Congratulations to the following Kanata Big League players who have been selected to the District 2 all-star team, the Ottawa Crusaders: Ryan Atkinson, James Day, Josh Feguson, Dominic Heallis, Cory McCarney, Ryan Murphy, Junior Ortiz-Salvador and Tyler Welch.

The Ottawa Crusaders will participate in the Big League Provincial Championship Tournament from July 12 to July 18 at Heritage Park in Orleans. Managing the Ottawa Crusaders for his 8th year is Kanata's own Dave Wilson. Dave brings a wealth of experience to the team including a trip to the Big League World Series in 2005. Dave is joined by coaches Don Harper of East Nepean and Steve Welch of Kanata.

Good luck to the players and coaching staff.

This year's Big League Provincial Championship Tournament is being hosted by Orleans Little League and will take place from July 12 to July 18 at Heritage Park in Orleans. This is an great opportunity for you to see some excellent baseball played by some of the best young ball players in the province. We encourage you to attend the tournament and support our District 2 team.

For more information on the tournament, check out the District 6 web site.

For tournament scores, check out the Little League Ontario web site or Jim Dean's Twitter page.

Convenors, coaches, assistants, team managers and all other volunteers that helped make this season great are invited to join the Kanata Little League executive for an evening of snacks and beverages, and perhaps a few baseball stories, but most of all to give us the opportunity to say Thanks!

When: Wednesday, July 7
Time: 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Where: Kanata Sports Club

More than 400 players took part in our spring season this year, learning some baseball, making new friends, and most importantly...having some fun! None of this could have happened without each of your valuable contributions.

We cannot thank you enough, but hope you will give us the opportunity to share a drink and some snacks and offer a personal thanks on behalf of the players and parents of Kanata Little League.

The Kanata Sports Club is located upstairs at the Jack Charron arena, 10 McKitrick Drive, Kanata.

There will be a FREE skills development clinic with Mike Kusiewicz and the Kanata Selects for ALL registered players within Kanata Little League on Sunday June 13, from noon-2:00pm at both Scott Tokessy and Walter Baker East fields.

Mike and the Selects will work with players of various ages and skill sets on bettering their baseball techniques, but most importantly, will focus on, and emphasize having fun and fostering every players love of the game!

Marc Favreau, Kanata South Municipal Candidate is sponsoring this event along with a Bar-B-Q running in parallel, with all proceeds to Kanata Little League.

Mike Kusiewicz

• 8th round draft pick, Colorado Rockies, Rockies Minor League player of the year, 1998
• 8 time member, Team Canada, including Canada’s Olympic team in Athens Greece
• 2006 Ottawa Baseball player of the year
• Player Coach - Ottawa Rapidz
• Ottawa Nepean Canadians Alumni, East Nepean Eagles Alumni
• Owner and head instructor; Mike’s Baseball Camps (http://mikesbaseballcamps.com/index.htm )
• ...and friend of Kanata Little League

Coupled with the National Capital Baseball League’s Kanata Selects.

All Minor players wishing to play summer ball or those interested in honing their skills in a competitive environment are invited to attend the following competitive clinics which will be held at Walter Baker East field at the corner of Terry Fox Drive and Maplegrove Road on the following dates:

• June 6th - Clinic 6PM
• June 13th - Clinic 6PM 

The clinics are open to all players as are competitive tryouts, and there is no charge. It is recommended any players interested in playing on competitive summer teams participate in the clinics, however all players are welcome whether they want to play summer or not. Clinics will emphasize situational skill development and game play.

For more info on the Summer Minor Baseball program, view the Summer Minor Baseball Information sheet.

This year's league fundraiser, a bottle drive, will take place on Saturday, May 29. 

All players participating should wear their baseball jerseys and caps and meet up with their coaches for a briefing session at the Kanata Recreation Complex, 100 Walter Baker Place. Maps, instructions, etc. will be distributed at that time.

Start times will be staggered as follows, please plan on arriving at least 15 minutes early.

Coach Pitch and Rookie
Arrive and Check In: 8:45
Depart for area: 9:00
Collect Bottles: 9:00-11:00
Return to unload bottles: 11:00
Check out: 11:10

Minor and Major
Arrive and Check In: 9:45
Depart for area: 10:00
Collect Bottles: 10:00-12:00
Return to unload bottles: 12:00
Check out: 12:10

Senior
Arrive and Check In: 10:45
Bottle Sorting: 11:00-1:00
Check out: 1:10

Junior A
Arrive and Check In: 11:30
Bottle Sorting: 11:45-1:45
Check out: 1:55

Junior B
Arrive and Check In: 12:15
Bottle Sorting: 12:30-2:30
Check out: 2:40

Please note that parents are expected to participate with their children in this event.

I hope you had a wonderful start to the baseball season with your first round of games and practices. I would like to announce the opportunity for your players in Minor to attend weekend baseball clinics hosted by your KLLBA coaches.

Clinics will be held on the following Saturdays: May 15th, June 5th & 12th at our regular baseball fields at Roland Michener School. If your child intends to play baseball in the summer season, wants to further develop baseball skills or just wants a chance to get out and play with friends, consider bringing them to the clinics.

Please have your child on time and dressed for baseball with a protective cup, glove, hat and helmet. Dress them appropriately for the weather and send them with a water bottle and sunscreen on. I would prefer all balls and bats remain at home as they are not needed. Ensure that your child's name is on everything that they bring, particularly their glove, hat and helmet. As parents, I would also suggest you either are prepared to be active on the field or bring a lawn chair so you can relax on the sidelines. A parent or a guardian must remain at the field with your child - we are providing a baseball skills clinic, not a child minding service.

If there is rain, I will notify by 9:00 of the morning of the clinic to cancel, otherwise assume we're on. 

