Banggu Academy to foster potential in Indigenous baseball players

Dean Ainsworth started up the Banggu Baseball Academy to get bayside baseball players high level coaching to allow them to reach state and national representation levels.

The invite only program had 30 players selected for the academy in its second season.

After completing the initial goal of building the academy, Mr Ainsworth said focus had shifted to engage with Indigenous youth and promote the sport through outreach.

"Our goal is to create pathways for Aboriginal players to participate in our First Nations Baseball program that will teach the basics of Baseball, provide an opportunity to play the game through local friendship tournaments and to continue playing Baseball in the regular season," he said.

"Our 'inspiration' for the program is Todd McDonald who was a Junior Redlands Rays player who went on to sign a professional contract with the Texas Rangers in 2013.

"Texas enquired about other Aboriginal players and we realised that there really aren't many First Nations players within the game, so Banggu Baseball looks to help fill the void by promoting the game to First Nations Youth and to offer opportunities for Aboriginal players to take part in the game of Baseball."

The Banggu Academy, Banggu meaning stingray in Jandai dialect of the Quandamooka people, is coached by Redland Rays Baseball Senior division one coach Rhys Nitt.

Mr Ainsworth said the program was supported by local businesses like Bendigo Bank Victoria Point, which donated $2000 to sponsor Indigenous players, and Workplace Law.

"We have also partnered with Acceleration who provide a wide range of speed and agility sessions to our athletes," he said.

"Down Under Travellers Baseball have provided our training shirts and create pathways for athletes to further their Baseball careers overseas, whether that is college or professional Baseball."

Mr Ainsworth said the next step was to find more outreach opportunities to promote the game and help fund future Indigenous players' tuition, equipment, uniforms and fees.

"We will be looking to take Banggu teams to the Timberjacks Friendship Series in the June-July School holidays in Lismore for 3 days of fun Baseball," he said.

"After that our regular season at Redlands Rays will commence and we hope to have a number of Aboriginal youth ready to transition into the regular season at Redlands Rays.

"If all things go well, we hope in the future we will find the next Todd McDonald and provide pathways for players to take the next big step to play for state, country and possibly a professional contract with a Major League Baseball team in the future."

Anyone interested in getting involved as a player or for sponsorship opportunities can get in touch with the Academy at banggubaseball@gmail.com