It’s an exciting time for everyone as we transition from Winter to Summer. We are thrilled to introduce our new Seniors coach, Andrew Tierney, and to welcome Jenna Basse back as our Women’s coach. My heartfelt thanks go to the Committee, Junior Coordinators, and Coaches for their dedication and hard work in preparing for the upcoming season. Please read the newsletter carefully, as it contains important information about what’s happening around the club.
Regards,
Andrew Ferguson
President
Sponsors
Please support our sponsors
We also ask that everybody support our many club sponsors and support partners:
General Committee: Craig Hockley (Sponsorship and Marketing), Tyler Evans )Senior Operations/Liaison), Peta Vanderstaak (Social Events/Social Media)
We extend our gratitude to retiring committee members Angela Potts, Trif Stafilis, Ryan Stanaway, and Cat Burton for their service to the club.
We have some vacancies on the Committee. We are reviewing our portfolios, but currently they include Volunteers, Grounds & Facilities, Child Safety. In the meantime, please direct any questions to
We are pleased to announce that Nicole Clowes and Stacey Kuilboer have jointly taken on the role of Junior Coordinator for the upcoming summer season. If you have any questions about our junior program, please talk to Nicole or Stacey at the ground, or email them atjuniors@waverleybaseball.com.au .
Nicole and Stacey are setting up a sub-committee to distribute the workload and to ensure closer links with all the age groups. Please talk to them if you are interested in helping out.
Summer Update
Fixtures
Fixtures are currently being adjusted as clubs add and withdraw teams, and teams are regraded.You can review the latest fixture (published September 17) on our website.This will be updated regularly as new versions are released.
Donate a Slab
We encourage all players and supporters to help us by donating a slab of any beverage of your choice. This small gesture helps us reduce costs and build the funds needed to keep the club running. You can drop your slab off at the bar or canteen, or purchase a ‘virtual’ slab online at https://www.waverleybaseball.com.au/product/buy-a-slab/
Junior Come ‘n’ Try
Thank you to everyone who has attended our Come ‘n’ Try days.Some age groups will have a final session this Sunday, September 21.Please try to attend, and it’s not too late to bring a friend.
Senior Coaching Update
New Seniors Head Coach Andrew Tierney has hit the ground running. Geoff Dunn has been appointed as an assistant coach. Geoff, a former Waverley player, is a highly respected umpire who has called both BV games and ABL games.
Senior Training
Our Seniors and Women’s teams have been training for several weeks.Despite the challenge of shorter days, feedback from the sessions at Ausport has been positive.
Weather permitting, all remaining training sessions will be at Napier Park.
The Women’s teams will train on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings, while the Seniors teams will train on Thursday nights and Sunday mornings.Firsts, Seconds, and Thirds players will also train on Tuesday nights.
Please keep an eye on our socials for updates.
Season Launch
All senior players (men and women), and supporters are invited to our season launch at the clubrooms on Thursday, October 2. Teams for the first round on October 4/5 will be announced on the night. Watch our socials for confirmation of the event’s start time.
Import
We are pleased to announce that Kai Reum will be joining us for the summer season, arriving in early November.Kai is a right-handed pitcher from Alberta, Canada, with NCAA D1 experience.He also has extensive coaching experience and will be available for one-on-one coaching during his stay in Australia.We are seeking interested parties to accommodate Kai.The club will contribute to expenses.Please talk to Tyler Evans, Russell Clowes, or Andrew Ferguson for more information.
Umpiring
We hope to spread the umpiring load this year.All senior players are expected to umpire games at some point during the season.Geoff Dunn has agreed to run a training session for parents, juniors, and less-experienced senior players to umpire junior games.This will free up our more experienced senior players to umpire occasional senior games and connect with players from other Waverley teams.
Summer Fees
Club membership fees have remained unchanged for the past two years as we have absorbed significant cost increases. However, we are investing in equipment and facility improvements, such as a new pitching machine, super sopper, and planned upgrades to the batting tunnel and bullpens. Despite our fundraising efforts, we cannot continue to absorb these cost increases, so we must increase membership fees for the upcoming season.
