Major League Baseball Australian Academy Program

From BR Bullpen

The Major League Baseball Australian Academy Program was the first continental baseball academy program run by Major League Baseball, formed in 2001 and predating the MLB European Academy and MLB African Academy. As of 2014, over 200 of the Academy's alumni (total alumni topping 550) had signed with a Major League team. Seven have made the major leagues - Rich Thompson, Brad Harman, Luke Hughes, Josh Spence, Shane Lindsay, Liam Hendriks and Warwick Saupold. The program ended in 2017.

Coaches have included Jon Deeble, Rod Carew, Pat Kelly, Dave Nilsson, Graeme Lloyd and Hisashi Ono. The Academy has featured players not just from Australia but also New Zealand, Czech Republic, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, the Netherlands, USA, China, Fiji, France, Germany and Italy.