The History of School Baseball in Australia
The History of School Baseball in Australia Baseball has been played in schools since the early 1900s. In New South Wales the longest running School Knockout happens to be in the sport of Baseball, the Proud Shield competition as it is known, began in 1908, and was won by Fort Street High. The sport is presently played in over 500 Secondary Schools around Australia. At the interstate level, competitions have existed since the 1940's, with some evidence suggesting competitions in the 1930's. These competitions involved New South Wales and Queensland teams with spasmodic representation from South Australia and Victoria. Throughout the 1970's and early 1980's only New South Wales and Queensland teams competed, until 1987 when Australian Capital Territory played in a three way Championship. Michael Chapman, the New South Wales Combined High Schools Baseball Convener, worked tirelessly throughout this time to have other States participate and for Baseball to come under the umbrella of the Australian Schools Sports Council. In 1988, Michael was elected the first National Secretary of the Australian Secondary School Baseball Association under the banner of the Australian Schools Sports Council. The Championship of 1988, held in Canberra, had four teams - New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. It was a trial Championship before the full acceptance into the Australian Schools Sports Council. The venue for the inaugural Australian Secondary Schools Baseball Championship was Oriole Stadium, Sydney in 1989 where Victoria also competed for the first time. This year sees us playing our 21 st Championship. With the greater interest in the community, baseball standards have improved in schools.
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