Batter up! Baseball Canberra CEO Ryan Flynn has brought an incredible pedigree to the capital. Photo: Supplied.
Ryan Flynn has hit the ground running after being appointed Baseball Canberra’s CEO.
Determined to make a difference, Flynn has arrived in Canberra with decades of experience in building baseball programs.
“It’s kind of what I have done throughout my career,” he says.
“There aren’t many people who travel the world developing and building baseball programs.”
Flynn, who played college and semi-professional baseball in the US, spent 10 years as the CEO of Baseball New Zealand. He helped to lift the country to 25th in the world.
He was also the founder/general manager of the Auckland Tuatara team in the Australian Baseball League.
There was also a six-year stint as general manager of the Guam Baseball Federation.
After two months in the ACT role, Flynn is already starting to sound like a seasoned Canberran.
“Canberra is the underdog in baseball domestically. There is so much potential here. For years Canberra has played second fiddle to the bigger states.”
Such words will no doubt endear him to the Canberra baseball community.
He has already developed an understanding of the baseball landscape in the region.
The Canberra Cavalry at Narrabundah Ballpark in 2021. Photo: Peter Norton.
“I have met some of the college players who are back in Canberra. There’s a lot of talent here. We need to show players that there is a pathway here. There’s a limited high-performance program in Canberra. That’s a priority to get that on track. We have former major league and college players in Australia. I intend to reach out to them to up-skill our players and coaches.”
He adds, “We are the Canberra Cavalry’s biggest allies and they are our biggest allies. We need to work together.”
Another focus for Flynn is to entice as many people as possible to play the sport.
“I want to open the game up to every socio-demographic sector in Canberra. I want to make it accessible to everybody, especially those people who may not have played baseball before. We are looking to attract athletes from other sports.”
There is plenty of work to do to lift the standard and profile of the sport in Canberra, and Ryan Flynn has already done enough to indicate that he is ready for the challenge.
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