As we head into the final days of Summer 2021, I want to thank all of our Panther families for their patience during challenging Covid19 restrictions, their passion for baseball, and their Panther pride! Thank you to our coaches and our program volunteers for their commitment to our program!

While we faced pandemic challenges again, we have much to be proud of:

We opened our new Batting Cage facility at Breithaupt Park and enjoyed other park upgrades at Breithaupt

We successfully partnered with WMBA to offer house league baseball after a year off in 2020

We partnered with the other ICBA centres to create the Bearcats Program

We coordinated a successful Fall Ball program for both Recreational and Rep players and their families

I want to thank everyone who offered program, coaching and communications feedback through our survey this month. Our team is always looking for ways to improve our program.

From your feedback, we have prioritized the following program changes:

We are proud to announce that we will be a partner association with Whitebird Sportswear and Rawlings Canada and will be upgrading all of our uniform and swag/fanwear items for 2022 – uniforms will be included in our 2022 registration fees for all players, along with their training t-shirt and shorts. We will be opening a swag/fanwear shop with items for sale year round in addition to our pop-up holiday shop in Fall.

We have worked with the City of Kitchener to prioritize a list of diamond upgrades.

We have tweaked our communications plan to email with updates more often – with a focus on association successes and challenges, financial details, and new/improved program information.

In addition to these three program changes, we use your feedback to navigate crucial conversations with some of our coaches and volunteers to ensure that our KMBA values are upheld by all of our program ambassadors.

This has also lead to a change in our Code of Conduct – which you can find here.

We have had a great summer so far – but there is much to look forward to in the months ahead.

Our 2022 Program

  1. Simplified Registration fees will again have monthly payment options and will include the new uniform and training gear.
    • 8U/9U – $1550
    • 10U – 18U Tier Two Teams – $1600
    • 10U – 13U Tier One Teams – $2000 (includes additional training)
  2. Roster minimums are set for each age group to prioritize arm care, manage vacation time, and ensure that all Panthers have time to develop and grow throughout the season.
    • 8U/9U – 12 players
    • 10U/11U – 13 players
    • 12U/13U – 14 players
    • 14U+ – 15 players
  3. Tryouts will be free and will take place from September 20th – 30th. Coaching interviews will take place shortly and announcements will be made on our website and via email. Register for tryouts here. Please register your child with the same account as last year. Our 2022 tryout policy can be found here. Our Players Playing at Specific Age Groupings policy can be found here.

We are always looking to grow our programs – on the horizon are a girls baseball offering and we are looking into starting up a challenger baseball program for players with accessible needs. In order to grow our programs, we are always looking for more volunteers. Please reach out to Cathy at cathy.lapar@kitchenerminorbaseball.ca if you are interested in helping our team!

For those of you adding to your summer fun with a few weeks of Fall Ball – I will see you soon!

Fall Ball information will be posted next week on our website and social media channels.

For those attending tryouts in a few short weeks – good luck to everyone!

Go Panthers!

Ron Mooibroek, President, KMBA