VICTORIA PARK BELMONT BASEBALL CLUB Inc.

HALL OF FAME

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NAME

The name of the Hall of Fame shall be the Victoria Park Belmont Baseball Club Hall of Fame (the Hall of Fame)

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PURPOSE

The purpose for establishing the Hall of Fame is to recognise and honour those individuals that have demonstrated outstanding performances over extended periods of time at elite playing levels and can be admired as role models for both the sport of baseball and the Victoria Park Belmont Baseball Club (VPBBC).

More specifically: Players and coaches of the Victoria Park Belmont Baseball Club that have demonstrated sustained levels of excellence of on-field performance at the highest levels of domestic, national, international and/or professional competition.

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SCOPE

Recognition through membership of the Hall of Fame relates to an individual’s on-field participation under the overarching administration of Baseball WA (BWA) and/ or its predecessor, the Western Australian Baseball League (WABL), the governing body of baseball in Western Australia since its inception in 1936.

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The Hall of Fame represents an elite body with a restricted membership based upon stringent criteria focussing on outstanding playing and/ or coaching performances or achievements at the highest levels of domestic, national, international and/or professional competition.

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The objective of the Hall of Fame is to recognise those performances that are considered elite as adjudged against all peers.

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GOVERNANCE

The VPBBC Heritage Committee is responsible for managing all aspects of the Hall of Fame under the authority and approval of the VPBBC Management Committee.

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The VPBBC Heritage Committee is responsible for the creation and maintenance of the Hall of Fame guidelines and supporting procedural documentation and their implementation, the vetting, validation, voting and induction processes as well as maintaining and updating all records.

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The VPBBC Management Committee will be responsible for ratifying all decisions made by the Heritage Committee and Hall of Fame voting panel, and the Secretary will be ​responsible for implementing all agreed actions by the Management Committee such as the distribution of information to members, inductees and website personnel.

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The Hall of Fame is first and foremost the Club’s means of recognising individual feats of excellence throughout baseball careers at VPBBC, however, the VPBBC wishes to acknowledge both the BWA Hall of Fame and Baseball Australia Hall of Fame and hopes to be complimentary within their frameworks as a club-based program.

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These guidelines, policies and procedures will be reviewed annually and any recommended updates or amendments will be provided to the Management Committee for endorsement.

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CRITERIA FOR NOMINATION

All nominated candidates must meet the following criteria:

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1. Induction into the VPBBC Hall of Fame is based upon outstanding performance through on-field excellence and demonstrated ongoing achievements at an elite level of baseball within domestic, national, international and/or professional levels

2. On-field excellence may be evidenced by eligible candidates having dominated domestic competition (including but not limited to the setting of records, the winning of awards and/ or participation in championship winning teams), having competed for the Claxton Shield (Western Australia, WA Brewers, Western Heelers, Perth Heat), National representation (Australia, Olympics) and/or  participation in Professional Baseball leagues around the world  and will require statistical evidence of the afore-mentioned as supporting documentation for nomination.

3. In the absence of available statistical evidence, nominations will need to be supported through written testimonials, oral histories and/ or documentation from multiple sources.

4. Candidates nominated must have represented VPBBC at State League level (or equivalent, depending upon terminology of the era) as a player and/ or coach for a minimum of two (2) seasons.

5. Candidates must have retired from any State League (or above) playing and/ or coaching roles for a minimum of three (3) years before they will be considered for nomination.

6. Any nominee that has already been inducted into either the Western Australian Baseball (BWA) Hall of Fame or the Australian Baseball (BA) Hall of Fame or both will automatically be inducted into the VPBBC Hall of Fame, on the proviso that they meet all other nomination criteria.

7. Candidates must meet acceptable standards of integrity, character and sportsmanship, and must in no way have brought the sport of baseball nor the VPBBC into disrepute.

8. The VPBBC Hall of Fame selection committee reserves the right to crosscheck all information provided in support of nominations as a part of the validation process.

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NOMINATION RULES & PROCEDURES

Nomination to the Hall of Fame can be by any member of the Victoria Park Belmont Baseball Club, or by any member of the Western Australian baseball fraternity but cannot be by the individual being nominated. 

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Nomination forms are available on the Club website and may also be requested in hard copy format from the Management Committee but all nominations must include a completed nomination form, supporting documentation and evidence (including, but not limited to: biographies, statistics, newspaper articles, scanned copies of scorebooks, certificates and awards, photographs, video footage and testimonials) and be submitted to the Club Secretary.

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Nominations will typically open on October 1st and close on December 31st each year, unless otherwise determined by the Heritage Committee. Timelines for submission of nominations will be posted on the Club website.

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Following receipt of nominations, the Secretary will forward all information electronically (or by post or by hand as needed) to the Heritage Committee for vetting and validation.

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Candidates may be nominated across a maximum of four (4) separate ballots and having not received the required number of affirmative votes will no longer be considered for induction, with the following exception – the VPBBC Heritage Committee deems there may be extenuating circumstances that influence further investigation, such as but not limited to, incorrect information having been provided, new information becoming available or any perceived injustice.

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In the event that the Heritage Committee adjudges that a candidate is worthy of re-consideration it will be recommended that the Review Committee reassess the nomination.

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VETTING & VALIDATION

After all nominee submissions have been received from the Secretary, the Heritage Committee will endeavour to ensure submissions accurately detail all required aspects of nomination and validate supporting evidence.

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When more information or clarification is warranted, the Heritage Committee may request that the Secretary advise the nominating person or body of such and that they will need to resubmit their nomination with the required further information.

