The Origin of Calgary Elite Baseball Academy

I always thought that getting into coaching meant the end of being a player. Believing that is what prevented me from becoming a full time coach a lot earlier in my life. I couldn’t have been more wrong and realize now that coaching full time has made me a better player and has increased my passion for baseball even more.

Once I moved to Calgary after playing a season of baseball for a team in Seattle I started helping a private U18 team train in the winters. I eventually was asked by a friend to help assistant coach a U13 team with him in the year 2017. That same season my friend ended up leaving to play baseball in Germany and I was then handed the head coaching position. Despite the lack of success that season it definitely exposed me to the joys of coaching young athletes and I was hooked. In 2018 I moved to an organisation that was called the Jr. Dinos at the time and was the head coach there for 2 years for their U18 AAA “yellow” team. In 2020 I decided to transition from head coach to the Strength & Conditioning Director for the entire Jr. Dinos program. I had grown to prefer the off season training and understood the value of strength training and how much of a role it plays with learning new skills and preventing injuries.

Of course we all know what happened in March of 2020. Covid-19 disrupted a lot of baseball programs and forced associations, teams and academy’s to improvise and adjust. By the time Covid-19 forced our first lockdown and prevented large gatherings I was very fortunate to have been privately instructing a large numbers of baseball players across the city in a variety of different age groups and teams.

Calgary Elite Baseball Training

During Covid-19, I formed Calgary Elite Baseball Training. It was an opportunity for me to privately work with athletes within the restrictions of the Covid-19 lockdowns. I was very grateful to have been able to help so many athletes over the next couple of years and form so many strong relationships with them and their families.

Calgary Elite Baseball Academy

The goal eventually became to find a way to help more athletes and to create more positive change within the Calgary baseball and fastpitch community. Calgary Elite Baseball Training needed to become an academy. Despite some setbacks Calgary Elite Baseball Academy pushes forward with the same simple objective. To help elevate the caliber of baseball and fastpitch across the city and to help as many athletes as possible to discover their potential and help them achieve their goals.

Wake up with PASSION, Train with PURPOSE, Play with PRIDE

Our motto is the encapsulation of our beliefs, ideals and goals. It refers to how a player should think and how they should conduct themselves. I’ve always held a high regard for how players should carry themselves on and off the field. It was something that I learned when I attended the University of Jamestown. Coach Hager was a firm believer than even off the field the colors of our school are always on our back and how we conduct ourselves reflects on the school and our team. To this day when I talk to him, he still reminds me to act first class and to uphold being a Jimmie with and integrity.