Matt Cooper appointed new Sydney Blue Sox GM

Rangers Life Member Matt Cooper has certainly paid his dues. A long time player and committee member at Rangers, Matt was recently appointed the New General Manager of the Sydney Blue Sox. A tremendous achievement and one that has come with a lot of self sacrifice and dedication. Anyone who knows Matt or was lucky enough to play beside him will have shared in his unbridled enthusiasm for the game be it as a player, coach, spectator or simply a fan of the game. Baseball digest recently ran a fantastic article on Matt, one which as Rangers we’re very proud to share here.

Matt Cooper is on a mission.

The 33 year old recently appointed General Manager of the Sydney Blue Sox wants to fill the Blacktown Stadium for every Blue Sox game and make the team part of the Sydney sports scene.   The stadium is looking a little tired these days having been built over a decade ago for the Sydney Olympics and it is a little out of the way for many Sydneysiders but it is a true ball park, it’s fan friendly bringing them very close to the action, and what’s more the Blue Sox can play.

Matt comes with a baseball background having been the Vice President of Hornsby Rangers Juniors and the A grade Coach for 5 yrs.  He is what is known as a grass roots baseball man. You know the type, they spend all their weekends at the ball park, playing, coaching, doing things.   That was/is



Matt.

He is also a little adventurous as so often the young can be and because he holds dual citizenship with Britain was selected to play in the allstar game between Britain and Scotland a few years back.

Returning to Australia Matt chose to do a Sports Business Degree.   Naturally he chose to do his voluntary internship with the fledgling  Sydney Blue Sox.  As Matt explained it,  a thousand hours later the season would be over and so would be his internship with the Sox.   But from small beginnings big things grow and as it happened he came under the notice of American Tyler Maun who had been employed as media /commentator for the ABL/ Blue Sox. Tyler convinced Matt to accompany him back to the states to work with him at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.  So in a way due to his obvious enthusiasm and being in the right place at the right time his internship had continued.

On returning to Australia and with the enthusiasm of a season in minor league ball under his belt he was snapped up by Blue Sox General Manager, David Balfour and employed as the operations manager for the Blue Sox for the next 2 years.    Once again he was in the right place at the right time as David Balfour’s unexpected battle with pancreatic cancer opened up more possibilities for Matt who quietly increased his work load to help relieve the pressure on David.

What he learnt at Myrtle Beach and having been mentored by the experienced David Balfour meant that he clearly understood that baseball was first and foremost an entertainment industry and like the minor league teams in the US worked hard at giving the fans a good night’s experience regardless of the game score.   His aim is to ensure that Sydney families have a fun night together out at the ball park.

When the ailing David Balfour decided that he could not give his usual 110% it came as no suprise that Matt was elevated to his current position.

So the next stage in the development of the Blue Sox is in great young hands and the initiaves evolving within the Blue Sox takes a further step forward with Matt at the helm.  His mission is within reach with membership now at 1000 +.

It’s a long way from the Hornsby Rangers but Matt has his eye on filling those seats out at Blacktown.

Article courtesy of the Baseball Digest