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All individuals involved in the nomination, validation, voting or review processes must declare any real or perceived conflicts of interest and if a member of the Heritage Committee or Voting Panel should find themselves as a nominee, they will excuse themselves from the process in its entirety. All declarations will be recorded by the Club Secretary.

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If it is deemed that the nominee does not meet all eligibility criteria, the Secretary will be asked by the Heritage Committee to inform the nominating person or body that the nomination has been rejected at this time and provide reasons thereof.

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After vetting and validation, the nominations will be forwarded to the Hall of Fame voting panel for consideration and polling. Upon successful consideration inductees will be ratified by the VPBBC Management Committee and individuals and/ or family members notified of their inclusion and provided with details of the proceedings of the Annual Awards Ceremony.

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VOTING PANEL

The members of the voting panel will be selected by the Heritage Committee for ratification by the Management Committee and will comprise predominantly VPBBC members and Life Members, as well as members of the Western Australian baseball fraternity deemed appropriate. All living members of the Hall of Fame will automatically be included as voting panel members.

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The members of the Voting Panel are subject to review by the Heritage Committee and are subject to change under the authority of the Management Committee. The Voting Panel has a desired minimum of 40 members.

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Voting Panel members are welcome to communicate with other panel members to discuss nominations, however voting will be via secret ballot with votes being returned to the Chair of the Heritage Committee. Unless the Chairperson is the subject of the nomination and will then excuse themselves from the process and another member of the Heritage Committee will assume the role of chairperson during this time.

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Members of the HoF voting panel will be required to read the VPBBC Hall of Fame guidelines and procedures and sign a notice of confidentiality (Nominations, candidate information and voting results are to remain as private/ confidential as possible).

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Candidates must receive a YES vote from a minimum of 75% of the voting panel to be inducted into the VPBBC Hall of Fame.

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All voting panel members are expected to cast a vote which can be in the affirmative, the negative or with good reason, an abstention, and at least 90% of the panel must cast a vote for the poll to be valid. 

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RECOGNITION OF INDUCTEES & MEMBERS

Inductees into the Victoria Park Belmont Baseball Club Hall of Fame will be recognised at the Annual Awards Ceremony through public announcement and presentation.

The home of the Hall of Fame will be the Victoria Park Belmont Baseball Club website, where information about inductees and members will be presented and stored. 

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The information displayed in the Hall of Fame will include, but not be limited to, 

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• The names of the individuals

• The year of their induction and category under which they have been inducted.

• The details of their achievements, including teams in which they played or coached.

• Biographies, photographs and any supporting statistical data and/ or testimonials wherever each of these is available.​

 

The Heritage Committee, in coordination with the Club Secretary, will oversee the induction process and ensure all Hall of Fame records and digital content are kept and maintained in accordance with the Club’s privacy and record-keeping policies.

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MEMBERSHIP

Once accepted into the Victoria Park Belmont Baseball Club Hall of Fame inductees will remain members indefinitely unless they are removed because of conduct unbecoming to the Club, the Hall of Fame or the sport of baseball. The removal of any inductee from the Hall of Fame shall be voted upon by the Selection Panel, on the advice of the Heritage Committee, be supported with appropriate evidentiary requirements (documentation or otherwise) and require a majority decision.

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Inducted members are expected to uphold the values, reputation and integrity of the Victoria Park Belmont Baseball Club and to act as ambassadors for the Club and the sport of baseball.

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All existing members will be notified upon the acceptance of a new nominee into the VPBBC Hall of Fame and will receive an invitation to attend the Annual Awards Presentation and induction.

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LIMITATION

There is a limitation of two inductees in any one year, apart from the inaugural year of the Hall of Fame (2025/26), where pursuant to Clause 6 of the Criteria for Nomination, 9 inductees are already members of the Baseball WA Hall of Fame and warrant immediate inclusion into the Victoria Park Belmont Baseball Club Hall of Fame and allowance has been made for an initial uncapped number of potential inductees to help celebrate the Hall of Fame’s inception.

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There should, however, be no expectation that an individual will be honoured with induction every year, this is a case where inclusion is very exclusive.

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REVIEW COMMITTEE

The Review Committee shall only be engaged in the event that any real or perceived injustices or inconsistencies in a candidate’s nominating and voting process has been recognized. The Heritage Committee shall be responsible for overseeing the engagement of Review Committee members. 

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The Review Committee will compose eight (8) voting members, four of which will be made up by the Heritage Committee members and the remaining four members being selected from the following:

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• VPBBC Life Members

• Current VPBBC Hall of Fame members

• VPBBC President

• The CEO of BWA

• Past and current VPBBC State League Coaches

• Members of the Western Australian Baseball community with a keen interest and sound knowledge of baseball in the state and/or experience playing at an elite level.

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Review Committee members are welcome to communicate with other committee members to discuss nominations, however voting will be via secret ballot with votes being returned to the Chair of the Heritage Committee, who is the person responsible for the collation of results. Unless the Chairperson is the subject of the nomination and will then excuse themselves from the process and another member of the Heritage Committee will assume the role of chairperson during this time.

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The VPBBC Review Committee will meet no later than six (6) weeks prior to the VPBBC Annual Awards event to ensure enough time to properly examine the nomination and so that any successful Review Committee candidate is announced and inducted simultaneously with inductees selected by the Voting Panel.

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Candidates must receive a YES vote from a minimum of 75% of the Review Committee to be inducted into the VPBBC Hall of Fame.

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