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A quiet and conservative man, who lives by
the adage that actions speak much louder than words, David Warren has
built his legend as a junior coach at Waverley but little is known about
his own background. Clearly a lover of sports, David says that he
literally "lived at the local park" where he participated in a
variety sports and he "had a go at everything". You would only
need to witness the fitness, skill and reflexes that he still possesses
beyond the age of seventy to imagine what type of athlete he might have
been in his hey day... we reckon he'd have been pretty good at anything!
Not long after his introduction to
Waverley with his young sons, David thrust himself into coaching and he
quickly proved that he was a "natural" for the job. It was
also early in his coaching career that he formed the opinion that the
U13 / U14 age group was the most "important and influential"
in terms of developing the fundamentals of baseball in young players. As
mentioned, he took over the helm of Waverley's U14 program some 28 years
ago and it, along with our very solid U12 programs, has been the
cornerstone of Waverley's outstanding success in Victorian Baseball.
Along the way of course, David has also
contributed in many other ways at Waverley Baseball Club, having filled
virtually every role for the Juniors Program over all of those years and also
serving for five years on the club's Board of Management. He has been a
Junior Director, Coordinator and an almost permanent contributor to
Junior Committees over the years.
In addition to coaching Waverley, David
has also coached Victorian State teams... a job that the VBA would have
liked him to take more often, but David was always more dedicated and
enthused with his own job of coaching the Wildcats. It is very typical
of him to put the Waverley Baseball Club ahead of any personal
aspirations he may have had... he has never been driven by ego.
It would be impossible to do proper
justice to David's performance and value as a coach with a few words on
this page. Suffice to say that the players, parents and anyone who has
ever been associated with his program have shared an experience that
would never be forgotten. The solid baseball fundamentals about
dedication to training, concentration, team play and sportsmanship have
served so many players at Waverley so well throughout their ongoing
careers.
Most of those players enjoyed the
success that comes from hard work, team ethics and dedication... it is
those things, and others, that are the David Warren legacy, instilled in
the hundreds of players who have prospered from his coaching and
mentoring. It would be enough satisfaction for David Warren simply
to know that he has had such a positive influence on so many young
players both as people and as baseballers. Few of his former players
ever miss the opportunity to chat with him whenever they meet, he is
held is tremendous esteem by all of them.
As a tribute to his 25th year of
coaching our U14 Wildcats, in 2003, the club held a home match day in his
honour and, at the same time, announced that our traditional U14 diamond
(No.8) on Mason Field would henceforth forever be named the "DAVID
WARREN DIAMOND". We can be quite sure that the club will never have
a person more deserving of this tribute.
Perhaps due to his "aura" and
his preference to keep mostly to himself, some have misguidedly assumed
that David is somewhat "unapproachable", but those who know
him can attest that nothing could be further from the truth. For those
that take the trouble to talk with him, they would find an extremely
intelligent, eloquent and engaging person who is only too happy to
explain his methods and to elaborate on his principles about his beloved
game of baseball... and many other subjects besides.
Of course David would not like us
to end this page without mentioning those loyal and devoted
assistants who have also given up so many thousands of hours to our U14
program with little recognition. Another Waverley great and Life Member
Gary McGrady has been a vital cog in the wheel, specialising in pitchers
and catchers, while also branding most of the player nicknames that they
were to carry throughout the years. Gary's dry sense of wit has always
been a
constant relief through countless hours of training and batting
practice. Another stalwart Waverley player Michael Banbury has also been
a key component as specialist defensive and batting coach, while also
managing from third base on game days. Michael's wife Linda has also
been the permanent scorer for the U14 Wildcats through innumerable
seasons of all kinds of weather extremes!
By no means least, and certainly MOST,
is David's wife Jenny who has provided all the support and encouragement
necessary for David to devote so much of his life to the job as he has.
Jenny has also been one of our club's most faithful supporters, going to
most of the games with David and generally making sure that the
"parents scene" was kept in social order. Our thanks to all of
them!
The challenge for the club that will
probably prove impossible is to find an adequate replacement for a true
icon of the Waverley Baseball Club... David Warren. We don't expect that
David will stop following the fortunes of the Waverley Baseball Club and
for anyone who should see him taking in a game in the confines of our
clubrooms you can be assured that you are in the presence of one of the
people who has been integral to making our club what it is today.
As a final tribute from
WBCWEB we will transpose some text from a report following the 2003 U14
Wildcats Premiership success:
TWENTY FIVE YEARS of
commitment to the job and 13 State League Championships as proof of his
unique talents almost says enough about our “once in a lifetime”
Head Coach Mr. David Warren! It would not be doing him justice to
attempt to chronicle here how much Mr.Warren means to the Waverley
Baseball Club and those players who have had the privilege of
participating in his tremendous baseball program. Not only is Mr.Warren
successful, but also he does it with a style and unwavering integrity
rarely equalled in sport. Not under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES will Mr.Warren
forsake his fundamental principles about player development and how the
game should be played. David is a true gentleman in a tough world of
competitive sport… he has the respect of everyone in the baseball
fraternity and we at Waverley don’t believe there is a finer coach
ANYWHERE to be found!
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