Last year, membership fees formed just 22% of our income, and we had a net deficit of $5,326.While we have some cash reserves, this is not sustainable long-term.We need to increase our revenue as most of our costs are out of our control.We are continuing our efforts to generate fundraising from sponsorship, grants, and social events and would appreciate all members’ thoughts, suggestions, and participation in developing new sponsorship opportunities and social events.
Income Sources
Some of the contributing costs for the Senior programs include:
BV Team entry fees (in addition to what players pay for their registration): $11,400
All-up, we expect the cost of putting our Seniors, Women’s, and Masters teams on the diamond this year to be over $83,000.
This season, we have also made changes to our membership fee structure to align fees with the number of competitions players are regularly participating in.For example, someone playing both Seniors and Masters will pay more than someone just playing Seniors.Similarly, players playing both Women’s and Seniors will pay more, though the increment for playing in two teams is heavily discounted.Baseball Victoria and Waverley Baseball Club membership fees are published on our website.
The committee has too many issues to manage without having to chase late payment of fees.We would greatly appreciate prompt payment.We expect all players to have paid their fees before the fifth game of the season.If you are having difficulty paying your fees, please talk to our treasurer Russell Clowes or President Andrew Ferguson to arrange an agreed payment plan.Unfinancial players who have not arranged a payment plan will not be selected to play after round four this season.You can pay your fees directly in the clubrooms or online https://www.waverleybaseball.com.au/product-category/fees/.
If you pay in the clubrooms, please ensure you obtain a receipt.
Training Tops
Andy has asked that all players wear a club top at training.We are ordering additional tops to overcome any shortages.
Reversible Playing Tops
We are updating our Senior playing tops this year. The new tops will be reversible, meaning all players can wear White for home games and Red for away games.
Following feedback, we have made some minor changes to the design of the reversible playing tops.We expect to have a sample of the final product in the next week or so.We expect that ALL senior players will wear the new reversible tops when they are available.The tops will be delivered with players’ surnames and numbers and must be paid for before manufacture.Robyn has been collecting sizes and number requests for players.We are trying to get sample tops for sizing.If Robyn does not yet have your details, please catch up with her to discuss.
This is a large investment for all players, and we are trying to get the tops right before we place the initial order.As a result, it is unlikely that the new tops will be available before the season starts.While not yet confirmed, it is likely that lower grades will use the training tops initially, while the upper grades will use the red tops worn last year.
Tops ordered as part of the initial order will be priced at $79.Subsequent orders will cost $90.
Winter Wrap
Congratulations to all our winter teams.Not only did we field our largest number of teams, but we also got through the entire season with no washouts and no forfeits! Our inaugural Women’s winter team just missed out on finals.Many thanks to Stacey Kuilboer, who coached the team.
The MWBL Seniors competition is extremely strong, with many experienced summer players participating.Most of our teams are made up of young players, and their development and growth throughout the season has been impressive.Our Seniors Thirds lost a tight grand final against GMBC 4-3.
GMBC had five teams playing grand finals, winning four of them, including a 1-0 result over North Balwyn in A Grade Firsts. Our congratulations to GMBC.
Many thanks to the team coaches, scorers, umpires, supporters, and parents for your support throughout the season.A huge callout to the volunteers who operated the canteen, prepared the grounds, and performed all the tasks that keep the players on the field, fed, and hydrated.Special thanks to Michelle Flintoff for her ongoing support, the Evans family for their hard work in keeping our winter program running, and Robyn and Bede Karlsen for their many hours handling administration, stocking and manning the bar, and closing up at the end of the day.
Junior Presentation Day
Over 60 players, family, and friends attended our Junior Presentation Day at Napier Park.Congratulations to all players and award winners.Thanks also to Nicole Clowes for taking on the role of Junior Coordinator for Winter, and to Michelle Flintoff, Chris Evans, Craig Hockley, and others for helping out in the canteen and cooking at the barbeque.Junior award winners are listed toward the bottom of the newsletter.
Senior Presentation Night
Over 70 people attended our record-breaking senior presentation night.Congratulations to all award winners.Tyler Evans was the runaway winner of the Geoff Paice Winter MVP award.Senior award winners are listed toward the bottom of the newsletter.
Our thanks to Yoshi Nakamura and K2 Baseball and Softball for the donation of a bat which we raffled on the night.
Thank You, Liam Evans
Liam Evans has announced that he is stepping down as head coach of our Winter Seniors.Liam has rebuilt the culture of our winter program, and we thank him for his dedication and hard work.
