Hitting the Fastball in 2025

Written on the 16 December 2024 by The District Reporter

The South West Sydney Academy of Sport is excited to announce that it has formed a partnership with local Baseball organisation RBI Australia, to deliver a pilot Baseball program within the Academy, in 2025.

Jumping at the chance to partner with the Academy was RBI Australia Managing Director Matt Redman, was quoted as saying RBI is keen to see a high-performance Baseball program within our region and we are happy to be involved, and will do our best to support and enhance the Academy’s program where possible.

Whilst the Baseball program will be a new venture for the Academy, Baseball athletes are in fact no stranger to the high-performance support and education programs, with several athletes currently, or previously involved within the Academy’s Future Stars program.

Academy CEO Gerry Knights is also supportive of the move, confirming that Baseball athletes have been able to be a part of the Academy's Future Stars program for a number of years now, culminating in Adam Bates, being named the NSW Regional Academies of Sport 'Athlete of the Year' in 2024.

This continued interest and success, within the region, left the Academy in no doubt that a full sport program was indeed a positive way forward.

That fact, alongside the decision of Olympic Games organisers to include both Baseball and Softball into the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, and the Academy recently being recognised as an Official Training Centre of the Australian Olympic Committee, assisted in the ease of the decision-making process.

Through additional funding provided in 2023-2024 by the NSW Government and Office of Sport, the Academy has been able to review its existing programs and governance processes, in order to increase the ability to deliver additional sporting programs and opportunities to our region's young athletes.

Following on from a call out at the Academy's Annual Graduation and Sport Awards Dinner in August, where Knights reached out for a partner to come on board and sponsor a 'new program'; the Macarthur Credit Union, via its CEO David Cadden answered the call by increasing its existing partnership with the Academy.

In doing so, hit a home run by reaffirming his organisation’s commitment to the development of the region's talented junior athletes, by taking on the program 'naming rights' partnerships of not just the new Baseball program, but also aligning with the Academy's existing Softball program.

The alignment with both the Macarthur Credit Union and RBI Australia across both Baseball and Softball is an incredible win for all parties.

Whilst the process to implement the Baseball program has taken nearly twelve months from concept to mapping out the pilot program structure, the Academy is excited to see the vision take shape and become a reality to provide a high-performance Baseball program for male and female athletes, within the South West Sydney Region.

And the journey towards a program does not stop there, with Knights outlining an ongoing community consultation process as vital component to ensure the program’s long-term future.

As with all new Academy programs, the next step in ensuring the pilot program is a success and remains a year-to-year fixture, is now the ongoing consultation with the region’s local Baseball association, clubs and state sporting organisation.

Critical steps in the programs development to ensure it complements the on-field training, education and representative programs. Whilst also assisting the association to meet its athlete development needs within the South West Sydney region.

Expressions of Interest for the 2025 ‘The Mac’ Baseball pilot program are now open, with further information on trials and the pilot program structure expected to be released in February. All things going smoothly, trials are proposed to take place during March 2025 for male and female Baseball athletes who turn 13-16 years of age in 2025.

Interested Baseball coach and support staff are also encouraged to express their interest in being a part of the pilot program, with a highly comprehensive coach development program, specifically designed for their ongoing overall development available.

Further information and Expression of Interest forms are available on the Academy’s website, or by following the link to

swsas.org.au/baseball

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Pictured: Matt Redman, Managing Director of RBI Australia, Paul Brooks, Chief Financial Officer The Macarthur Credit Union, Gerry Knights, Chief Executive Officer South West Sydney Academy of Sport, and Daniel Medd, Head Coach RBI Australia Academy.