OTTAWA- After an extremely busy 2015 that saw both our Men’s and Women’s National Teams win Pan Am medals on home soil, the 2016 baseball calendar is filling up in what should be another exciting and memorable season both on and off the baseball field.
The success of the National Teams combined with the playoff run that the Toronto Blue Jays went on in 2015 has renewed the passion and interest level in baseball across the country. With the excitement for baseball at an all-time high, Baseball Canada is thrilled to announce the 2016 Calendar of Events.
The year officially kicked-off January 9th in Toronto with the 14th annual National Teams Awards Banquet and Fundraiser that saw Pan Am Games gold medalist Jeff Francis become just the eighth member of Baseball Canada’s Wall of Excellence presented by RBC Wealth Management.
February will see the annual girl's baseball development camp take place in Havana, Cuba for the seventh consecutive year. The camp also marks the 11th anniversary of Baseball Canada sending a group of female players to the island.
With an eye toward competing at home when the 2017 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup takes place in Thunder Bay, the Junior National Team program will kick off in March with the annual Spring Training Camp at the Walter Fuller Complex in St. Petersburg, Florida. The schedule includes games against a Puerto Rican prospect club organized by Major League Baseball and against spring training teams from the Phillies, Blue Jays, Yankees, Braves and Tigers. A date to mark on your calendar is March 17th when the juniors travel to Dunedin to play a split-squad version of the Toronto Blue Jays at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. The contest will be the fifth time in six years pitting Canada’s future big leaguers against Canada’s only big league club.
Subsequent camps for the Junior National Team will take place in April (Extended Spring Training, May (Dominican Summer League), July (Cuba Summer Series) and October (Fall Instructional League).
Challenger Baseball will take Centre stage on June 11th at Rogers Centre in Toronto when the 4th annual “Challenger Baseball Jamboree” takes place following an afternoon tilt between the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros.
The month of June will also feature the Baseball Canada Annual General Meeting that will take place June 21st and 22nd in Toronto.
National Championship season gets underway August 3-8 in Fort McMurray, Alberta with the Baseball Canada Cup featuring some of Canada’s top players 17 years of age and younger.
Running simultaneously to the Canada Cup will be Baseball Canada’s newest event, the 21U Women’s Invitational that will take place from August 4-8.
Nine other National Championships will occur throughout August and September across six different age categories. For a complete list, please click here.
The fourth edition of Tournament 12, hosted by the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Academy, will occur from September 14-19 at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
A busy year on the Baseball Canada calendar will conclude with the annual Baseball Canada Fall Convention in Fredericton, New Brunswick from October 26-29.
To view the 2016 Baseball Canada Calendar of Events, please click here.
