User:Smithy knows/Southern Stars Baseball Club

History of Southern Stars Baseball Club

A letter was written on the 16th of November 1994 to the Logan City Council proposing the establishment of a new club in the Western Logan City area for the 1995/96 season.

Since the closure of the Browns Plains section of the Western Districts club, which played out of the Browns Plains State High School grounds, a baseball club had not serviced the area. Therefore, it was proposed for the 1995/96 season that a new club, independent of established club ties, would be formed to fill the void.

After initial discussions with interested parties, a steering committee was formed which included Brett Wood and Peter Oversluizen. It was decided that the new club name would be Southern Stars Baseball Club. The club colours would be Aqua/turquoise (Marlins) tops with silver and black trim, grey pants with black trim, Aqua/turquoise and black cap. The colour Maroon was introduced into the uniform in the 2007/08 season.

They proposed to nominate T-Ball, U/12, U/14, U/16, U/18 and Premier League Division 3 teams for the 1995/96 season. They planned to play their home games at the Browns Plains State High School until the 1997/98 season, then move to a new ground developed on a preferred council site.

In 1995/96 season, the club did blossomed into a very strong club with three senior teams, a couple of junior teams and well over 50 committee and club members. The club added a few more junior teams and more members the next season and had also lodged plans with the Logan council to move to a new field. The club got the go ahead in 1996 to move from the high school to the current location in Regents Park. The Southern Stars Baseball Club moved into their new field at Regency Park, Regency Drive, Regents Park by Christmas 1997. The move proved fruitful, with more junior team being developed and more members joining after the relocation.

This was not the preferred site of the 1994 steering committee, which had nominated the Browns Plains landfill in their five-year plan. Nearly fifteen years on, the Browns Plains landfill on Browns Plains Road is starting to be developed into sporting facilities with the formation of a few soccer and rugby fields and a basketball stadium at the entrance, which is home to Logan Thunder.

Over the past seventeen years, the club has grown into the family club we see today, only to improve as each year goes by. Since the club has formed, we have seen well over 500 club members’ come and go; there are a couple of members still here from the beginning of Southern Stars. Compared to the other Brisbane clubs we compete against in competition, Southern Stars would have to be one of the smallest clubs in Brisbane, if not the smallest. This has not been an obstacle for our junior players, with the many dedicated club members and coaches producing young stars that have gone on to represent their region “Brisbane West”, their state “Queensland” and also Australia at the Cal Ripken World series.

Southern Stars: Where young Stars are developed.