SUMMERSIDE, PEI – Where to start? Five months ago, the Summerside Baseball Board of Directors began a journey of planning one of the most exciting seasons yet, without even knowing it. Reflecting back on what was accomplished both on and off the field is pretty impressive for a small city of 15,000 people and an association of just over 300 players and a group of 9 who led the association through the 2019 season. So let’s start from the top.
It was clear to the Board of Directors what their goals were for the 2019 season following the Annual General Meeting back in October of 2018. A new constitution was prepared and adopted after months of re-design, New application dates were set for “AAA” coaching positions, a new tryout selection process was adopted, new programming strategy was put in place to make “Blastball” and “Pony” more effective and a search for a major sponsor began. Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/2019agm/
January 13th, 2019. Baseball PEI launched a 13U Development Camp to roll out across PEI, with one camp in particular being held right here in Summerside. Anyone who was turning 10, 11, 12 or 13 years old in 2019 were welcome to register and the camp which was led by former Summerside Baseball player and staff member, Matt Barlow focused on a ten-week program that consisted of mainly skill development with each session focussing on three different areas in an effort for each player to improve their game by learning and performing proper skills and concepts.
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/baseballpeiwintercamps/
A changing moment in Summerside Baseball was announced on January 27th. The “Tryout Committee” was formed for the upcoming season. The committee would take over the reigns of overseeing tryouts, which was previously the role and responsibility of the SABA Board of Directors. The committee’s responsibilities was to Watch, Analyze, Discuss and come up with a final roster at the end of the Tryout Process with the BEST athletes on the list possible. The Committee was chaired by Summerside Baseballs President who was tasked with finding 3 non-biased individuals to serve on the committee by the end of February, 2019.
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/saba-announces-new-tryout-commitee/
As the productive month of January past, February started off with a bang. Summerside Baseball confirmed details on February first surrounding a major sponsorship deal announcement with local Summerside business, Township Chevrolet. A five year deal was struck following months of meetings to strategize how important it was for Summerside Baseball to keep its iconic name, the “Chevys” and what Township Chevrolet could do to help reach some of the needs and goals of the association.
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/saba-hits-it-out-of-the-park-with-new-partnership/
Well, after an exciting start to February off the field – It was time to get down to business. The announcement of Summerside Baseball’s Head Coaches for its 11U, 13U, 15U “AAA” and 18U “AA” teams were made. Sean Campbell, Wes Echlin, Mikeal Thomas, Rob McCormack, Tammy Gallant and Dale MacDougall would all head up Summerside Baseball’s top teams.
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/saba-aaa-18u-aa-coaches-announced/
With two days to spare, Summerside Baseball’s President, Tanner Doiron would bring forward his 3 selected individuals for the inaugural Tryout Committee. Nick Hann, Chuck Grady and Matt Barlow would serve as the Committee members and act as an independent body for the association and looked to provide more transparency during the tryout process for Summerside Baseball’s members.
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/tryout-committee-members-appointed%E2%80%8B/
Now well into the month of March and Summerside Baseball wasn’t done its off-season tasks just yet. Modifying its Programs came next for the association. The Board of Directors wanted to emphasize the importance of it’s introductory levels and edit its plan of execution with how they are run. With the partnership deal from Township, Summerside Baseball was able to add a third program instructor to its Programs amongst some of the changes.
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/saba-modifies-program-plans/
It’s April now and the season would be quickly approaching. Final pieces were put into place during this month as Tryouts would begin. Summerside Baseball would make its final selections for “AA” division head coaches. Adam Connolly, Dwayne Snow and Mike D’Agostino led the second tier of Chevys teams for the 2019 season.
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/2019-aa-division-coaches-announced/
During the month of April, ID sessions were held at the SIS Gymnasium for our three “AAA” teams. This was something new that helped get our players wearing their baseball gloves a little earlier in the season and allow our “AAA” coaching staff to get a preview of what to expect during tryouts. A total of 9 sessions were held.
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/inaugural-id-sessions-a-success/
After a long tryout season during the month of May, Summerside Baseballs hiring Committee, which included its President & General Manager, Director of Finance and Director of Programs sat on, selected its 2019 Summer Staff. A Technical Coordinator, Canteen Coordinator, Programs Assistants, and Canteen Attendants were all put into to ensure that Summerside Baseball’s operations ran smoothly throughout the season.
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/about-us/#OurStaff
Other exciting additions in the Month of May included Summerside Baseball’s NEW Jerseys, 3 New Easton L-Screen Protective Nets and 3 New Rawlings hitting nets all thanks to its new Major Sponsor, Township Chevrolet (Adam Toner, President / General Manager of Township is pictured below). White Pants were also mandated by the Board of Directors as a one-year pilot project to compliment the new jerseys as well.
