summer baseball

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Here are just a few.

ttp://www.leaguelineup.com/welcome.asp?url=niagararebels

http://www.ontariobluejays.com/

http://www.canadianthunderbirds.com/

http://www.torontohawks.ca/

http://www.teamontariobaseball.com/

http://www.royalsbaseball.ca/DesktopDefault.aspx

check out the Inter-County Baseball League.

You can also check out The Western Major Baseball League http://www.wmbl.ca teams in AB and SK, simular to Inter County just that players are 95% college players rather than working men

To be in the Interconty you have to a college player or an ex pro and an all out stud.
I believe this guy is a little young for that league in terms of experience.

need some info on WMBL, specifically the Eastern Division and the Millionaires team. Any info from current or former players would be helpful.

Well I coach in Med Hat and find the WMBL to be a good league. However the west seems to be stonger than the east. Melville had a good team last year in the regular season but lost players as the season progressed. Let me know if you need more info.

Moose the area around Toronto is the strongest hot bed of baseball. I have friends who play in the western league, They have some great teams and players but Ontario is fragmented.
Lokka t the results of the Canada Cup last year. This is the 1st year that the youth teams put asde their differences and chose players from the Elite teams. the OYT swept the Canada Cup and there are enough players here to make several teams just as strong.
The west was stronger because there were fewer teams to play for and it was more organized. Our population is more concentrated and there are so many teams competing for players. If the politics are put aside Ontario will dominate the Canada Cup as it did last year.In previous year the fued between OBA and the Elite teams barred all the top players from participating. That appears to be changing and the Ontario Youth Team once called Team Ontario is now drawing players from all the Elite teams.

I am very familiar with baseball in Ontario as I am from there originally. And I was referring to the two divisions in the WMBL, the east and west divisions. Thanks

Are they pro or similar to Intercounty ? I am aware of the league but do not know a lot about them. I have a couple guys who play in the west. One was in the Cape and the other played for a D1. The Cape guy couldn't get a visa after playing ther a couple years.

Well it is very similar to the IC the WMBL sells itself as Canada's Premier Collegiate League. I played and coached in the IC for a number of years before this opportunity. I think that the WMBL is similar in talent but its in my estimate 95% college guys. We also have the opportunity for 8 import players unlike the IC which allows 3 per team.

Ontario just had a major merger in the 2 18U leagues and they now cooperate with OBA. I am not sure the total extent of this cooperation but I know they now select the youth teams from the PBLO . Most of the CEBC teams merged into the PBLO. I guess they got tired of losing at the Canada Cup. last year they won all 3 levels after losing big time for years. This is a very exciting time for ball players in Ontario. Unfortunately my son didn't get to see this while he was there. Team O Inc has merged with the Hamilton Astros and I am not sure how that will play out.

Well I know that people in OBA had been upset with the losses. I know the Astro have a strong past of great players so I'm sure that they will do well with the merge. I personally found that there were too many teams claiming to be elite and that the over all team talent was down over the last few years while doing recruiting. Being a Canadian coaching in the states I get a lot of flack for these so called elite teams having average talent. I hope this is a step in the right direction to get the best kids together to showcase themselves to US schools.

There should be a vast improvment in getting guys better exposure. There are currently almost 700 guys playing US college ball. Many of them playing very well and a lot of coaches in the US look at Canada as relativly untapped.
The Astro's coach has been more involved in his business venture and 3 years ago told me it was his last year. He ended up staying on but could not give the commitment. He was a great coach and former Blue Jay Scout.
The problem with Team O inc is that their top players a few years ago wanted to rep the province and were no longer eligible unless they played OBA as well. It was logistically impossible to play both levels and most great players were in tournaments in the US when the tryouts were on. My son missed his tryout last year because he was on a trip.
I have always felt there is more than enough Elite players to fill these teams. The main problem is costs and a lot of these players cannot afford the teams that give great exposure. It is also true that some of these Elite teams have less than Elite players on them to cover costs.
I also feel that having more Elite teams will inspire mor players to stay in the game and hopefully develop into better players.
My son was inspired by seeing a game between the Thunderbirds and Team Ontario years ago. He was also inspired by a close relationship with several players in the single A Stompers when they were still playing in St Catharines.
Overall the changes will inspire kids to play ball at a higher level.