History of West City Baseball

West City Baseball Club’s inaugural campaign took place in the spring of 1997. At that time, most of the team members were playing for the Blue Jays, a team based at Stafford Park on the North Shore, as part of the now defunct North Harbour Baseball Association.

Team president Wayne McCullough moved back to west Auckland in April 1997, and soon became aware of a corner spot on McLeod Park, Te Atatu that could be used to create a permanent infield. This was more preferable to Stafford Park, which was only a temporary field that had to be removed every winter to allow for New Zealands 'national' game - rugby. As most of the Blue Jays team members lived in west Auckland, the move was beneficial to all.

In the spring of 1997, McCullough set up a meeting at McLeod Park for people interest in playing baseball. One of these was Mike Rielly, who would go on to become West City’s senior player/coach for several seasons.

After drawing out the field position and dimensions, McCullough, Rielly and other members of the fledgling club approached the city council and the local soccer club about playing baseball at McLeod Park, receiving a positive response from both organisations.

During its first season West City fielded a senior team and an under-19 youth team, with most of the youth team members moving up to play at the senior level during the next few years, helping to establish a sense of continuity and player development within the club.

The first big event for the club was in 1999, when the New Zealand Baseball Federation awarded West City the right to host an All-Star day for local and regional clubs. The event was a big success, attracting players from all teams in the senior league, including some from as far away as Hamilton. The All-Star game concluded with an awards ceremony.

In August 2000 and 2001 McLeod Park was host to a visiting team of under-19 players from the United States, who, through the sponsorship of an organisation called People to People, were able to come to New Zealand and play baseball games against West City and other clubs. 

2002 saw the club become an official incorporated organisation - West City Baseball Club Incorporated - under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 becoming a separate legal entity, giving notice that it was here to stay.

On November 9, 2002, West City’s U13 team, played its first game. The club soon received contact from overseas teams, and a group of under-13 players from South Korea arrived on January 8, 2004, to participate in three weeks of training programmes at McLeod Park.  Our junior program, through the aide of Baseball NZ continues to grow.

In 2007 Wayne McCullough stepped down from the position of president from the club and Gareth Hooton was elected to take over as Club President, ready to take West City Baseball to a new level.  

In October of 2008 the West City Baseball Club was granted income tax exemption under section CW 64 of the Income Tax Act 2007, as a body promoting amateur sport. This allowed the club the opportunity to apply for grants from funding agencies - the first time the club had done this in over 10 years of its history.

The growth of youth grades at the West City Baseball Club was given a boost in 2007 when a softball team saw the light and stepped up to the plate at West City. From there the numbers of players at the club has continually grown with the help from a number of volunteer coaches.

Adding to the success of the growth of the junior programme, the West City senior team has been the most dominant team in the country, winning the Auckland Championship on a regular occurrence over the past 12 seasons, and at present it is the three-time defending National Club Champion, winning the title in 2006, 2007, and 2009

Spring 2008 saw Alan Lotze take the reigns as Head Coach of the West City Baseball Premier team taking them to 20-5 in his first season, taking out the Auckland title again, and claiming back the 2009 National Club Championship.

The future is looking bright for the West City Baseball Club, and with help from the Waitakere City Council the diamond at McLeod Park is looking the real deal.

Volunteer work by the players, digging the cutouts and building the mound has made the infield one of the best in the country. A new flynet will be installed by the council before the 2009 season kicks off in November. New safety fencing was installed along the foul lines in 2008 to keep players and spectators safe. The council will also be draining and reseeding the diamond and the outfield in March 2010.