Team
Ontario 17 & Under Squad
Champions of the 2001 Super Series National Championships, Bloomington
Indiana, July 2001
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Our
mission is to help develop good citizens and to provide the opportunity
for these talented and motivated athletes to reach their desired
level of baseball competition - be that the Canadian National Youth
Team, College/ University baseball or the professional ranks.
We, the thirty
plus coaches and staff of Team Ontario Limited have committed
ourselves to assisting each player to achieve their goal. We invite
you to read this section and learn more about our program and
our approach.
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Team
Ontario As A Baseball Program
- We provide
the best instruction possible. Our excellent, experienced and dedicated
coaches, each with expertise in one or more facets of the game,
allow us to provide individualized and specialized training. Our
coaches attend coaching clinics annually to keep their knowledge
current.
- We provide
many opportunities for instruction in our full year-round program.
Our well-received four week fall development program involves individual
and team skill-specific instruction, and introduces players to our
customized baseball-specific off-season strength and conditioning
programs. In addition to the fall program, there are indoor winter
workouts, our spring league season and our summer travel schedule
all of which provide dozens of hours of instruction above and beyond
game opportunities. Our top-level instruction is a differentiating
cornerstone of Team Ontario.
- Many baseball
programs make claims of U.S. tournament opportunities. However,
the best U.S. players do not attend just any tournament. Over years
of experience Team Ontario has been able to identify and target
those tournaments that are amongst the best and most competitive
south of the border. They include the highly regarded Junior Sunbelt
Classic in McAlester Oklahoma, the Perfect Game/Baseball America
World Wood Bat Championship in Jupiter Florida, the National Amateur
Baseball Federation High School World Series in Millington, Tennessee
and others.
Team Ontario is proud to offer its players the chance to play in
these special events. We are invited because of our reputation for
top quality athletes who know how to play the game and how to conduct
themselves on and off the field
- We design
our program to maximize the exposure of our players. We do this
by combining the quality tournaments just outlined with high profile
"showcase" or combine events. These types of events, such
as the Area Code Games in Chicago and Long Beach California and
the Perfect Game Northeast Showcase in Wareham, Massachusetts, literally
attract hundreds of scouts and the very best players. Excelling
at one of these events is perhaps the surest way for a player to
increase his likelihood of attaining his goals.
- Team Ontario
gets results. Since our inception almost every player who has
gone through our 17 and/or 18 year-old team has had scholarship
opportunities to attend US Colleges. In most cases players receive
numerous offers. While some elect to pursue educational opportunities
in Canada, most will enter a US University Baseball Program. Our
players have received offers from some of the top academic and top
baseball schools in North America. In the last two years alone ten
Team Ontario players have been selected in the Major League Baseball
Amateur Entry draft held annually in June. Several of those players
have signed professional contracts and are making their way through
the Minor Leagues.
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As
A Program Dedicated To The Personal Development Of It's Players
- We preach hard
work and self-discipline. For the years that a player participates
in the Team Ontario program, they will often work harder then they
ever have in their life. Those who are able to sustain the effort
through the years of the program will improve and will learn the
value of making the effort. Our primary goal is to produce good
citizens who happen to be talented baseball players.
- Players learn
self-reliance. The summer schedule involves long periods away from
home. Players must learn quickly how to adapt to being away from
home all the while adhering to strict team rules and curfews. Players
are responsible for cleaning their own uniforms on the road.
- Players develop
self-confidence. Our coaches understand how important confidence
is not just to the success of a ball team on the field but also
to the development of young men in general. We set high standards
and encourage our players to strive to reach these standards. We
place the athletes in high-pressure situations and give them the
chance, not just to succeed, but just as importantly, to fail and
learn something from the experience. Regardless of what level of
baseball they ultimately attain we believe all young men leave us
more confident and self assured for having participated.
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As
An Administrative Organization
- We are not-for-profit
(October 2001). While we recognize that there are programs that
are run as businesses for profit in the Province of Ontario, we
have chosen a different path. All revenues raised, through player
registration fees, sponsorships, fundraising or other means are
directly applied to offsetting the costs of running the Team Ontario
program only.
