Sunshine Baseball Club was founded in 1938 and is the oldest sporting club in Sunshine. The fact our club holds this status is testament to the many dedicated and committed people that have been involved over the years. There have been many local legends, not all necessarily baseballers, who have put their heart and soul into our club and have done so for many years.
George Kirby, the clubs inaugural President, held the position for over 25 years. George operated the only picture theatre in Sunshine from 1930 – 1980. The Kirby family have continued to support Sunshine Baseball Club to the present day through son Roc Kirby (life member and patron of Village Roadshow fame) and Grandson John Kirby (life member and also of Village Roadshow). The club is indebted to the Kirby family for their goodwill and generosity over many years.
The club’s second longest serving president was Pat Dalling, President for 17 years and for many years had the only proper full-time sports store in the 1950s-1980s in Sunshine. More recently, Robert Browne stepped down from the President’s role after fulfilling the position for 10 years, making him the 3rd longest serving president in the club’s history, this is just outstanding!
The club has had many Australian and Victorian representatives over the years, the notables including present Clubman John Galloway (Helm’s Award Winner with South Australia -the top Australian player award), Jon Deeble, (Australian Coach and the holder of 3 Gold Rings for World Series wins with the Boston Redsox) and Graeme Lloyd (Australian Coach and the holder of 2 Gold Rings playing for the New York Yankees). John Galloway was recently inducted into the Australian Baseball Hall of Fame and joins the great Don Deeble and Graeme Lloyd, both Sunshine players who were also inducted into the Baseball Australia Hall of Fame, this is absolutely world class!
On field success at the club over the years has resulted in many premierships, including 3 men’s Division One Premierships and Division One Premierships to our first Women’s team in the 1994-95 & 1995-96 seasons.
Baseball is a wonderful participant sport, which offers a great opportunity for people of all abilities to participate and for parents, it gives them the opportunity to be actively involved in supporting their children and to become a part of our great club. We have been fielding senior teams now for over 85 years and junior teams for over 70 years and we plan to be doing it for many more years to follow.
As Sunshine Baseball Club is associated with the Good Sports program, please see the following information and link regarding how to quit smoking and vaping.
Role modelling smoking can have a significant impact on junior members and a smokefree club makes smoking less visible and socially acceptable to the many kids that play at and visit our club.
If we can promote the smokefree message off-field, young players are going to perform better on field and the whole community will be healthier for it. We understand that the majority of smokers want to give up, and Sunshine Baseball Club, adopting a smokefree policy, is helping to reduce the amount of triggers smokers face on a daily basis. Thiscan only be a good thing for our club and our community.
As such, for Sunshine Baseball Club to be accredited as Good Sports, we would like to ensure that there is no smoking or vaping within the club premises with immeddiate effect. We would also like to encourage anyone who wishes to QUIT to visit this website. Remember, you can call the Quitline at 13 7848 if you would like support to quit.
This is a great way for us to continue supporting the Sunshine community and to give both our players and spectators the best opportunity to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Regards Sunshine Baseball Club