Presidents Report from the 2015 SEEBA Annual General Meeting

Nov 19, 2015

2015 President’s Report

I would first like to welcome you all to the SEEBA 2015 annual general meeting, the purpose of SEEBA is to provide Edmonton and area baseball players the opportunity to compete at the highest level. This cannot occur without the assistance of our dedicated volunteer base and the countless hours that they devote to make this program the success that it is. The purpose of tonight’s meeting is to review the SEEBA program for 2015.

At this time I think it is fitting to recognize all of our 2015 board members:

Gil Briscoe – Director at Large                                    Janet Semeniuk - Tournament Director

Gerry Dawidowski- Vice President                              Sandy Langley - Registrar

Murray Engelking – Secretary                                     Greg Yarema – Equipment Director

Carmen Yarema – Treasurer                                        Larry Jenkinson – Director at Large

Rod Scammel – Coaching Director                              Jim Sokolowski – Director at Large

Duane Robertson- Past President                                Darin Hucul – Director at Large

I would also like to recognize the extensive contributions of several members of the organization who have chosen to step away from this aspect of SEEBA. Our past President Duane ROBERTSON, who volunteered to step forward and steer this organization even though his boys no longer compete at this level. His pragmatic approach to leadership within this board will be missed. Murray ENGELKING our long time board member whose tenure also outlasted his sons playing time. Murray was aptly dubbed the ‘conscience’ of this organization and was always there to remind us of why we were all here. His legal expertise, remarkable insight and his ability to successfully referee contentious issues in a conciliatory manner will be impossible to replace. Finally Rod SCAMMELL, one of the Founding Fathers of SEEBA whose selfless devotion to the game of baseball and to the kids of Edmonton and area will be impossible to replace. Rod worked tirelessly to promote the game of baseball, developing players both on and off the field. His love of the game and pure satisfaction is seeing children grow and excel within the sport were always payment enough, the void left by his departure will be enormous. It is also incumbent upon me to acknowledge the countless hours devoted to the ‘rebranding’ of SEEBA by Greg YAREMA, the new uniforms will be a testament of his contribution for many years to come.

The 2015 season began with our annual winter workout camp running from mid-January to the end of April.  We continue to get very good attendance, 80+ attendees, ranging in ages from pee wee to midget.  Through these winter camps, we are able to develop and evaluate players for approx.  3 months which allows our coaches insight for team selection by mid- April.  SEEBA also offers tryout dates for those who choose not to attend camp.

For the 2015 season, SEEBA fielded 3 performance level teams in the Alberta Baseball program consisting of 2 teams at Midget Performance and 1 team at Bantam Performance.  Our Midget Team 1 had a roster of 18 players and represented our club well at tournaments in Okotoks, Great Falls, Medicine Hat and Spokane. Our Midget Team 2 had a roster of 18 players and participated in tournaments in Kalispell (2), Great Falls and Medicine Hat.  Our Bantam team had a roster of 12 players and participated in tournaments in St. Albert, Sherwood Park, and Saskatoon. Our program at the Midget level has been developed to give players opportunities to play throughout the province and into the US.  Our Midget program fees cover the cost of player transportation and accommodations to all tournaments scheduled.  Our Bantam fees cover all tournament entrees.

The costs of this program are heavily subsidized by Casino revenues which the club receives every second year. Our casino rotation comes up in the spring of 2016 so we will once again be looking for volunteers to help run the 2 day commitment and is slated for June 9 & 10 2015. The last casino generated approximately $77,000 so it is a very important function for our club allowing us to keep the fees at a consistent level while still providing the same experience for our players.  We also received the 2015 Community Investment Operating Grant from the City of Edmonton of just over $14,000 and our 2016 application has been completed and submitted. 

SEEBA’s mandate is to continue to attract players and coaches to help us represent Edmonton at the AAA baseball level in the Province of Alberta.  We continue to have many graduates go on to play college baseball in both Canada and the US each year, we also encourage and support our graduates to come back and help coach in the program to continue the tradition of SEEBA baseball.

Looking forward to 2016, we will continue to offer a city wide AAA program for Bantam and Midget age players.  We want to work together with all other Edmonton baseball programs to ensure a competitive program exists and is available to all players in our area.  We are aware of other Edmonton clubs wanting to field AAA teams in the Edmonton area and want to make sure we as a zone are not spreading ourselves and players too thin and watering down the caliber of the teams in the league. While the City may be approaching one million in population the number of qualified AAA baseball players has no correlation to population.

We are in talks with several coaches and look to firm up the positions over the next couple of months so that they will be in place when our winter camp starts in mid Jan.

In summary, we look forward to fielding 3 performance level teams for the upcoming season, 1 Bantam, and 2 Midget.  Finally I would like to thank all of our coaches, players and parents for a great 2015 season.

Respectfully,

Larry Langley

President

South Edmonton Elite Baseball Association (SEEBA)