NSHS Baseball Academy Batting Cages

"You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.” ― C. G. Jung



My request...
My name is Chris Corey and I am the head coach of the baseball program at Narrabeen Sports High School (NSHS) where I am lucky enough to coach some very talented athletes each week.  A long term personal goal of mine is to improve the number of players and the overall standard of baseball in the greater Sydney area. 
At the start of this year NSHS re-introduced baseball into the Sports Academy, and despite it being the first year almost half of the student athletes are playing representative baseball at a regional, state or national level.  With a tradition of success at the school and a strong pool of baseball talent in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, I believe that the re-introduction of the Sports Academy program is a significant step forward for both junior and senior baseball in the area.  The medium term goal (2-3yrs) is to upgrade the program to BNSW High Performance standards, however there is still a significant gap in the school’s facilities before that can become a reality.  The number one priority is to have access to fully enclosed batting cages, and I have recently had approval to refashion the existing cricket nets on the school grounds into batting cages suitable for baseball.  To purchase the necessary materials and get it installed is going to cost around $4,000.  This is where you come in, and there’s two ways you can help:

a) If you’re in a position to help by donating even the smallest amount towards the baseball program please take action now.  As the saying goes, “many hands make light work.”

b) If you’re not able to make a donation at the moment please assist by spreading the word.  Is there somebody that you know who is passionate about the game and may want to help too?

 

Have you ever thought to yourself…
“I wish baseball was bigger in Australia.”
“Why aren’t there more Aussies playing college baseball?”
“I wish there were more Australians getting drafted.”
“Why aren’t there any local players on the current Australian team that just played in the ….. Championship?”

Well now’s the chance to have an impact.

  

About the Baseball Academy Program...Below is a brief introduction to Narrabeen Sports High School and some history on the Baseball Academy program.

The Sports Academy is embedded into the framework and curriculum of Narrabeen Sports High School, and it is open to any student enrolled at the school.  As the school is a Selective Sports High School it means that any student living in Northern Sydney may apply for enrolment.  The focus of the Sports Academy is to afford elite, and emerging elite athletes an environment for academic and social development, whilst acknowledging and assisting with the development of the individual training and competition demands in a chosen sport.  The Sports Academy operates in unison with the academic and social framework of the school curriculum, and it actively promotes the physical, social and educational value of sport in assisting with the development of a student.

Narrabeen Sports High School has a strong history of success when baseball was previously on the curriculum at the school.  Some of the past students from the program are listed below:

Rodney Van Buizen - Represented Australia at 2 Olympics and World Baseball Classic and played professional baseball at the Minor League level in USA

Karl Hoschke - Played professional baseball at the Minor League level in USA and in the ABL with the Brisbane Bandits and Adelaide Bite

Max Brennan - Played college baseball in Texas, and in the ABL with the Sydney Blue Sox


This isn’t to imply that these successes were solely due to Narrabeen Sports High School; however, the focus of the Sports Academy is to provide an atmosphere conducive to students that have a desire to hone their baseball skills in conjunction with their academic endeavours.  I believe that the aim of any high performance program should be to facilitate athletes to achieve their goals based upon their individual talent and work ethic and not due to a lack of resources or support.  The NSHS Sports Academy is in an ideal position to provide that opportunity to student athletes at various stages of their sporting careers.  The reality is that most student athletes don’t go on to be professional athletes in their chosen sport however the skills that they learn from being in an environment where time management, work ethic, persistence and dealing with failure and are necessary to be successful on the field will stay with them well beyond their school years.



Breakdown of fundraising target...
Initial goal of $5620

$4000 = Conversion of existing cricket nets to fully enclosed batting cages
$1200 = Practice baseballs (10doz / semester)
$420 = Weighted BP Balls

 

Stretch target of $9750 - Equipment required to upgrade the baseball program to BNSW High Performance standards

$1400 = Driveline Throwing Velocity Pack/Jaeger Bands (5 x $350 per kit)
$3000 = Pitching machine ($2200 USD)
$800 = Overload/Underload Training Bats ($600 USD)




If you have any queries or you are interested in ways that you can help please contact me via email.  Thanks in advance for your help.

Chris Corey
[email redacted]