Improvements around Napier Park
Women’s Change Rooms, Gym, and Umpires’ Room
We have been working with Monash Council to provide improved change-room facilities for our Women’s teams.Council decided the best way to do this was to relocate the gym to the Dick Mason Pavilion and install a dividing wall through the current gym, with one side reserved for female players and the other side for male players.The Umpires’ room has also been refurbished as part of this project.
To install the dividing wall, we will be transferring all the gym equipment to the Dick Mason Pavilion during and after training this Sunday, September 21.We would appreciate the assistance of as many people as possible to get this done quickly.
Multi-purpose Training Facility
Work continues on this project, albeit slowly.Council has closed tenders for architects to do the detailed design works for the MPTF on September 19.This follows the Concept Plan included in the Site Plan presented to Council earlier this year.The project involves a 2–3 lane indoor training facility, including detailed design and cost estimates.
We are forming a sub-committee to work with the selected architects and council to ensure we get the best possible result.We will also continue to lobby all levels of government for funding the final construction.
Social and Fundraising
Peta is working on a schedule of social events to raise funds and bring the club together.There will be events for Juniors and Seniors.Scheduling these is challenging at the moment as the fixture bounces around, but keep an eye on our socials for more information.
Bunnings BBQ
Many thanks to all the volunteers who assisted with our Bunnings Sausage Sizzle on Sep 14.Our 18+ volunteers sold over 550 sausages and 60 drinks, raising over $1,600 for the club.
Upcoming Social Events
Senior Season Launch
When: Thursday, October 2 at Clubrooms
Time: TBA
Who: All senior women’s and Seniors players, supporters, parents, etc.
What: Announcement of teams, general social catch-up
Cost: Chicken Schnitzel Burgers $5 each, Drinks at bar prices
Junior Halloween Night
When: Friday, October 31 at Clubrooms
Time: TBA
Who: All Junior players, family and friends
What: Dress up in your favourite Halloween costume, BBQ Sausage Sizzle
Cost: TBA
Christmas Party
When: Saturday, December 20 at Napier Park
Time: During the day from around 2pm
Who: Everybody!
What: Fun activities for the kids, watch our Seniors and Women’s teams play, food and drinks available for purchase
Cost: Free
Past Players Reunion/50th Anniversary Celebration
When: Saturday, January 31, 2026
Time: TBA
Who: Waverley defeated Blackburn in the winter of 1975 to be promoted to ‘A Grade’ (the equivalent of today’s Premier League). We are hoping to contact all the players from this and earlier eras to come down to a celebration of this milestone.
If you know of the whereabouts of anybody who played with Waverley in 1975 or earlier please send me details at president@waverleybaseball.com.au.All past players are welcome to join us on this special day.
What: Lunch and reminiscing
Cost: TBA
Other Social Events
Coming soon
Post-season Club Survey and Feedback
Once again we are seeking feedback from all members of the Waverley Family whether you play, support, volunteer, are a parent, … .Your thoughts are important to us and feed into the Committee’s decision-making.Responses are anonymous (although you can provide your contact details if you want us to contact you for follow-up).Please click the link below to see and complete the survey.
Once again, we are running our Donate A Slab fundraiser.All you need to do is bring down a Slab of your choice – water, soft drink, sport drink or adult beverage – and leave it @ the bar.
We thank Glenn Otter for his many years of support and highly recommend their services for all your large-scale fencing requirements.
Otter Fencing = Quality & Reliability
Otter Fencing has been manufacturing, supplying, and installing fencing and gates to suit a wide variety of applications for over 60 years. In that time, Otter Fencing has built its reputation on quality, combined with unsurpassed reliability.
We are very proud of all current and former Waverley players and welcome any updates on their progress as they pursue their baseball dreams. Photographs, updates etc can be sent to me at hello@waverleybaseball.com.au
Also feel free to let me know of any other news the rest of the Wildcats community might be interested in. We publish blogs and newsletters regularly and are always looking for photos and stories of interest.
Many thanks to everybody who has rolled up their sleeves and assisted us with Canteen, Grounds maintenance and marking, Coaching, Scoring, Social functions, … . We just could not operate without the assistance of these people who give up their time.
Please support all our fantastic sponsors and support partners
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