At the start of October 2022, the Bass Coast community came onto Softball Victoria’s radar, when the Bass Valley Primary School kids won the School Sport Victoria (SSV) State T-Ball Championships earlier in the year and were preparing to do the same for Fully Loaded Softball.  

Softball Victoria regional Participation Coordinator, Jo Schutt, headed to Bass to meet the students, their PE teacher Mr. Mac, and the school’s learning support person, Kylie.   

There was something else quite remarkable about this school - five of their students had made School Sport Victoria’s (SSV) TeamVic Girls U-12 side and were preparing to spend the week representing Victoria in the School Sport Australia (SSA) National Championships in November, with Casey Softball Association’s Tony Black as their coach.  

Five students representing from one school is rare, but these girls had only ever played softball at school and were not part of a club or association.   

It was soon evident that the whole of the year five and six cohort at Bass Valley Primary had fallen in love T-Ball and Softball. Most of the students brought their own gloves to school and were practicing during their lunch time on the diamond painted on the oval. They were training for the upcoming SSV South Gippsland regional finals, which were held at the end of October 2022 at Bass Recreation Reserve with a very impressive turnout from schools across the region.   

The Bass Valley Primary girls and the Cowes boys/mixed teams won but as often happens, both schools got to send their girls and boys/mixed teams to the SSV State Championships at the end of November. Sadly, Mr. Mac was away for the State championships, but Tony Black volunteered his time and helped Kylie coach the Bass Valley Primary, helping the girls to achieve runners up.    

One of the Bass Valley girls, Gemma Shumack (pictured), has continued to take on any opportunity possible to play softball, attending the two-day Softball Australia Development Camp, and the Bass Coast School Holiday Program run by Softball Victoria in January 2023. 

Gemma represented Casey Softball Association in the U-14 Softball Victoria State Championships in April. And to complete the trifecta, she’s just received the exciting news of having been selected in the Victorian U-14 State Team as part of a group of talented girls heading to Queensland in July to play in the Regional Championships!  

Gemma started playing softball at school in year three, and for someone who hasn’t played outside of school until now, she’s achieved incredible success in the last six months.   

Congratulations Gemma, not only for your achievements so far, but for playing a big part in shining the light on the Bass Coast region.   

Because of the attention Gemma and her friends drew to their region, Bass Coast has been selected as the next place to start a new softball association, with the help of VicHealth’s Future Healthy initiative. 

The Bass Coast area has a strong contingent of softball families who have been involved in the sport their entire lives, travelling to Melbourne multiple times a week to train and play. Thanks to these people and a handful of enthusiastic locals, we are well on the way to officially forming Bass Coast Softball.   

This is a powerful example of how one teacher or one coach can make an impact on a person’s life, and ultimately change a community. The positive outcomes that arise from building relationships with local schools and the SSV community may not always be so obvious, but we’ll continue trying to create stories like this one!