In the first of 10 provincial association profiles, Baseball Canada speaks with Baseball British Columbia President Peter Buxton about the upcoming 2006 season in the country’s westernmost province.
BASEBALL CANADA (BCAN) – In no particular order, what five events or initiatives are you looking forward to the most as you are in the midst of kicking off the 2006 baseball season?
1. Baseball Canada National Pee-Wee Championships: Victoria, B.C.
PETER BUXTON (PB) – 1. Obviously we would have to say the hosting of the Pee-Wee National Championships in Victoria because that will be one of our biggest events. From a family perspective and participation point of view it’s one of the most enthusiastically supported championships across the country.
Summerside, P.E.I., has led by example and proved what a great family event this can be. We think that in Victoria, people will find the same type of atmosphere.
BCAN – With Baseball Canada’s National Pee-Wee Championships having been held in Summerside for eight consecutive years leading up to the event in Victoria, does that put a little bit of extra pressure on Baseball B.C. to put on a good show?
PB – If you look back what transpired at our fall convention two years ago, you could even see then that we were ready to step up to the plate with the event in Victoria. We wouldn’t dare compare anything we do to Summerside, but what we want to do is create our own very special version of the championship. We’ve got an extremely strong core of volunteers with us and we’re going to make sure that all of the athletes and their families have a wonderful time. There’s always pressure to succeed at something like this, but we know that the volunteers in Victoria and Baseball B.C. are going to be able to pull it off.
2. Girl’s Baseball
PB – We’re really pleased to be involved in girl’s baseball and continuing to develop in that area. We see that as a strong part of our mandate both provincially and nationally. If you look at our track record in participating in invitational tournaments and in Bantam (Girls) National Championships, B.C. has always been well represented by our teams. Al Foreman and Ken McKenzie who are two of our executives here are going to continue with this programming and we’re hoping to expand participation numbers and competing at a high-level on the national stage.
3. New Coaching Standards
PB – We’re very proud to have a continuing involvement and taking of a leadership role in the new National Coaching Certification Program’s (NCCP) Introduction to Competition Module. Adam Debray (Baseball B.C. Information Director) continues to develop and expand our coaching website www.bettercoaches.com where people can find a video library of practice session and tips for coaches that will enable them to see first hand, on the internet, practical and modern coaching techniques. With that in mind, we’re excited to work in co-operation with Baseball Canada and the NCCP in helping develop and administer these new methods of coaching certification.
See http://www.baseball.ca/eng_news_story.cfm?NewsID=811 for more information about the new NCCP program.
BCAN – We’re now seeing the sport of baseball really taking advantage of information technology to expand the avenues by which we can develop athletes and coaches. What kind of impact do you see the Internet making in that regard?
PB – It’s vital for a number of reasons. On the community level, it affords coaches the opportunity to see, first-hand, practical demonstrations of coaching techniques for practices and competition situations. Furthermore, it allows people to do things at their own speed on their own time in the comfort of their own home. We see it as a very exciting way to deliver this type of programming.
Secondly, we feel very strongly Canada should be demonstrating to the international baseball community that we can play a leading role in the use of this technology for the distribution of this information. We are truly hoping that we can help develop an increase in participation in Europe, Asia, Australia and other markets that have already show an strong interest in baseball.
4. Rally Cap Program Pilot Project
PB – We’re really looking forward to the North Delta Baseball Association’s participation, as a pilot project, in the Rally Cap Program. North Delta is a strong baseball association that has successfully represented B.C. on the national stage. North Delta’s president Bob Burkmar and his executive should be commended for their enthusiasm and their co-operation in making this a successful pilot project. Along with Baseball B.C.’s programming director David Laing that association is doing everything they can to make sure this pilot project will work very well. Given their long participation history in Canadian Baseball, we expect them to do an excellent job and we’re looking forward to them setting a standard for this program in B.C.
See http://www.baseball.ca/eng_doc.cfm?DocID=212&Related=13 for more information about Baseball Canada’s Rally Cap Program.
5. Winterball Wonders
PB – I was very surprised to hear that we had over 200 requests for the Winterball Program here this year and we see that as a huge success. We were given 67 kits to distribute and obviously all of them have gone out. The responses we’ve received from communities and schools have just been extraordinary. I’m looking forward to have an increased participation in this program and distributing even more kits in the coming year and meeting this very large demand to make this even more of a success story.
BCAN – How exciting is it to see roughly triple the amount of requests originally anticipated for the Winterball Program in B.C.?
PB – I think that’s fantastic. It fills a need in school curriculums and it’s a great introduction into the programming that will lead to an increased level of participation across the province. Another great thing about it is that, geographically, there are province-wide requests for participation in the Winterball program. I think it’s very exciting that communities in the dead of winter are interested in baseball and promoting an introduction to the sport to kids at the grassroots level.
BCAN – How important do you feel it is to have the Winterball program in place in schools throughout the country and giving kids the opportunity to learn the game year round?
PB – It is absolutely critical. We’ve seen, at the competition level, that getting a jump on the season is vital to our success here in B.C. and we always try to take advantage of it. If we can further extend that opportunity indoors to kids all across the province it’s critical to the development of our baseball programming not only from a skill perspective, but from an introductory perspective as well.
See http://www.baseball.ca/eng_doc.cfm?DocID=69&Related=13 to learn more about Baseball Canada’s Winterball Program.
Want to learn more about Baseball British Columbia? Visit their website at www.baseball.bc.ca
That wraps up this weeks edition of Play Ball 2006! Come back next week as Baseball Canada sits down with Baseball Alberta’s Terry Murphy.
Schedule:
April 10: Play Ball 2006! Baseball Alberta
April 17: Play Ball 2006! Saskatchewan Baseball Canada
April 24: Play Ball 2006! Manitoba Baseball Association
May 1: Play Ball 2006! Baseball Ontario
May 8: Play Ball 2006! Baseball Québec
May 15: Play Ball 2006! Baseball New Brunswick
May 22: Play Ball 2006! Baseball Nova Scotia
May 29: Play Ball 2006! P.E.I. Amateur Baseball Association
June 5: Play Ball 2006! Baseball Newfoundland
