Folks,
Well an entire season of baseball has come and gone, and with my involvement in youth baseball, my duties with this blog were neglected.
I'd like to take an opportunity to cover the baseball happenings that are taking place across the city over the months of September and October.
While there is a lot of enjoyment that comes from playing with for your neighbourhood league over the spring and summer months (or with your respective travel team), fall baseball allows for a different opportunity. That is playing alongside ball players who you competed against.
This fall there are 3 baseball programs offering fall baseball. And I must say, this has to be the biggest offering to-date.
Brian Beehler (through Youth Elite Sports) is back for a fourth year with the CHIEFS. Except this year, he has expanded his offering of teams. He now offers 13U - 16U teams that play predominantly in Montreal. It's a lot of fun for players who want to see how the match up against Montreal teams they seldom see. It's also fun for players whose summer teams didn't get much opportunity to do some travel ball. There are tryouts for these teams.
Andrew Beattie & Bob Guy (through the Ottawa Royals & Knights baseball club) offer the Sambat Fall ball league. This is the 5th year of the program. The age range is 12-18. They have a deal with the Sambat that enables them to offer each player a Sambat wooden bat as part of the registration fees. This is a good option for players who want to extend their season, play with and against friends, while not having to pay for travel. The league also serves as a potential audition for players looking to play travel ball next spring. There are no tryouts for these teams - signup while spots remain.
The ONC offer a 16U and 18U fall ball program. They use these programs to attract potential suitors for their teams for the upcoming season. It exposes players and parents to how they run their program. This year, they offered free open sessions to allow them to select players to continue in their fall program. There are tryouts for these teams.
I'm excited by the amount of baseball that is continuing while the hockey season gets underway. Let's hope the weather cooperates and these 3 programs help raise the skill level of baseball players in our great city.