Innerkip Minor Ball hosting tournaments

From Peter VanBoekel, Innerkip Minor Ball

We have finalized the dates of our Tim Horton’s Classic tournaments in Innerkip for June 2018.  

New for this year will be a two day tournament for 8 Peewee boy teams and 8 Bantam Boys teams.  This weekend will also feature the Sr. Canadian Men’s Camp being held at our park at the same time.  So this would be a fun weekend with great ball to play and to watch.

Atom (U10) Boy’s & Girls - June 15-17th 

Squirt (U12) Boy’s & Girl’s - June 22-24th

Peewee (U14) Boy’s - June 9-10th

Bantam (U16) Boy’s - June 9-10th

We have 4 diamonds available for the Atom and Squirt weekends so it would be nice to get 20+ teams again for both of these weekends and make this one of the biggest tournaments to play in all summer.  We have used these tournaments to develop our Junior Umpire program and it has really worked well for us.  They umpire a bunch of games over each weekend and it is amazing how much better they get with a bit of confidence and time on the diamond.

We will guarantee 3 games for each team.  

This year we would like to see all teams apply online by going to innerkipminorball.com.  In the top right corner you will see a link to register.  Every year there is confusion with teams registering and not paying.  This year we will only assume teams are registered if they show paid, or else we end up saving spots for teams not coming.

Please pass this email onto other coaches, enters and organizations, if you know any that would like to participate.

George Findley honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award

Congratulations to George Findley, a familiar face on local diamonds, on being recoginzed by the Ottawa Sports Awards with a lifetime achievement award:


Lifetime Achievement Award, Technical Official: George Findley

Born and raised in Ottawa, George Findley has earned many accolades over his distinguished 45 years of umpiring fast pitch. A Master Instructor and Evaluator and a past president and co-founder of the Eastern Ontario Umpires Association, Findley has umpired Canadian, North-American, and World Championships. Reaching the heights of umpiring on the field and serving as an important mentor to many in the fast pitch community, Findley can also be found on the basketball courts as an official in the winter time.

Caveman's latest adventures

For those you who aren't on Twitter and have missed the following Caveman stories, the following are provided for your amusement.

Caveman the Actor

Caveman will be starring as Captain Shang in his elementary school's upcoming production of "Mulan". In many of the online images for Shang he is shirtless, so that's a natural fit for Caveman.

Caveman's Christmas

Caveman phones Nana to thank her for a Christmas gift.
"Is this Nana?"
*Pause*
"Thanks for the basketball net!"
*Pause*
"Whoops, sorry!"
Looks at us: "Wrong Nana!"

Caveman likes all sports

December 10: Actual line from me to the Caveman: "Get to bed quickly or you won't get to stay up late to watch curling again."  This is not a thing I thought I'd ever say to my kid.

Caveman - easy to impress

November 12: Supper tonight was grocery store souvlaki. Caveman: "Ooooooh chicken on a stick! Fancy."

Caveman the playmaker

October 22: Caveman set up the tiniest kid on his peewee hockey team for goal this morning. The tiny kid doesn't get too many goals. I asked the tiny kid how come he didn't celebrate his big goal. He says "I was so excited I forgot the celly!"

Caveman in the "Hall of Fame"

October 19: Found out today that the Caveman was a minor celebrity at the Harbour Days summer festival back in July. With a pocket full of money borrowed from his mother, Caveman was a frequent customer of the onsite food truck there for the festivities. After his 6th pogo, the truck staff were so impressed they asked if they could take his photo for their "hall of fame". They said he could eat for free after his "induction". So he had two more pogos for a total of 8. This is a 100 lb 12 year old boy. I wonder if there is a category for pogos / corndogs in the competitive eating circuit?

Kingston Axemen tournament - July 6-8

The Kingston Axemen men's open fastpitch tournament will be held this year on July 6-8. Organizers are looking for 10 teams with tournament play beginning on the Friday night.

For more information contact
Brad MacDonald
Text to: 613-583-2128
brad.macdonald99@yahoo.ca

11th Annual Gil Read Memorial Tournament

The 11th Annual Gil Read Memorial Men’s Fastpitch tournament will be held once again at the Carp Fairgrounds in Carp, Ontario the weekend of July 27th, 28th and 29th, 2018.

This is an Open class tournament without restriction. Entry fee and prize money to be confirmed.

As always, there will be a fantastic beer garden with the best burgers around, and good crowds on hand, all in support of the Gil Read Memorial Foundation.

Last year's ten team event was won by the ESA Merchants of Elkland, Pennsylvania - story here.

To reserve a spot for your team please contact:
Adam Brown
fastball{at}fitzroyharbour.com
613-623-8867 (home)
613-720-3575 (cell: text or call)

or

Cory Morrison
cmorrison{at}printersplus.net
613-614-7349 (cell: text or call)

Past champions of the Gil Read Memorial:
2017 ESA Merchants
2016 Oswego CPI Classics
2015 Kanata Storm
2014 Micksburg Twins
2013 Lake Simcoe Lightning
2012 Toronto Gators
2011 Quebec Seniors
2010 Quyon Flyers
2009 Ottawa Team Easton
2008 Ottawa Easton Thunder

McNab / Braeside to host OASA Bantam Elims

The Ontario Amateur Softball Association has announced that McNab / Braeside Minor Ball will be hosting the 2018 Bantam Rep Boys (U16) Elimination tournament from June 29 to July 1.

The McNab Centre Park, with four diamonds (three lighted) will be the host location for this tournament which determines provincial representatives at the Canadian U16 Boys' Championship in Innerkip, Ontario in August.

McNab has previously hosted the Bantam Boys "Select" Provincials in 2009.

Last year's event featured 11 teams and was won by the eventual Canadian Champions from Belmore.

OASA seeks "Springboard" hosts

The Ontario Amateur Softball Association, working under its long term player development initiative, is looking for associations to host the successful "Springboard" minor softball clinics throughout the province of Ontario.

The OASA is looking for hosts for these one-day clinics during spring 2018. Facilities need to be capable of holding 50 – 70 participants with the following set up for the participants:
Batting nets will be set up for soft toss hitting...
Fielding
Playing catch and throwing the ball.
Pitching / catching

If you are interested please contact OASA executive member Jamie Simpson at simper7@sympatico.ca.