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As the month of May finished up, Summerside Baseball teams would all be finalized and Opening Day was set for June 9th!
Opening Day was a huge success which included all Summerside Baseball teams playing a game, bouncy castles, barbecue, a fun zone and loads of excitement for the official start of baseball in Summerside!
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/opening-day-2019-1/
Furthermore, with the announcement of Chevys teams, came announcements of Provincial Team Rosters which is a huge accomplishment for any player to be given the opportunity to represent Baseball PEI at the National level. We had players from Summerside Baseball represent us at the 13U level including Owen Jones, Cole Echlin, Tyson Wedge and Caleb Gallant while Jacob Dunn, Owen Lynch, Cody McCormack, and Declan Campbell represented us at the 15U level, finishing 3rd overall in Canada.
Heading into the end of June, we had the chance of Hosting the PEI Junior Islanders for doubleheader action on Legends Field. A great chance to showcase our facilities and also provide an opportunity for our Chevys players to watch and inspire to be one of the “older boys” in the future. This summer, we also had the chance to host the Charlottetown Senior Islanders and the Provincial 15U team on Legends Field.
On June 28th, Summerside Baseball was awarded the 18U “AA” Atlantic Championships. The association submitted a bid into Baseball Atlantic to host both the 18U and 11U “AA” Atlantics that were eligible to come to PEI this season. After finding out that they would be in fact hosting the older division, a host committee was formed. Tanner Doiron, Gian Martinson, Chuck Grady, Christine Burlock
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/summerside-awarded-18u-aa-atlantic-championship/
That wasn’t all Summerside Baseball would be hosting for the 2019 season. The association was also awarded other events such as the 13U “AAA” Provincial Championship, the 13U “A” Round Robin Provincial Championship, and the Final Four “AA” Division Provincial Championship. Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/upcoming-events-announced/
Changing back now to some success off the field, Baseball PEI reported to Summerside Baseball on July 25th that they were yet again PEI’s largest association, number wise recording 327 kids registered to play baseball for the 2019 season. The newly adopted online registration system and database “RAMP” was also rolled out this season all across the province. Summerside Baseball members were able to register and pay online for the first time ever! The Board of Directors were very pleased to hear this news and looked forward to building off this number for next season.
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/summerside-leads-registration-numbers-for-2019/
Summerside Baseball also returned to hosting their popular lineup of summer tournaments, this year having a total of 9 tournaments with 165 games played and 95 times visiting Queen Elizabeth Park. Director of Tournaments, Darrel Kirev noted much success for this years lineup of tournaments while growing many of their tournament teams amount from 8 to 12. A full review of which team took home the banner in each of the 9 tournaments can be found on the link below.
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/2019-tournaments-come-to-a-close/
As the summer came winding down, three of Summerside Baseball Teams would bring home provincial banners!
18U “AA” Township Chevys:
15U “AAA” Township Chevys:
13U “A” Township Chevys:
Finally, as Provincial Championships wrapped up for the season, 3 Summerside Baseball teams would head to Atlantic Championships to close out the 2019 season for the Chevys.
Our 13U “AAA” team attended the Baseball Canada 13U National Atlantic Championship in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia as they were the runners up for the island title this season. Summerside Baseball was pleased to see the team advance to the medal round on Sunday.
Our 15U “AAA” team competed at the 2019 15U Atlantic Championship in Miramichi, New Brunswick. Both teams fell short of the ultimate goal, but all in all had a very good season!
The third Chevys team to attend an Atlantic was our 18U “AA” team. They hosted and captured the banner beating the Cardigan Clippers in the final right here on Summerside Soil. Summerside Umpires Shawn Lawrence and Brody Jenkins were selected to work the event. Lawrence was selected to work third base for the championship game.
Full Details: https://summersidebaseball.ca/chevys-have-impressive-weekend/
And then comes the end. An unforgettable season jammed packed with excitement, improvement and development both on and off the field.
Summerside Baseball wishes to thank all of its players, coaches, managers, umpires, staff, parents and fans for an incredible season. For those members who have now graduated from our association, we wish you all the best and thank you for your commitment to us over the years. Get some rest Baseball family, because summer of 2020 comes quick, and we cannot wait to see you all at the park next season.
On behalf of all of us here at Summerside Baseball,
#GOCHEVYSGO! See you in 2020.
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Summerside Baseball is the governing body of minor baseball in Summerside, Prince Edward Island and surrounding communities. Growing the game since 1981. It is Baseball PEI’s largest association with 300 + players registered a season. Summerside Baseball offers Baseball Opportunities to children 4 years of age until 18 years of age.
For more information on Summerside Baseball, visit www.summersidebaseball.ca or contact:
