Webber Academy – A Dream

It’s a vision that goes back, and back, and back, but will never be gone.

Dr. Neil Webber’s baseball roots go back to his early days of being an Alberta farm boy. He loved the sport, at an early age, and enjoyed playing with other farm boys from the Endiang area, north of Hanna. From his childhood, along with his experiences as an educator and grandfather, originated the dream of a baseball academy. His idea of an academy created more excitement with others as well and today we have an institution that has changed the Calgary baseball landscape, as well as the Alberta baseball scene.

Founder Dr. Neil Webber (left) welcomes Wildcats head coach Chris Reitsma to the program back in September of 2021 

The focus of the Webber Academy and the Wildcats baseball program is to grow the grow the game of baseball and extend as many opportunities to young athletes as possible. At the high school level, Webber’s program is offering a College Prep program, which is a 12-month program designed to help prepare/develop players to move on to the collegiate level. The goal is to move kids’ skill levels along so that they can have better chance at fulfilling their baseball dreams/goals. Webber Academy hopes to give the players immediate feedback, and, hopefully, move their skill sets along faster.

Webber Academy believes that having the player for the entire year will be a big advantage to players and the coaching staff. All activities/practices will try to fit the Webber Academy stated goal of developing “high achieving students, but always respecting others.”

Webber Academy also hopes to run extensive camps with younger players and it is hoped that all Calgary baseball programs will benefit from the camps. It is anticipated that the camps will grow the numbers of kids playing baseball in Calgary, and the rest of Alberta. At the younger age levels, the desire is to not be in competition with other associations, but an additional program to help supplement their present program. The idea is to start small, and success should come easier, and at a higher level, while competing as an older baseball participant.

Webber Academy is also building an Athletic Park in Springbank. The facility, which will be open in the spring of 2022, will have two full-sized fields, with artificial playing surfaces. The complex will also contain a trio of outdoor batting cages, a bullpen training centre, stadium seating with a press box, and one field will include lights. Soon, two additional fields, a soccer pitch, and a state of the art indoor training facility will be completed. The indoor facility (50,000 square feet) will include four batting cages, a full-sized infield, a bullpen area, a weight room, a couple of classrooms, and a restaurant/lounge with a patio overlooking the fields and mountains. A patio, and the entire complex, includes majestic view of the Canadian Rockies.

The hope is that Webber Academy Athletic Park will become a destination location for the Calgary baseball enthusiasts, as well as the Alberta, and the entire Canadian baseball community.