Amy McCann, Friday, 10 June 2011 DBC announces Michael Daykin (Head Coach) & Brendan McDonald (Assistant) for the 2011/12 season. Doncaster Baseball Club is thrilled to announce the appointment of Michael Daykin (Head Coach) and Brendan McDonald (Assistant) for the upcoming 2011/12 Baseball Victoria State League season.
Both Daykin and McDonald will make their coaching debuts in the State League, but bring a wealth of state, national and international playing experience to the positions.
Season 11/12 will be Daykin’s fourth at Doncaster after joining the Dragons in 2008/09 after almost 15 years with Upwey Ferntree Gully. Earlier in his career, he was a scholarship holder in the VIS baseball program for four years.
The twenty-eight-year-old currently holds the reigns of head coach at Ringwood in the 2011 MWBL season and has also previously had coaching stints at the Victorian Institute of Sport and with the Victorian under 18 team.
“My plans for this season along with Brendan is to create an environment for all players involved in with the club to have fun and learn as much as possible about the game as baseball is ever evolving.” said Daykin, or Pickles as he is widely known.
“We will be leading a great club, with a good foundation on which we intend to build with the help of our coaching staff,” he explained, “And we will be looking to provide opportunities for our young players to develop and for our veterans to continue to play at a level they wish.”
Daykin also lauded praise on outgoing coach Stephen Black for his great work over the past couple of seasons.
“We would like to thank the previous coaching staff for all there hard work and leaving the club in a good position for our upcoming season,” he added.
As a product of the Doncaster teeball program, McDonald, 24, first wore the green and gold as a four-year-old before rapidly rising through the ranks to make his debut in the Dragon’s first nine as a teenager.
McDonald’s talent’s were recgonised with a number of selections in Victorian junior teams and in 2005, before leaving Australia in 2005 after being awarded a college scholarship. He attended Cochise College and later Southern Arkansas University until 2009, being named in the league All Star team in his final season.
More recently in 2011, he was named to the Melbourne Aces pitching roster partway through their inaugural ABL season.
“We're very much looking forward to implementing our own ideas, but we are also extremely fortunate to have many of the same personnel as last year, which should give us plenty of wise heads to help us reach out to all levels of the club,” said McDonald, who makes his debut as a senior coach.
“Our overall goal is for as many teams as possible to be a part of the playoff picture, whilst also helping our younger players progress to the next stage of their baseball careers,” explained McDonald.
“With the strength of the women's program and some of the best junior talent in the state, it's an exciting time for the Doncaster Baseball Club and I feel very privileged to be a part of it,” he added.
After receiving a number of quality applicants, with each extensively interviewed and thoroughly considered, Doncaster President Dave Medlin was anxious and excited to make the announcement.
“We feel that Michael and Brendan will bring a lot of experience and knowledge to our club, but equally as important they will be passing on and demanding a very strong work ethic, passion for the game, in addition to great pride and respect for the club,” Medlin said.
Medlin was also extremely pleased with the pair’s passion for the club in its entirety, including the women’s and junior programs, indicating it played a big part in their appointment.
“Apart from focusing on driving the top men side to the Division 1 success, Michael and Brendan displayed a desire to continue the club’s philosophy of combining all facets of the club as a single cohesive unit,” added Medlin.
The 2011/12 Baseball Victoria State League season will begin in early October.
DBC is always looking for interested players to join it’s large program of senior men’s and women’s and junior teams.
Check out the DBC website at doncaster.baseball.com.au for more information.
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