Congratulating Mr Darryl Hosking

Wednesday June 01, 2022

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier): I rise today to talk about a local legend. Regional communities are often made stronger by longstanding traditions of sporting clubs that are responsible for bringing community members together in good-spirited competition, teamwork and volunteering.

A local resident in my electorate Mr Darryl Hosking, but more affectionately known as Sid, has been recognised for his involvement in the local baseball league over the last 60 years. I know Sid very well. Unfortunately, now we seem to catch up mostly at funerals and wakes. Sid has been a prominent person in my community for a long time and it was great to see him recognised by Baseball South Australia and inducted into the hall of fame two Fridays ago.

He was one of 38 who were inducted into the sporting body. However, Sid has been prominent in our community for a long period of time—48 years with SES 8 and WIN Television. You would often see him at sporting events, carrying around a camera and documenting and reporting on events as they unfolded in our community. Sid is a very humble man and his comments reflect that. He said, 'They were very mixed emotions—embarrassment, humility, surprise—all of those.'

Sid is obviously very humble about his achievements but proud of the recognition, and I guess that is summed up by his comments where he said, 'I think it is more a reward for Mount Gambier and the baseball league than it is about myself. I keep saying baseball is a team game and I am just part of the team.'

Sid's playing career began in 1960 as a junior, and he landed at the Central Baseball Club in 1961, the same club my son played at for a couple of years. As I say, the rest is history, and Sid has now served the club for over 60 years. In total, he played over 700 games for Central and won seven premierships, one of them was when he played with his two sons, Brett and Tim. Those games rank highly in the moments that Sid holds close to his heart, while he said the division 1 title, which came at the end of 81 season, was extra special.

Throughout his playing years, Sid said that he was able to play in a number of representative teams which, of course, he was pretty proud of. He received life membership at Central in 1977 and the baseball league of Mount Gambier in 1989. He was also awarded the Australian Sports Medal for his contribution to baseball in 2000. Sid also talks glowingly of the involvement of his wife, Jill, in the sport. She is also a life member at the Central Baseball Club.

Sid also served for three stints as treasurer for the club for a total of 19 years. Once you get those roles, it is almost impossible to get rid of them: he has been president three times. Sid also joined the Mount Gambier and District Baseball League and served as president of the entire league twice. He was heavily involved in the transition of baseball going from a winter sport to a summer sport in 1980, and I think that has really invigorated baseball in Mount Gambier. He played a pivotal role in attracting the South Australian championship series to Mount Gambier in 1987. It is amazing how time repeats itself. I would like to see Mount Gambier go back to hosting more championships, as the state's second largest city and its ideal location between Victoria and South Australia.

He continues to give back to baseball in any way he can and only recently relinquished his position as a statistician, a mantle he held for 38 years. With that, I would like to congratulate Sid Hosking on his proud achievements and on being a fine community member.

 

Speeches