The Open Men’s National Championships kick off this Sunday 12^th January at Hawker, ACT.

Head Coach Nigel Aiken told SV Media, he’s set a clear focus for the group this campaign, which he feels will allow the team to thrive against the nation’s best.

“We’ve been training since early September, twice per week, plus all the players play in the men’s state league, which makes it a pretty busy program for them,” he said.

“We have been concentrating more on our hitting the closer we get to the event.”

“We feel we need to hit the ball well to score runs and win games, we feel we have a pretty strong defence, but our hitting will be our strength this year,” he added.

The team finished fourth at last year’s national’s competition, when asked how the side can build from that result, Aiken was really clear with the team’s focus.

“Purely to concentrate on our batting. We’ve been reasonably consistent over the past few years with our team stats, so we’re really trying to take those to the next level.”

“We need to be a little better than last year and 2018, where we were really competitive – which will help us progress deeper into the week.”

Led by Captain Glen Rigg, Aiken is confident the team has all positions covered, which will go a long way in their quest for national’s glory.

“We’re a pretty well rounded team this year, we do have a fair bit of experience in there. I feel we’re consistent with coverage in all positions – the focus has been to get a rounded squad.” Aiken said.

“Glen Rigg is our captain, he’s been around for over 10 years as a player, and captain for the past three years.”

“He leads from the front, gives it 100% – whatever we need him to do for the team – he will do.”

“The guys have worked really hard this year, both individually and in team sessions, we’re hoping that’s going to take us to the next level of the tournament.”

In addition, Under 23 Men’s Head Coach Mark Scammell previously coached players – Steven Dawson, Henry Mullin & Alex Chapman back in 2018 as Under 23 athletes.

Scammell commented that the team’s big hitting prowess will be the side’s strongest weapon in Hawker.

“They’ll score a lot of runs, they’re a really good hitting side and should push a lot of teams.” Scammell said.

To access the full Open Men’s draw click HERE.

Stay tuned to Softball Victoria’s website and associated social media channels to keep up to date with the team’s progress in Hawker.