Priorities of Baseball Calgary

Members of the Baseball Calgary community are fully committed to developing different strategies to create the best possible program.  In order for these strategies to work it will take a lot of work and group effort from all sectors of this community.  Although a majority of this communities’ success is measured upon the records of their teams, there are many ways that other sectors can contribute to this success.  I had the opportunity to talk to the former president of Baseball Calgary, who is still very much involved with the community and was able to determine what some of its top priorities are for improving the life in the community.  Probably the most vital priority for this upcoming season was to hire an Operations Director that would be able to work full time with the program in order to help with the development of both the players and coaching staff.   A few of the priorities that we had discussed have already been put into action.  For example, one of the issues brought up was that there was no off-season development camps set up to help players develop their skills and get ready for the season.  This year, Baseball Calgary decided to set up a program that runs from early January until the beginning of April when the season begins.  In this program players will have the opportunity to create a personal profile focused on setting up goals which will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. 

                Another major priority for Baseball Calgary is to continue the construction of their team facilities.  It has been a slow process for the development of the ball parks at Inland Athletic Park.  Its initial construction had finished in late 2006 and minor development has continued since then.  A way that they have dealt with the problem is by developing a partnership with the Absolute Baseball Academy to allow their teams to run their development camps and player evaluations.  There is still much work to be done and the only way to accomplish this is to bring in the help of volunteers.  With the volunteers it is possible to set up additional fundraisers and events in order to produce more money.  A small step that has taken place, is that Baseball Calgary hosted its first ever baseball tournament during last season.  Although the tournament did not run as smoothly as liked, without the help of the volunteers it would have not run at all.  Baseball Calgary has also started setting up a yearly casino fundraiser event in order to raise money to help pay for community improvements.

                Over the years, the Baseball Calgary community has been taking small steps into improving its program and I believe it has done a fantastic job.  By hiring a Operations Director to focus mainly on the success of the team it will enable the rest of the Board of Directors to turn their focus onto strengthening this community by trying to build partnerships with other organizations such as the Calgary Vipers.

Blog #3- Baseball Calgary

One community that I am involved in is with Baseball Calgary.  Last year I was brought into this community as an assistant coach to their bantam triple A team.  Baseball Calgary runs a very high competitive program.  Although Baseball Calgary does not seem like a typical community, it is built up of a variety of different members.  The first group of this community would be the team and the coaches.  New members are brought into this group every year and it is important that we as the coaches help with bringing all of the players together to create a successful team.  The next group in this community would be the Baseball Calgary Board of Directors.  Without the board, the teams would be without uniforms, equipment, there would be no fundraisers to help raise money for travel to tournaments.  Also part of this board, are members who spend time with marketing the organization, managing the facilities, etc.  Finally, the last group that is part of this community would be the parents and volunteers.  Personally I believe that this is the most important part because of all the work that they do behind the scenes.  If it were not for this group, it would not be possible for the organization to field a team.    

What brings this community together is the determination to produce a team that can generate wins and be one of the best teams in the league.  Winning would probably be the highest priority for this community but also the development of younger players entering the league and trying to make the top teams.  This community has had many successes with a few of its players being drafted by major league teams and many playing for Baseball Canada representing our country. 

                A way that this community can better itself is to try and setup a few more fundraisers during the off season.  If it is able to raise more money, it will be possible to continue development on their facility at Inland Park and potentially expand by building more facilities.  What makes this difficult is trying to get full commitment from volunteers.  If we can get volunteers helping in our community we will also be able to expand bringing in more players and coaches to develop making it even stronger.