IOC sets dates for 2021 Olympic Games
Alumni Editor
31 March 2020
While governing bodies, officialdom, sponsors, participating countries, broadcasters, sports aficionados and the world community in general continue to be afflicted by the trauma occasioned from COVID-19, a message of hope was this week delivered by IOC President Thomas Bach – who announced that the postponed 2020 Olympic Games have been rescheduled to July/August 2021. ABC News Story
How that affects participating sports remains to be seen, although the overwhelming focus will rightly be on public health ahead of any other concern. With governments across the world committing extraordinary financial resources to the battle with COVID-19, the sporting landscape will be – and already has been - irrevocably changed as countries reassess their capacity to engage in Olympic Games and other sporting endeavours.
For Australia, where baseball is still a minor sport despite our impressive rankings at world level, it will be interesting to see whether or not a campaign can be resurrected and funded in efforts to qualify for the 2021 Olympics under drastically changed circumstances for all baseball countries.
Any such campaign remains hypothetical. For the time being our preoccupation is with the world community dealing with COVID-19 as well as we are collectively able. In saying that, the IOC announcement offers a message of hope that should not be lost upon sports-mad Australians – including our wonderful baseball community.
Best wishes to all as we negotiate our way through these difficult times.
After progressively scaling back its online presence over the past several months, Australian Baseball Alumni now regrets to inform our supporters that the Alumni project has neared the end of its shelf life and will effectively cease operations over coming weeks.
Established during 2014 as a not-for-profit initiative that was planned and delivered by Australian baseball lifers, the Alumni has consistently been able to honour its objectives of promoting the sport while engaging in activities to support our national teams and other dedicated projects.
From its inception, the Alumni raised substantial amounts of money in support of baseball programmes while delivering what we believe was a consistently high level of timely and engaging coverage of the sport.
There remains a wealth of quality baseball material on the our website, including interviews, coaching tips, umpiring insights and feature stories - along with masses of our own images and original news items. Australian baseball interests are invited to access any of that material and to freely utilise it in positive ways as deemed fit. READ MORE....
Esteemed coach to head Victorian academy
An initiative of respected coach and mentor Peter Giles, the Academy of Baseball Excellence has recently been formally established and will commence early in 2020 from its home base of Boeing Reserve in Strathmore Heights, Victoria.
The Academy - which is idependent of state and national governing bodies - will prepare young Australian baseball players (aged 16-19) for entry into the United States college system, through provision of skill development, training sessions and regular overseas tours under the “Southern Stars” banner.
In addressing both an athletic and academic approach with participants and their families, the Academy of Baseball Excellence will provide young players with opportunities to improve their skills – in the classroom and on the field – while helping them secure placement into appropriate levels of college. MORE…….