Press Release Austrian Baseball Federation, Baseball Tomorrow Fund
Vienna, Attnang-Puchheim, Austria (August 29, 2012) – The Austrian Baseball Federation (ABF) announces the completion of a new youth baseball field at Athletics Ballpark, home of the Attnang-Puchheim Athletic Club. The project was funded in part by a grant in the amount of $104,456 USD from the Baseball Tomorrow Fund (BTF), a joint initiative of the Major League Baseball Players Association and Major League Baseball.
To celebrate the completion of the project, the Austrian Baseball Federation will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Athletics Ballpark in Attnang-Puchheim on September 1, 2012 at 4 p.m. during the Austrian Championship of the 15-under division. Cathy Bradley, Executive Director of the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, will participate in the festivities, along with Rainer Husty, President of the Austrian Baseball Federation; Rainer L. Krankl, Vice President Finances of the Austrian Baseball Federation; Christoph Wieser, Vice President Baseball of the Austrian Baseball Federation; Peter Ferak, Vice President Youth of the Austrian Baseball Federation. Mayor Peter Groiss of Attnang-Puchheim will also take part in the event.
The Athletics Ballpark facility, which includes one regulation baseball field, one youth baseball field, a clubhouse and batting cages, is the coaching center for Austria and site of national competitions and tournaments. The new youth field will support over 300 players from local youth programs and provide a host site for international youth tournaments.
“The completion of this project marks the realization of a dream for this organization and the community as a whole. Without the support of the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, construction of this youth field would not have been possible,” says Rainer L. Krankl, Vice President Finances of the Austrian Baseball Federation.
“We have to thank Project Manager Franz Kroiss and all of the volunteers for their work on the field. The hard work by the volunteers guaranteed a finish time of the project in less than six months,” noted Sebastian Libiseller, head of the local organization in Attnang-Puchheim.
“The Baseball Tomorrow Fund is pleased to support the Austrian Baseball Federation’s dedication to this project and to the game of baseball,” added Cathy Bradley, Executive Director of the Baseball Tomorrow Fund. “We applaud the efforts of the organization to introduce the game to new players and to provide quality coaching and facilities in Austria.”
The Austrian Baseball Federation joins the following European organizations to receive a BTF grant: Krc Altron Baseball Softball Club (2002), Baseballovy a Softballovy Klub Hluboka nad Vltavou (2004), the French Baseball Softball Federation (2008), BaseballSoftballUK Ltd. (2012).