MWDBA Nomination for President – Brook Russell

To the Manly Baseball Community,

My name is Brook Russell. The past four seasons I have been the Chair of the Manly Warringah District Baseball Association Junior Competition Committee. I am nominating for the position of President of the Manly Warringah District Baseball Association for the 2022-2023 baseball year.

I have been involved in Manly baseball since 2010, after my family and I moved to the district. Myself, my wife and my two children are all active members of Manly Baseball. I play baseball for Forest Baseball Club and have played for Pittwater Baseball Club.

I was a Forest Baseball Club coach from 2014-2021 and a Manly Junior Representative Head Coach and Coach from 2014-2020 in all the Junior Baseball Divisions.

I have been a member of the Junior Competition Committee since 2014 and past Director of the Manly Warringah District Baseball Committee (the “Board”).

I have been involved in baseball for more than 50 years.

Manly Baseball is unique in the NSW baseball community, we are a collaboration of the Junior Competition, Junior Representatives, Minor League, and State League. We are unique geographically in the Sydney baseball community.

I am nominating for the position of President because I believe over the past several seasons, there has been a disconnect between the Board and all of you who participate in Manly baseball. I believe that elements of the Board have moved away from focusing overall to focusing on certain parts. It needs to come back to its primary role of the administration and growth of all of baseball in the District, through co-operation and guidance.

The past two seasons of baseball were without question, the most difficult to administer with the impact of the pandemic and the extremes of the weather. The junior competition was an outstanding success with more baseball played in the Manly District than most other District in the State. This committee accomplished this through collaboration of the club representatives. My job as the Chair of that Committee was to facilitate the process not micro-manage it. I want to bring this same philosophy to the Board.

The Board has been in existence for some years now and has professionally managed baseball in the Manly District but there is more to do. There are parts of the community we need to be communicating with to promote further growth and there is more to be done to improve baseball in the District. We need a strong philosophy, we need goals, we need a plan.

I believe that I can bring my personality and my philosophy that proved successful in the Junior Baseball community to the whole of baseball in the Manly District.

The Annual General Meeting is at 6.30pm on Saturday, 30 April 2022 at the Manly Baseball Clubhouse at Aquatic Reserve. Each of you have a voice and a say on how Manly baseball is managed, I invite all of you to attend, use your voice and cast your vote.

Yours in Baseball,

Brook Russell