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.