageing...
, with the aim of improving the quantity and quality of young Australian baseball players. The Academy has included notable MLB coaches such as Rod Carew
Rod Carew
Rodney Cline "Rod" Carew is a former Major League Baseball first baseman, second baseman and coach. He played from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels and was elected to the All-Star game every season except his last. In 1991, Carew was inducted into the National...
, Pat Kelly, Graeme Lloyd
Graeme Lloyd
Graeme John Lloyd is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who had a ten year career from 1993 to 2003.-Playing career:...
, David Nilsson, and Luke Prokopec
Luke Prokopec
Kenneth Luke Prokopec is an Australian-born, right-handed pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays....
. MLBAAP has been the catalyst for over 140 professional player signings, boasts 2 Major league players among its alumni (Rich Thompson
Rich Thompson (pitcher, born 1984)
Richard Graeme Thompson is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim...
and Brad Harman
Brad Harman
Bradley Christopher Harman is a Major League Baseball second baseman who is currently a free agent.-Professional career:...
) and has seen many more progress through the ranks of the Australia national baseball team
Australia national baseball team
The Australian national baseball team represents Australia in international baseball tournaments and competitions. They are ranked as the top team in Oceania, and are the Oceanian Champions, having been awarded the title in 2007 when New Zealand withdrew from the Oceania Baseball Championship. They...
.
Structure
The location of the Academy is the Palm MeadowsPalm Meadows
Palm Meadows International Baseball Facility is an Australian baseball field located on the Gold Coast, Queensland. It is owned by Hungtat Worldwide Pty Ltd and is leased through Gold Coast city council...
Radisson Hotel resort, which includes a world-class baseball facility. Players are split into four teams (Roo
Roo
Roo is a fictional character created in 1926 by A. A. Milne and first featured in the book Winnie-the-Pooh. He is a young kangaroo and his mother is Kanga...
s, Wombat
Wombat
Wombats are Australian marsupials; they are short-legged, muscular quadrupeds, approximately in length with a short, stubby tail. They are adaptable in their habitat tolerances, and are found in forested, mountainous, and heathland areas of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania, as well as...
s, Koala
Koala
The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae....
s and Dingo
Dingo
The Australian Dingo or Warrigal is a free-roaming wild dog unique to the continent of Australia, mainly found in the outback. Its original ancestors are thought to have arrived with humans from southeast Asia thousands of years ago, when dogs were still relatively undomesticated and closer to...
s) and the program is set up very much like professional rookie leagues in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Academic staff from several Gold Coast state schools and the Gold Coast Institute of TAFE assist with tutoring and supporting the athletes, to ensure their educational requirements are achieved. Teaching staff are chosen on their experience and empathy regarding the difficult combination of balancing elite sport with academic excellence. Education sessions are conducted Monday to Friday, with an expectation that year 11 and 12 athletes set aside at least 2 hours additional time per Saturday and Sunday for private study.
The seven-week program consists of at least one match a day against each other and other touring teams, with a break on Sunday, giving players and officials plenty of match practice. Between 60 and 80 players are given a scholarship from all states and territories of mainland Australia as well as other invitees from countries including Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Northern Mariana Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
and Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
.
The current head coach
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
is national team manager Jon Deeble
Jon Deeble
Jon Deeble is currently the head coach of the Australia national baseball team.Deeble was a pitcher on the national team he now coaches from 1983 to 1995, a playing career which included the 1988 Olympics and an Australian Baseball League championship with the Melbourne Monarchs in 1993...
, who is supported by national team coaching
Coach (baseball)
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...
staff Phil Dale, Tony Harris, Pat Kelly, Graeme Lloyd and Dave Nilsson. As of , there are 84 Australians playing professionally in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball players from Australia
- List of Major League Baseball players who played in Australia
External links
- MLBAAP home page