I hope to see you all out on the field this Saturday!

Team pictures for all Coach Pitch, Rookie, Minor, Major and Junior division teams will be taken on Saturday, May 15 at the Kanata Recreation Complex (KRC), 100 Walter Baker Place.

Coaches will be distributing the order forms to their players soon, please try to have it filled out before arriving at the picture session.

Team picture schedule.

After a lot of hard work by our dedicated group of volunteers, our Spring Baseball program is all set to begin on May 1.  

Despite today's snow flurries it looks like the weather will be cooperating and the baseball fields should be dried up in no time.  For the next eight weeks they will see a lot of action as our teams have been formed are are ready to go out and play ball.

Team schedules are currently being finalized and will be posted on our Schedules page as soon as they are available.

Team coaches should be contacting all players in the next couple of days informing them of when and where to meet for the first practice or game of the season.

Our Minor convenor Jeff Dever has prepared the following information sheet to describe the 2010 Minor baseball program.

View the Spring Minor Baseball Information sheet.

The upcoming spring baseball season in Kanata is around the corner and player evaluations have been scheduled at the Thunderbird Sports Centre, 1927 Richardson Side Rd., Kanata for the Rookie (7/8), Minor (9/10), Major (11/12) and Junior (13/14) divisions on Saturday, April 24 and Sunday, April 25, as follows:

NOTE – The times are very close, therefore, to maximize each time slot, please ensure the player is at the Thunderbird Sports Centre, dressed appropriately (baseball pants, glove, jock (or jill), running shoes etc.) and ready to begin 15 minutes prior to his/her scheduled time.  Please make every effort to attend, as these evaluations are used to ensure teams are balanced, making for a healthy and enjoyable environment.

However, if for some reason you are unable to attend, please contact the respective convenor, as identified on the contacts page.

All players, including Coach Pitch (5/6), Senior (15/16), and Big League (17/18) divisions, should be contacted by a KLLBA volunteer with the pertinent details about the spring baseball season during April.

Keep your eye on the ball ….

Kanata Little League will be holding a Level 1 Umpire Clinic on Sunday, April 18 from 8:00am to 4:00pm to prepare our young umpires for the upcoming baseball season.

The clinic is free of charge and will be held at the John G. Mlacak Centre located at 2500 Campeau Drive.

All umpires attending the clinic are reminded to bring a notepad and pen and to wear your running shoes/sneakers. Pizza and pop lunch will be provided.

Anyone interested in attending the clinic and becoming an umpire this year should contact our Umpire-In-Chief Ricky Norris to reserve a spot if they have not done so already.

Player registration for the 2010 Spring Baseball Program is now under way.

Our final walk-in registrations events for the year will be on Wednesday, April 7th and Saturday, April 10th.

Please visit our Registration page for complete details.

Calling all Summer Coaches! Come be a part of the exciting summer season and coach in a fun, competitive and rewarding environment!

KLLBA is now accepting coaching applications for the exciting summer competitive season at the following levels:

Deadline for applications is Friday, April 9. Candidates will be contacted for interviews to take place the week of April 12-16.

Please email applications stating your interest along with your coaching resume to christine.bohan@kllba.ca.

Applicants will be evaluated based on demonstrated baseball knowledge, coaching knowledge, ability, previous coaching history and commitment. All coaching selections will be determined via KLLBA’s competitive evaluation committee.

Thank You,

On February 12, 2010, at the Urbandale Centre during an Ottawa 67's Major Junior hockey game, KLLBA President Rob Rathwell had his head shaved in support of a great cause, Candlelighters Canada. This year however, the cause hit closer to home, as a player Rob had the pleasure of coaching last year, Brodie Rafter, had recently been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Rob wanted to do something to help out with the fundraising and chose to have his head shaved for the cure.

The money is still being counted, however, at last count $45,000 had been raised, $3,500 of which was raised with his very own Kanata Grizzlies KMHA Bantam Hockey team. In true demonstration that children learn from example, Rob's own son Ty and his friends Carter, Chris and Alex (all 13 years old) gave their hair in support of their good friend (and teammate) Brodie. WAY TO GO BOYS!!

Rob the entire executive is very proud of all of your efforts, your son's and players efforts and of course the entire Kanata Grizzlies hockey team.

Brodie - keep your chin up and keep battling, you will beat this!!

Player registration for the 2010 Spring Baseball Program is now under way.

Our next walk-in registrations events will be on March 3rd and 6th.

Please visit our Registration page for complete details.

Player registration for the 2010 Spring Baseball Program is now under way.

Please visit our Registration page for complete details.

Kanata Little League will again be running a Winter Skills Program for players who are registered in our 2010 Spring Baseball Program.

Sessions will be held every Sunday evening from February 7 through April 18 at the Thunderbird Sports Centre. The Thunderbird is located at 1927 Richardson Side Road, Kanata.

This ten week training program is available to all players aged 7 to 16 at a cost of $140. Space is limited however and will be offered on a first come - first served basis. 

To register for the Winter Skills Program, please attend one of our Spring Baseball Program registration sessions.

Please visit our Registration page for complete details.

The Annual General Meeting of the members was held on October 20 and the Executive and Board of Directors members for the new year were elected.  Happily, a full Executive is in place and is already hard at work planning the 2010 baseball programs.

However, there are still some vacancies on the Board in the officer, committee and convenor positions. These positions are critical to the success of the League. If not filled before the start of the season it will be very difficult for the League to provide a quality baseball program this year.

Here is your chance to give something back to your League and community. Have a look at the list of vacant positions. If you or someone you know can volunteer a few hours to the League and help to ensure the success of the 2010 baseball program then please contact our President or one of the other Directors.