- We are an open
and transparent organization. As a not-for-profit entity we are
regularly audited and we conduct our business in a manner that stands
up to the scrutiny of such a process. We have been able to manage
our travel costs more effectively with each year of experience we
accrue and we pledge to continue to improve and streamline our operations
to make participation in Team Ontario as cost efficient as possible,
without compromising the quality of the program.
- We try to be
creative and energetic in pursuing alternate sources of revenue.
From yearbook and website advertising to the profits obtained from
the sale of items in the Team Ontario retail clothing line, we are
always looking to attract new streams of revenue to offset costs.
Through the efforts of our fundraising committee, we hope to provide
money-generating methods to allow parents and players to raise portions
of their registration fees on their own.
- We are an understanding
organization. We have never denied an athlete the opportunity to
participate based upon the family's legitimate inability to afford
program costs. We will work with any such family to develop a strategy
(involving lesser payment, deferred payments and/or volunteerism
in lieu of payment) to allow a family to better manage their obligations.
All we ask is for is an honest effort to generate money through
our various fundraising programs to help where possible.
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Team
Ontario's Expectations Of Players
In
a single word Team Ontario asks one thing from its players - respect.
Respect
the game, your uniform and your teammates. Putting on a Team Ontario
uniform means something - it means you are part of one of the premier
programs in North America. Wherever you go you are an ambassador of
our program, our province and in the case of some of the tournaments
we attend you are ambassadors of our country. You are expected to act
accordingly. Support your teammates, especially when they struggle -
allow the coaches to do the coaching.
Respect
your coaches and the officials. Listen to your coaches - they have much
to teach. They understand what it will take for you to attain the next
level of baseball so try to apply what you are taught. Team Ontario
players do not make any comments to officials - period. Once again allow
the coaches to do their jobs in this area.
Respect
your parents and family. They work hard and sacrifice much so that you
may pursue your dream of playing competitive baseball - never forget
that. Help out, if at all possible, with a part-time job or by working
on fund raising activities to lower your costs.
Respect
your baseball roots and your community. As a high-performance athlete,
you now have much to offer back to the coaches who helped you in the
past and to the community leagues in which you grew up. If you are asked,
do your best to give something back to your baseball community. If you
get the chance to work with younger kids do it - remember that you are
now the big kids that they look up to.
Finally
and most importantly respect yourself. You do yourself a great disservice
by taking the opportunity you are being given lightly. Maintain or improve
your grades! Most of you will end up pursuing a subsidized education
in the United States and the number and quality of the offers you receive
relate not just to your baseball abilities but to your grades as well.
Train hard in the off season - all the talent in the world will not
help you if you are not in good physical condition. Word hard and hustle
whenever you are on the field, as you never know you will be watching
you. Never take your talent for granted; it is a gift to be developed.
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Team
Ontario's Expectations Of Parents
Team
Ontario has but two expectations of the parents of players in our program.
The
first and most important is that you talk to us. Perhaps your son is
struggling at school and needs a weekend off to study; maybe you anticipate
being late with a payment; perhaps you're traveling from a distance
for a weekend tournament and there is a strong likelihood that your
son may be late for the first game. With the size, growth and volunteer
make-up of the Team Ontario organization we are constantly dealing with
change in our organization. The greatest impediment to our successful
operation is unexpected surprises. Being proactive and pre-emptive about
letting us know when a problem may arise is enormously helpful to us.
Additionally, your feedback on our program is a critical element in
our planning. After all, we are here solely to meet the needs of your
sons.
Secondly,
for those who have the time, your volunteer assistance may be required
from time to time. Team Ontario has been blessed with outstanding parental
support over the years and would like to thank those parents who have
chosen to assist us, both past and present. We anticipate an increased
need in the future as we move towards implementing more programs designed
to make the Team Ontario program more and more accessible.
Questions
or comments may be directed to:
Rick Calich at rcalich@home.com
or Bob Cohen at bobcohen99@home.com
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