North Toronto/Leaside Major Bantam "AA" 2010

North Toronto and Leaside Baseball Associations will be combining to form a Bantam team for 2010. It is anticipated that this team will play at an “AA” level.

The TBA will be requested to permit the team to play some games against Tier 1 “AAA” teams in addition to the Tier 2 schedule. The team’s record in league and tournament play will determine into what classification it should fall. The name for team has yet to be finalized.

The Head Coach is Eric Stickney who is also Director of Leaside Baseball Camp which is operated successfully at Howard Talbot Park. Eric played his minor baseball in Leaside from Peewee to Senior winning 6 Toronto championships. He also played for Leaside High School and the University of Guelph.

Coaches are :

Luke Gauvreau, catching instructor. Luke played minor baseball in Leaside and played for Leaside High School as well as the Ontario Maple Leafs a traveling “elite” team. Luke also was the catcher for the Leaside Leafs Senior team, Toronto Champions.

Davey Wallace, infield instructor. Davey played minor baseball in Leaside and played for Northern Secondary School. He then played for the Ontario Blue Jays of the Premier Baseball League of Ontario. Davey received a scholarship to play for the University of British Columbia where he was the starting shortstop for 4 years participating in the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho. Davey was selected as Baseball Ontario Player of the year in 2003.

Cam MacLellan – Cam has more than 25 years experience coaching and managing minor baseball teams in Etobicoke, Leaside and North York.

In addition, it is expected that the team will have a number of guest coaches with specific high level development skills.

A total of 25-30 players will be accepted into the program. Initial tryouts will take place in the Fall of 2009 (see details below) and those selected will train outdoors in the Fall (including optional participation in a Fall wooden bat league) and then indoors throughout the Winter. The squad will be finalized in the Spring of 2010. Winter training may also include a trip south over March break.

It is possible that there will be a second team which could play either TBA Tier 2 or Select. This will be determined by the quality and quantity of the players trying out.

TRYOUTS are at TALBOT on SATURDAY AND SUNDAY at 2:30 to 4:30 pm on the 12th, 13th, 19th, 20th, 26th, and 27th of September.

Any players interested in trying out who played for a TBA team in 2009 must have either a release or a permission to practice form from the previous team’s association.

Contact information - Eric Stickney, 647 338 3596. EricStickney@live.com