Ross Straw was an Australian Olympic coach and former Olympic baseball competitor. He captained the Australian team at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

in Melbourne. He was one of the first Australians to be offered a contract with a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

team, the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. Straw was instrumental in getting Australia involved in

Baseball Federation of Asia The WBSC Asia, formerly known as, Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) is the governing body of the sport of baseball and softball in Asia. The federation is governed by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. History The birth of Baseball Fede ...

competitions. He was a member of the Victorian Wartime team in 1942 and 1943, and played for and coached the Victorian state team from 1942 to 1969. Straw was first appointed national coaching director (appointed by what was then the Australian Baseball Council, now the

Australian Baseball Federation Baseball Australia, formerly the Australian Baseball Federation is the national governing body of Baseball in Australia and owns the Australian Baseball League. Baseball is played in all the mainland states and territories, but it struggles fo ...

) in 1975 and formed Australia's first national elite coaching committee.

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Olympic baseball players for Australia Baseball players at the 1956 Summer Olympics Australian baseball players Baseball coaches Place of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-baseball-bio-stub