YEAR

WINNER

HOST CITY

HOST STATE

Australian Baseball League (ABL)

No Claxton Shield Tournament Held or Shield Trophy Awarded

During The ABL Years 1990-1999

International Baseball League Australia (IBLA)

No Claxton Shield Tournament Held or Shield Trophy Awarded

During The IBLA (Nilsson) Years 2000-2001

West Australia - Perth Heat

Sydney

NSW

Helms Award Winners

The HELMS AWARD is believed to have been established by the Helms Athletic Foundation once based in Los Angeles, USA.

Co-founder, Paul HELMS, died in 1957 and the Foundation he helped create with Bill SCHROEDER in 1936, finally dissolved in 1982.

Tradition has it that the Award was given to Australian Baseball in honour of Ron SHARPE who, for many years, was a leading player and arguably one of the finest players South Australia ever fielded.

Australian Athletics, too, was a beneficiary of the Helms Athletic Foundation with the Annual Helms Award for the most outstanding Australasian Athlete.

Winners of this Award included cyclist Sid Patterson, swimmers, John KONRADS, Dawn FRASER, Shane GOULD and track stars Shirley STRICKLAND, Herb ELLIOTT and Betty CUTHBERT.

Baseball's Helms Award remains today as the pinnacle award in the National Baseball Calendar, presented annually at the completion of the National Baseball Championships ("Claxton Shield") to the Most Outstanding Player.