Ontario’s Intercounty Baseball League Moves Forward for 2021

CAMBRIDGE – Ontario’s Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) is moving forward with plans to play a 2021 season said Commissioner John Kastner in a statement released to the media and other stakeholders on Thursday.

This time last year the IBL was staring down the loss of their first season in league history, two teams had already informed the league they would not be playing and the COVID-19 Pandemic was beginning to take hold at record numbers.

Fast forward to today and just like the daily updates of the COVID-19 pandemic, things are much different and as of April 22, all eight-member clubs are fully committed to a return to the field at some point this summer.

“As more and more vaccines are being administered, hope springs eternal that the IBL will be back in some form this summer,” said Kastner. “The league hoped to start in June but that does not seem likely. But, with over 100,000 vaccines going into arms every day in Ontario we are confident that Intercounty baseball will be played this summer and we will be able to help communities rebound from over a year of restrictions.”

The league has appointed Dr. Tim Rindlisbacher as the league’s Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Rindlisbacher is a Sports Medicine Physician who is currently the Chief Medical Officer of the Ontario Hockey Federation and Consultant to the NHLPA. His new position within the IBL will be to coordinate with the provincial government and member clubs to develop a return-to-play plan for the 2021 season.

The IBL is a regional league, driven by its fans that enter the gates at the eight Southern Ontario stadiums. With that, the league simply cannot operate without a small percentage of attendance (in most cases as low as 10% capacity).

“As the IBL is a gate driven league, a modest percentage of capacity is required before we can start our regular season and it is our hope that with vaccinations and the following of health measures, that we will be able to see at least a small percentage of fans at home games,” said Kastner.

“Everyone who is involved with and enjoys the IBL can help us and their communities. Please, when it is your turn, get vaccinated. And please follow your local public health guidelines on measures including wearing a mask and social distancing.”

“To our stakeholders and fans, thank you for sticking with us through these tough times. Thank you to all the health care and frontline workers for all they are doing for us,” added Kastner. “Like everything right now there is a lot that is still up in the air but we have a plan, in fact, several plans, and all of those plans culminate with IBL baseball in 2021!”

With the announcement of several revised start dates, Kastner sat down with IBL On Deck Host, Jackson Farough to talk about the range of options in front of the league as it works to stage its season, its talks with the government and why the league has some real optimism heading into the summer. That video is presented here:

The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) is the top-level baseball league in Canada, boasting ex-major league professional and elite NCAA college baseball players. The 2021 season will mark the IBL’s 102nd in operation. The IBL is one of the longest continually operated baseball leagues in the world and serves as a valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff. More than 40 IBL players have advanced to Major League Baseball or returned to the IBL following their MLB careers. The league is comprised of teams from Barrie, Brantford, Kitchener, London, Toronto, Guelph, Welland and Hamilton. For more information, visit www.theibl.ca.