Oral history - Dale Hughes
2021Oral history 'Recollections of Sporting Career in Baseball, Football and Cricket', recorded with Dale Hughes, Western Australian baseball player.
[Click on arrows above Dale Hughes' photo to locate audio file.]
Born in Kalgoorlie in 1940, Dale Hughes was a product of junior sports in the Eastern Goldfields in Western Australia. He excelled at football, cricket and baseball and was playing 'A' grade cricket for North Kalgoorlie at age 12 in 1952, when he was selected as an all-rounder in the WA State Schoolboys team. In 1955, aged 15, he took up baseball, playing with the Kalgoorlie Baseball Club. Dale moved to Perth in 1960, aged 19, and played league football for the Perth Football Club, 'A' grade cricket for the Perth Cricket Club and 'A' grade baseball for Nedlands; competing in all three sports simultaneously. Then, with a desire to represent his state and country in sport, Dale chose baseball over football and cricket.
In 1961 Dale was selected in the Western Australian State baseball team as a catcher, to compete in the Australian Baseball Championships for the Claxton Shield. This was followed by six more consecutive State team selections in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1967. In 1968 Dale took a break from baseball and returned to playing cricket. However, a year later he resumed his baseball career and was again selected in the State team in 1969, 1970 and 1971. Following the conclusion of each Australian championship, an all-Australian team was selected, and Dale earned selection in 1963, 1965 and in 1969, when he competed in the Tri-Nations Goodwill Baseball Series in the Philippines.
Details
Details
On CD covers:
Recollections of Sporting Career in Baseball, Football and Cricket
Part One 78 mins
Part Two 9 mins
Dale Hughes had an outstanding career in Australian baseball as a catcher and later as a coach. He made an enormous contribution to the game at club level for Nedlands and Wembley as well as representing his home State of Western Australia and his country at international level. His later career included coaching the Queensland State team in the early 1970s and then coaching the Australian team in 1973 in two Test matches against Japan.
Western Australia
Australia
Dale Hughes, an exceptional baseball player, recalls his career in baseball, football and cricket. From junior ranks in the Western Australian Goldfields in the 1950s to State and Australian representation as a baseball player and coach in the 1960s and 1970s. He represented Western Australia in Claxton Shield baseball for 10 years (1961-1971) and was selected in the first Australian team to play in an international tournament (1969) in the Philippines. In 2016 Dale was honoured with induction into the Goldfields Sporting Hall of Fame.
Copyright and Reference
Copyright and Reference
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