The Surfers Paradise Baseball Club is a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

club based on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, that participates in the

Greater Brisbane League The Greater Brisbane League or formerly the Greater Brisbane Baseball Board league (GB3) is the largest baseball league in the Australian state of Queensland and covers all teams from Brisbane North, South, West, Metro as well as three Gold Coas ...

, Gold Coast and Far North Coast competitions. The club was also host of the 2008 Pan Pacific

Masters Games The World Masters Games is an international multi-sport event held every four years which, in terms of competitor numbers, has developed into the largest of its kind. Governed by the International Masters Games Association (IMGA), the World Mast ...

History

John Carpenter, Mitch Wikum and Steve Meeham founded Surfers Paradise Baseball Club in 1987. That year the club entered three teams in the

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

metropolitan competition, and in their first season won the A-Grade title. This was achieved through the assistance of ex-

Claxton Shield The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the summer of 1989–90 until 2001–02, and again since 2010� ...

players from other states including: Larry Montgomery (NSW), Gary Coward (SA), Lance Wegner (VIC), as well as other quality players from around the Gold Coast and Brisbane region. The idea for a junior competition on the Gold Coast, or at least Surfers Paradise, was initiated by Steve Meeham who advertised in the local paper for junior players. With mixed responses from players of all age groups, the competition attracted 60 kids between the ages of 10 and 14 years plus one father - Gary Edwards. With Gary's help, Steve split up the children into 5 equal sides, and rolled out a competition on Saturday mornings. The five junior sides - Giants, Dodgers, Dragons, Reds and Sharks – attracted great success in the '88 to '89 season, and by the '89 to '90 season the number of kids playing baseball at Surfers Paradise had doubled. By the start of the '90 to '91 season, there was an abundance of young players with not enough coaches to manage them so the competition was forced to expand and teams were created in the areas where the kids lived such as Runaway Bay,

Nerang Nerang is a town and suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Nerang had a population of 16,864 people. Geography The Nerang River flows through the locality from south to east, passing through the town. The river u ...

and Palm Beach. The first junior representative players to come from Surfers Paradise were Brandon Pollard, Trent Durrington, Shane Edwards and Adam Wardrop. All four boys were selected in the QLD U/16's squad in 1990 with each of them progressing to more senior representative teams over the years including National and Junior selection, as well as Australian Senior team selection for Trent and Brandon. Trent now runs a Training With the Pro's program out of the club every year in December. On 21 December 2008 the team played in the Commissioners Cup at the Beenleigh Hawks baseball club and lost to the shield's incumbent, the

Redcliffe Padres The Redcliffe Leagues Padres Baseball Club, also known as Peninsula Padres Baseball Club is a baseball club located in Redcliffe, Queensland that participates in the Greater Brisbane League competition and Brisbane North Region competition. As o ...

4–3.Padres Retain Commissioners Shield

Notable players

* Trent Durrington (

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

) *

Wayne Ough Wayne Ough (born 27 November 1978) is an Australian former professional baseball pitcher who also competed in the Olympics. Listed at and , he threw and batted right-handed. Drafted by the New York Mets in the 15th round of the 2000 Major ...

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New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

) *

Andrew Utting Andrew Utting (born 9 September 1977) is an Australian former professional baseball player. Career In 2007, he was part of the Australian Olympic baseball team that won a silver medal in the baseball tournament at the Athens Olympics. H ...

(

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

) *

Matthew Gahan Matthew Gahan (born 26 November 1975) in Lismore, New South Wales is an Australian baseball player who is currently a free agent and plays for the Australian national team. Career Matty was signed in 2000 by the New York Mets organisation and ...

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)

Managers

* Kevin Fenn (2019–present) * Matt Corbitt (2017–2019) * Jake McMaster (2016-2017) *

Jon Deeble Jon Deeble (born 18 May 1962 in Melbourne) is the head coach of the Melbourne Aces of the Australian Baseball League and the former manager of the Australian national baseball team. Career Deeble was a pitcher on the national team he now coaches ...

(2015-2016) * Peter Yates (2010-2015) * Adam Wardrop (2002-2010)

Presidents

* Tony McPhail (2020–present) * Justine White (2019–2020) * Tony McPhail (1996-2019) * TBC (1987-1999)

Life Members

* John Carpenter * Judy Carpenter * Ken Hussey * Cherie Bombell * Ron Bombell * Frits Weber * Garry Edwards * Gordon Wallace * Tony McPhail * Leigh McPhail * Col Carruthers * Lindsay "Butch" Graham * Bette Holland * Adam Wardrop * David Counter * Mikael Weber * Connie Stoyakovich * Matt Studeman

References

External links

Surfers Website
*O'Neill, R (27 November 2008.
Hawks lack edge
'' Albert & Logan News'' *Fielmich, L (3 November 2008.

''Gold Coast Bulletin'' {{Gold Coast Sports Teams Australian baseball clubs Baseball teams in Australia Surfers Paradise, Queensland Baseball teams established in 1987 Sporting teams based on the Gold Coast, Queensland Greater Brisbane League