NEWS DESK
Genevieve takes winning ways to Japan Stephen Taylor steve@baysidenews.com.au CHELTENHAM Baseball Club’s Genevieve Beacom flies to Japan this week as part of the Australia-Japan Women’s Baseball Youth Leaders Exchange. Last week she trained with the high performance squad in Sydney, focusing on skills, fitness, leadership and game development. The squad will compete against Japanese youth teams and train with professional Japanese women’s teams. Genevieve, 12, played the summer season as a left-handed pitcher for and was a member of the premiership sides in the under-12 and under-14 age groups. The year 7 Flinders Christian Community College student won the under-12 pitching award at the club and was a silver medallist at the 2017 Youth Women’s National Championships as the youngest member of the team. She pitched and played first base. As a member of the Southern Mariners Charter program Genevieve was selected for the Southern Mariners All Star Team to compete at the state championships at Knox in April. Her team won and went on to represent Victoria at the Little League Championships at Lismore (which was washed out) and in Sydney. Genevieve is the only girl to represent the Southern Mariners Charter at Little League state and national championships in 2016 and 2017. Her performance at this year’s Lit-
Ma, she’s making eyes at me: Nurse Lauren Mapleback smiles with Cooper at The Babes Project centre in Frankston. Pic: Yanni
Babes in arms of support Diamond effort: Genevieve Beacom pitches to baseball success. Picture: supplied
tle League State Championship was so impressive that she was recognised as a youth leader in Victorian baseball. She was captain of the school softball team in the national competition. “She’s had a great year and we are so proud of her,” mum Chrysanne Beacom said. “At Knox in the state competition she pitched a blinder, getting 14 out of 15 strikeouts.” Ms Beacom said Japan offered more of a pathway for Australian professional women baseball players,
which is one of the foundations of the Australia-Japan affiliation. “She is a lovely girl, a great teammate and very supportive of her friends,” she said. “That’s even more important than her performances out on the field. “At the end of the day she will have been a good athlete but she’ll be a good person all her life.” A GoFundMe Campaign called Genevieve’s Japan Baseball Tour has been arranged to help defray some of the costs of the trip.
A CRISIS pregnancy centre has celebrated its first birthday helping new and expecting mothers deal with the challenges amid the joys of newborns. The Babes Project supports pregnant women to tackle challenges around their pregnancies, often including domestic and family violence, homelessness, health issues, unemployment and family breakdown. Founder and managing director Helen Parker said Frankston operations helped meet a gap in social services and that demand at the centre was still growing. “More than 70 per cent of the women we see are referred from government services and hospitals, and we welcome the growing acknowledgement of the vital work we do to support and supplement the public health system”. The centre has helped 33 mothers and
extended its opening hours this month thanks to taxpayers-funded $50,000 state government grant. The Frankston centre supports mothers from across Melbourne’s south east region and the Mornington Peninsula. Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2015 showed these areas have two of Melbourne’s top three highest rates of teen pregnancy. Weekly appointments and a range of practical workshops, classes and events, empower pregnant and new mums to take confidence in their motherhood at The Babe Project’s Frankston and Croydon premises. n The Babes Project is based at 9 O’Grady Avenue, Frankston. See thebabesproject.com online or call 1300 140 212 for opening hours on more details.
FAMILY DAY! You are invited to come and enjoy a family fun day of free activities hosted by local retailers! 111 Cranbourne Road, Frankston
FRIDAY 14TH JULY 11AM - 2PM
FREE CHILDRENS ENTERTAINMENT FREE FACE PAINTING FREE PETTING ZOO FREE CRAZY HAIR SALON FREE KIDS CRAFT ACTIVITIES
Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News 12 July 2017
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