Stealers held their Annual General Meeting on Wednesday April 9th with Chris Rainnie being re-elected as President.
Most positions remained unchanged and with the retirement of Gordon Fraser who has done an excellent job as registrar over the past 3 years and many committee positions before that including President, we wish him well in retirement and thank him for his valuable support and tireless effort over 20 years.
Stephanie Koehn was elected registrar for both baseball and softball and brings a fresh face to the committee.
The Presidents report is listed below

Stealers Summer season 2013 / 14 was a great success. Celebrating not only our 35th year as a Baseball club but also our redevelopment, culminating in our Grand re-Opening, officiated by Mayor Anderson from Ku ring gai Municipal Council.
Junior numbers were 226 players, Senior numbers were S13/152 players,W14/ 52 players & Softball numbers W14/77 players.

Total = 507 players. This is on par with last year with junior numbers down in the U5 – U7 age groups but seniors numbers for winter up from 3 teams to 4, another 15 players

1 out of 21 junior teams won their Grand Final, 5 competed
3 out of 11 senior teams won their Grand Final, 6 competed
Our 14A & 16A teams were minor premiers and the U14 A team won their Grand Final.

The re development of Jubilee has been completed and the 3 new diamonds are now looking fantastic.
Our Junior presentation day was held late March and all who attended were impressed with how spectacular diamond 1 looked on the day when we played the Presidents Cup, our traditional farewell game to the leaving U16 players – note the game was won by the Presidents team. With lights due in September 2014, we are on track to open season S14 in October and play night games on the best facilities in Sydney.
Pre-season & in season junior development training sessions were a success and will be planned again for this year.
Revenue was up in café Stealers due to games being held back at Jubilee and having held 3 successful gala days and the U14 State Cup Finals.
Our increased playing capacity will allow us to increase numbers by up to 200 players, strengthening us financially as a club but will put added pressure on the quality of our coaching and the everyday management of such a large club.
We spent $16,500 on improving the batting cages and $9,500 on new grounds equipment including a new zero turn ride on mower to maintain the infields. A further bonus has been the acquiring of a $50,000 grant to complete the batting cages – providing a covered area with lights for night practice including a motorised pitching machine.

Challenges for the future
# improve the playing standard of all juniors
# improve our coaching of the coaches
# focus on driving sponsorship and alternative revenue bases
# maintain our focus on providing a pathway for all players to improve their baseball standard so they can achieve their highest level of success possible.

Vision for the future – to watch a night game of baseball from the second storey of our clubhouse

Thankyou to Rob Scott – Treasurer and Stuart Quirk – Secretary for managing the financial and correspondence parts of the club.
To my 3 VP’s
Linda Mathieson – juniors, Adrian Steer – juniors & Mark Radovic – seniors
Each has done a fantastic job running and managing the day to day issues that arise when managing so many teams and players.
To Gordon Fraser – registrar, a great job keeping track of all our players and we wish him well in retirement
To Guy Jeffrey – Head Coach, who has done a great job coaching the seniors
To Didre Dheurle – Umpire Co-Ordinator, who managed the ‘Junior Blues’ programme with 8 junior blues and for his general willingness to help with an ‘I’ll do anything attitude , and to
Gary Bazzana for his input and guidance in his last year as Gala day co-ordinator
And to Evelyn, Samantha, Lou and Ross for managing the softball arm of Stealers last winter

Every year there are 3 awards which maybe handed out where applicable – the J.V.G award for coaching excellence and sportsmanship, the Life member award for service and commitment to the club and the ‘Club Person of the Year’ award for outstanding commitment to ensuring Stealers runs smoothly.
Adrian Steer was awarded the ‘Club Person of the Year’ award for his tireless efforts in managing the equipment and grounds over the past 6 months. No nominations were received for either the JVG or Life Member award.
We are a great club striving to be better.
Thankyou,
Chris Rainnie,
President