Family ties strong at Padres

Above: from left - Keith, Jaxon and David Land; Jay, Van and Bob Nilsson.

Keith, David and Jaxon Land share a sporting addiction with Bob, Jay and Van Nilsson – baseball. It is in their blood.

Collectively, they have more than 100 years in the sport, the majority in the red and grey Redcliffe Padres.

The Nilsson numbers are also growing. “Our daughter Willow also dabbled in baseball for her first time this season,” Jay said. “She had a great time.”

Keith said it’s a “real family thing” for the Land family. “We play on a Saturday - my wife is here, Jaxon’s mum is here. They love the game.”

Now 71, Keith has been part of baseball on the peninsula for 35 years. He’s a founding member of Padres, a Life Member, ex-president and former Club Person of the Year.

His wife helped form a baseball team in NSW and Keith became coach, before moving north two years later and joining Redcliffe.

“I wasn’t going to coach,” Keith said, “that lasted one game. I’ve been coaching ever since!”

David was a foundation member of Padres when it started at the Frawley Fields, Clontarf. He played all levels to Major and A Grade – and won a Major B Grade grand final.

He also played in the US on Expo tours, made representative teams and is a major Padres sponsor through his business Peninsula Fitness.

Jaxon, 11, is following Keith and David and recently helped his Padres Red team – coached by David with Keith assistant - into their Little League Major grand final.

Bob Nilsson is in the national Hall of Fame after a stella career where he was the first Aussie of the modern era to sign a professional contract with an MLB team, the Cincinnati Reds.

After playing Bob turned to coaching taking charge of Australian junior teams, Queensland Rams and junior sides, as well as helping Jay at Padres.

Jay joined Redcliffe at 10, made the Australian Under 12 and Under 17 sides as well as Queensland’s Under 14, 16 and 18 teams.

He joined minor league Cleveland Indians in 2006 and Queensland’s Claxton Shield team in 2007, winning rookie of the year. After three years in Masters, David was in Padres’A Grade this season.

Van started at three, playing his first rookie ball (under 10) game at five and Little League Division Two (under 12) at seven. He helped his team win the northside grand final this year.