Baseball BC

Play Ball! BC allows expanded game play with move to Step 2 restrictions

Published

2 years ago

June 16, 2021

Dugout Wire Service

On June 14, 2021 the BC Government announced a move to Step 2 in the British Columbia Restart Plan that takes effect today, June 15, 2021. This movement further allows sport to ease restrictions and permit limited spectators and travel within the province for the purpose of sport. As such Baseball BC is advancing notice that the following activities are now permitted within the sport of Baseball;

Regular game play amongst participating teams province wide – This means leagues like the BC Premier Baseball League (BCPBL) can now resume, with teams freely travelling to play one another. Previously such teams could only hold inter-squad games against themselves.

A maximum of 50 spectators (per field). – Under Step 1 rules, no spectators were allowed at any games.

Tournament play is now allowed

Baseball BC is very pleased with the step forward by the government of B.C.; however, the situation may differ by area, therefore, we must all continue to follow the BC health authority’s guidance and require all members and affiliated clubs to do the same. We also understand that each municipality has potentially different restrictions and limitations for bookings/activity, therefore, please work with your local cities/municipalities to adhere to any requirements to ensure you are providing a safe environment for all participants. We would also like to ensure that all organizations defer to their provincial level member organization on programming decisions or sanctioning, should it be required.

We would again like to share the following amateur sport programming reminders (as of June 15, 2021);

The activity must always comply with the general measures, recommendations, and any gathering restrictions issued by the BC health authorities.
Physical distancing not required on the field of play, including dugout area.
2 metres social distancing is still required outside the field of play.
Keep a participant record for contract tracing needs, including symptom screening.
Communicate to participants any hygiene measures in alignment with current information issued by the BC health authorities, including staying home if sick.
Remind all players to bring their own refreshments and do not share water bottles.
Please adjust current safety plans to align with this Return to Play Plan for Baseball and ViaSport’s Restart Sport 2.0 Chart, including updating Emergency Response & Outbreak Plans.

We would also like to again remind that some participants may need additional time to fully return to traditional programming. It is required that all participants and member organizations work collaboratively to ensure all stakeholders do so safely and when they are ready. Possible examples of this are as follows;

– There will be some officials who will require time to adjust to traditional positioning mechanics, or will elect to continue with the modified mechanics based on the training they received in preparation for 2021. Return to traditional positioning is not a mandated change and some officials who do not yet feel safe about returning to working behind the catcher, may elect to continue with the modified positioning. Please take direction from the Local Sport Organization (LSO’s) Umpire in Chief in this area.

Should any member organization and/or affiliated club wishing to add stricter guidelines, measures and precautions they are able to do so for the baseball activity they oversee within their specific organization.

Please direct any questions you may have on this topic to Baseball BC Executive Director David Laing at 604-586-3312.

Baseball Canada

2023 BC Minor Baseball Association Coaches Conference Schedule

Published

1 month ago

February 10, 2023

Dugout Wire Service

2023 BC Minor Baseball Association Coaches Conference Schedule

By BCMBA, 02/10/23, 6:15PM PST

2023 BC Minor Baseball Association Coaches Conference

February 10th – 12th, 2023

Schedule of Speakers & Events

Source

Baseball BC

Rhonda Pauls recognized with 2021 Baseball Canada Umpire Developer Award

Published

1 year ago

December 21, 2021

Dugout Wire Service

The Baseball Canada Umpire Developer Award is handed out annually to an individual who has demonstrated commitment and excellency in the delivery of umpire education as part of the National Umpires Certification Program.

An accomplished umpire on the field whose resume includes numerous provincial, national, and international events, it was her off-field work that stood out in 2021 as she put in tremendous efforts in developing and growing the next generation of umpires.

As such, Baseball Canada is pleased to announce that British Columbia’s Rhonda Pauls is the winner of the Baseball Canada Umpire Developer Award for 2021.

With Covid-19 still impacting the way in which umpires are traditionally trained and developed, Rhonda’s work to create online educational resources ensured that information and development tools were provided to young umpires in BC and across Canada.

Rhonda created on online platform for the BC Baseball Umpires Association in addition to producing multi-hour, virtual training sessions for umpires in BC. Her teaching materials including lesson plans, instructional videos, quizzes, and presentations as part of her workshops and clinics.

A former winner of the Dick Willis Memorial Award for Baseball Canada Umpire of the Year (2014), Rhonda is a role model for aspiring female umpires and spent time in 2021 engaging female umpires across the country through a unique virtual series.

She has also used her platform to raise awareness around mental health in researching and developing materials for an interactive workshop.

Her efforts around mental health support and awareness did not stop there as she created a team of individuals in BC who serve as peer counsellors for mental health awareness. This is the only team of this nature in baseball in Canada.

Rhonda was also active in many of her off-field umpiring roles in 2021 including the planning and execution of the Super clinic as part of a group effort while also serving as President of the BC Baseball Umpire Association.

She was elected as a board member for Baseball BC where she participated actively in several committees including Strategic Planning and sat as a member of the Baseball Canada instructor development portfolio where she’s been instrumental in the re-design of the Senior Course Conductor Portfolio.

Umpire Developer Award recipients have included:

2020-Ed Quinlan & Chris Wilhelm (ON)

Baseball BC

Butler Park to get new lights before 2022 season

Published

1 year ago

October 21, 2021

Dugout Wire Service

City council votes to install lighting and netting to Trail baseball park

By Jim Bailey – Trail Times
From an article on August, 26, 2021

City staff laid the groundwork to complete the lighting and netting additions to Butler Park before the start of the next baseball season.

After stadium light standards were deemed to be unsafe, the city removed the poles and netting this past year, and made way for a new installation.

At an Aug. 16 Governance and Operations Committee meeting, a staff report recommended four options for installing new stadium lighting and netting at the Trail baseball park.

“(Engineering technician) Kyle McCormick has worked diligently with engineers and vendors to come up with what we feel is a practical recommendation moving forward,” said public works director, Chris McIsaac.

Because the soil below Butler has low cohesion, engineers decided on the installation of drilled and cast-in-place concrete piles.

Also, the upgrades to the stadium lighting will reduce the number of standards needed from eight to six along with the number of LED stadium luminaries, and 15-gauge Dyneema netting will be strung along the first and third-base lines.

“This proposed Butler Park installation is a significant addition to the fiscal 2021 capital projects,” wrote Interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Rino Merlo. “To proceed in 2021 requires a substantial amount of non-budgeted cash.

“However, should council authorize this Report’s recommendations, the city has the funding to proceed in 2021.”

Merlo offered that funding could come from various sources including the city’s deferred amount within the UBCM Community Building Fund of $1.25M, the Capital Works Reserve Fund $236,000 and Surplus about $100,000.

“However, this significant draw down of capital resources reduces the city’s financial flexibility.”

Parks and Rec director Trisha Davison also confirmed that there is grant funding of about $235,000 pending.

The immediate costs were a concern for Mayor Lisa Pasin who said, when considering last year’s total capital budget, a $1.5M expenditure would amount to 55 per cent of the total budget allocated for capital.

To spend 55 per cent of a total budget on one project is significant for the city, she later clarified.

“And this should be evaluated within the context of all priority projects.”

Of the four options, Option 1 was the least expensive at $1.586M with all work being completed in 2021.

However, in a 5-2 vote, council chose Option 2, which will see pole foundations, underground electrical, and stadium lighting installed in phase 1, and completed with the netting put up in the spring of 2022.

The cost for Option 2 is estimated at $1.642M, more than Option 1, but less than Option 3 and 4 at $1.655M, whose estimated completion dates were by the end of 2022.