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Get to know your PSO (Provincial Sport Office) is back in time for the 2015 season with the aim to provide an informative look at each of the ten Provincial Baseball Organizations throughout Canada. The 2015 baseball season is already underway for some provinces, while others are still counting down the days until they can get on the field. Either way, baseball season is upon us so let’s take a closer look at the organizations that help bring baseball to communities across our country!
Name of PSO: Baseball Ontario
President: David Huctwith
Administrative Director: Mary-Ann Smith
Headquarters: Cambridge
Phone #: 519-740-3900
Website: baseballontario.ca
Twitter: @baseballontario
Established: 1918
Number of staff members: 3
Major Awards: Province of the Year (1982, 1983, 1985, 2013)
Membership: Players registered in 2014 - 12,362; Teams registered in 2014 - 874; Coaches registered in 2014 - 3,533; Umpires registered in 2014 - 4,144
Annual Provincial championship events: 55 in 2014
Notable baseball player(s) to come out of province: Baseball Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins and 2010 National League MVP Joey Votto
Famous non-baseball alumni: Luke Willson (2014 Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks), Wayne Gretzky
Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games connections: 12 athletes from Ontario (Emma Carr, Jenna Flannigan, Ashley Stephenson, Brittany Hicks, Hannah Martensen, Meagan Baird, Jennifer Gilroy, Kate Psota, Jenna Hillman, Autumn Mills, Cindy Saavedra, Brinley McLaren) are candidates for the Women’s National Team that will participate in the Pan Am Games.
Three areas of focus in 2015:
Concussion Awareness
Baseball Ontario and LifeMark & Centric Health are working together to help actively promote concussion awareness. The provincial organization officially launched a social media campaign on April 1st, marking April as Concussion Awareness Month.
“The campaign was designed to elevate concussion awareness and highlight the various events that Baseball Ontario and LifeMark & Centric Health are partnering in,” said Administrative Director, Mary-Ann Smith.
“Baseball Ontario is taking a leadership role in increasing awareness of concussions in baseball with coaches, players, umpires and parents through its partnership with LifeMark and Centric Health,” she continued. “The goal of Baseball Ontario Concussion Awareness Month is to be proactive and educate stakeholders that concussions do happen in youth baseball and the need for proper management when it occurs.”
Coach Certification
After pledging to invest $1M in coach development over the next five years, Baseball Ontario is continuing the Coach Certification initiative to raise the standards for coaches in the province.
“In this, the 2nd year of the initiative, Baseball Ontario has already subsidized 487 clinics to help Ontario coaches meet these higher standards,” explained Smith. “In addition, we have trained 10 new Learning Facilitators and nine new Evaluators to help meet the needs of our coaches.”
Baseball Ontario/Select Ontario Baseball merger
In February, a merger between Baseball Ontario and Select Ontario Baseball that will begin in November 2015 was completed. While the two organizations have had a strong working relationship for a number of years, the strategic alliance will leverage a provincial platform to offer baseball at all levels and create operating efficiencies and marketing opportunities under the Baseball Ontario brand. Most of the local associations, which are members of Select Ontario Baseball, are also members of Baseball Ontario.
“It is an exciting step forward in bringing all of baseball in the province under the same umbrella” stated David Huctwith, President of Baseball Ontario in February.
“We feel strongly that becoming one organization will help achieve the strategic goals of growing the game of baseball in Ontario,” added Dave Black, President of Select Ontario Baseball.
The agreement brings together the complementary strengths of Select Ontario Baseball and Baseball Ontario and a commitment to the Baseball Ontario mission “to provide leadership to advance and promote baseball in Ontario.”
