CANORA - Even though winter sports such as hockey and basketball are still in full swing, the Canora Minor Ball Association is well into preparations for the 2024 season, getting an early start with the AGM held on Feb. 12.
CMBA President Kelly McTavish spoke to the meeting about the development of local baseball and softball in recent years.
“We have grown quite a bit and we have maxed out at this time. Ball diamonds are all full. Coaches have increased with the number of players. Coaches seem to be committed, particularly with the younger age categories.”
CMBA Secretary and Webmaster Brigitte Herriges said it was encouraging to see the number of volunteers coming forward last season to fill the various positions.
“We had a successful season with one baseball team (18U) attending provincials and one softball team (U13) attending provincials,” said Herriges. “We also had several Canora players join provincial teams out of Yorkton in both softball and baseball. We hope that the same will occur this season. Additionally, our fundraising committee worked hard and raised over $10,000 between our booze raffle and concession. This was not an easy job, but our committee and families did amazing work fulfilling all of their duties!”
Registration for the coming season opened on Feb. 21, and “CMBA is excited for the upcoming season."
“It's important for players to register early to ensure they get on a team. We will be putting caps on teams this year due to reaching our capacity last season with teams, facilities, and volunteers. We are also endorsing a hard deadline of April 1 so that we can prepare for the short season accordingly. We will not be taking registrations after this deadline unless it is absolutely necessary, so families are urged to register early. This will allow us time to get older players practicing indoors and to have teams set before the scheduling meetings for both baseball and softball.”
Presently, CMBA is projecting to have six age groups for baseball, and likely five for softball:
Baseball:
1) Jr. Rally Cap, approximately 20 players (two to three teams) - same as last year
2) Sr. Rally Cap, approximately 20 players (two to three teams) - same as last year
3) 11U, approximately 15 players - down from last year as less kids are moving up from Sr. Rally Cap (22 players last season)
4) 13U, approximately 20 players (two teams) - increase from last year (16 players last season)
5) 15U, approximately 10 players - projecting a few less players (15 last season)
6) 18U, approximately 18 players (potential for two teams) - increase from last season (12 last season).
Softball:
1) U11, approximately 10 players - decrease from last year (14 last season)
2) U13, approximately 20 players (two teams) - same as last year (22 players last season)
3) U15, approximately 25-30 players (two teams) - increase from last year (20 last season)
4) U17, approximately 15 players - decrease from last year (20 players last season)
5) U19 - approximately three players
Presently the plan would be to combine the U17 and U19 age groups into a single team. There were no registrations in the U19 age group last season.
Herriges said CMBA is looking into the possibility of offering player clinics, “particularly for softball, as we are still in the early stages of offering this sport in our community. Our Softball Equipment Manager Chris Smith has been looking into developmental clinics for players to improve on their skills, especially pitching. We will know more within the next month if we are able to host a player clinic through Softball Sask or on our own.”
CMBA Umpire Co-ordinator Jennifer Prychak has scheduled a softball umpire clinic for April 6 at the Canora Junior Elementary School, and is waiting for a response from Baseball Sask to see if Canora is in position to host another baseball umpire clinic this season.
“Currently, no plans are in place to host a coaching clinic,” continued Herriges, “however, we see the benefits of this as we have more coaches coming forward that are interested in taking teams to provincials.”
At this time, Herriges said the plan is to hold a similar number of fundraising projects as in 2023.
“However, this will be up to our fundraising committee to decide, and we are still looking for a fundraising co-ordinator to get this going.”
In addition to McTavish and Herriges, members of the CMBA executive for the 2024 season are: Travis Mentanko, vice-president; Amanda Zbitniff and Ashley Dutchak (new), treasurers; Jill Craig, registrar; Chris Simon, softball equipment manager; Blair Stewart (new), baseball equipment manager; Jennifer Prychak, umpire co-ordinator; Lindsay Peters and Jocelyn Maddaford-Collingridge (new), fundraising committee members, and, as mentioned, the fundraising co-ordinator position is presently vacant. CMBA is also looking for a picture co-ordinator.
Currently, they have received coaching applications for the following: Sr. Rally Cap (9U), 11U, 15U, and 18U in baseball and U13 in softball, along with one manager for U17 softball.
Anyone interested in coaching or managing is encouraged to complete an application on the CMBA website at www.canoraminorball.com under the tabs "coaches" or "team managers."
When asked about the starting date for the new minor ball season in Canora, Herriges replied, “This is always the million dollar questions. We hope to start indoor practices for the older age groups (11U and up) once the ice is out of the skating rink. Otherwise, the season will start once the snow melts and the diamonds are dry enough for ball.”
Canora Minor Ball Day, an annual highlight of the season, is set for June 8.
Don't count on social media to deliver your local news to you. Keep your news a touch away by bookmarking Canora Courier's homepage at this link.
Bookmark SASKTODAY.ca, Saskatchewan's home page, at this link.
