Greely Hawks Baseball

Greely Hawks – Program Overview

Greely Hawks – Who We Are

Our History

In the Spring of 2007, Greely Hawks Baseball stepped up to the plate so that we could provide players mostly from the Greely, Metcalfe, Vernon, Osgoode and Manotick areas the chance to play Little League Baseball with their friends, schoolmates and neighbours – and to meet new people from our community. (Team photo of most of the members of the original 2007 Major Greely Hawks)

After that successful first season when we had one Major level Greely Hawks squad, we grew to have 3, 4 or 5 teams from 2008 to 2011 (eg. 1 Minor, 1 Major, 1 Junior, 1 Senior). We hope to keep improving as an organization so that all interested children in our neighbourhoods have the option to play on a local baseball team with friends and coaches they are likely already familiar with from other sports, schools, and/or other community activities.

Our Mission

The purpose of Greely Hawks Baseball is to provide a safe, fun, wholesome combination of recreation and competition to youth in our area through the classic sport of baseball. Little League Baseball should be an exciting and fun opportunity for your child to learn new skills, make new friends, develop a positive attitude, and have lots of FUN!

The added bonus of Little League Baseball is it provides a healthy competitive stage for young aspiring baseball players to really learn the nuances of the game and reach their full potential. Over-hand pitching gives the challenge both to our pitchers in executing various pitches and also to all batters as they strive to hit the small baseball thrown at a relatively high speed.

All teams under the Greely Hawks Baseball umbrella will be coached fairly with all players having opportunity to try different positions in the field and in the batting order. Every player, no matter their ability and experience, can contribute in one way or another to their team’s success.

Our Philosophy

All Greely Hawks players will rotate/sit equally and, to that end, our coaches should always have an inning-by-inning position rotation sheet done before every game. That rotation and batting order should differ from the previous games, especially in Minor and Major. Of course, there will be times when coaches have to deviate from the set plan (especially with our pitchers/catchers), but rest assured the amount of playing time for every player will be fair over the course of the season. (Team photo of the 2011 Major Greely Hawks who won the Pinecrest House League Tournament)

Teamwork and developing friendships is an important part of any team sport. We always remind the kids how important it is for them to support each other and to always be positive towards their teammates. We expect nothing less for our players, and we aim to lead by example as parents and coaches.

Our Objectives

With children at these impressionable age groups, we have five primary coaching objectives which we believe are equally important.

Have a safe, pleasant and healthy environment for all the kids on the team, on and off the field.

Aspire to have fun and have the kids develop a love for the game by developing a feeling of contribution within all the players.

Work together to learn about the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship along with a positive team attitude.

Know the importance of giving positive reinforcement based on effort and attitude rather than only game results or personal stats.

Strengthen your child’s basic baseball skills to be successful at their level and to prepare them for future seasons in this great game.

“It’s about trying to be better than you used to be rather than being better than anybody else.”

We have Spring & Summer Ball

As mentioned, players on our teams are mostly from the Greely, Metcalfe, Osgoode and Manotick areas. We play our Spring regular season games in the local Carleton-Russell Little League (CRLL) against teams from Russell, Embrun and Casselman. At each age level, if there aren’t at least 4 CRLL teams, then we will interlock with other teams within our District-6, for example Orleans, South Ottawa, and Glebe, or possibly with teams from the Prescott-Russell Little League.

Also, depending on interest and availability, there’s opportunity for all our teams to play in a fun Spring Pinecrest house league weekend tournament in early June which most of our Hawks teams have done in each of our first six seasons.

Then in the Summer, there is now a competitive “A” team, CRLL Aces, that only Spring players from our league can try out for which plays regular games against other District teams. Also, those Aces will take part in the “District Playdowns”. Recently, some of our own Greely Hawks players were on the Aces teams that won our District and then went on to the Provincials in places like Toronto and Timmins! If there are enough players, like last season, there could also be CRLL “B” teams who also play league games against teams from ours and other Districts. (Team photo of the 2010 Minor CRLL Aces who won our District-6 Playdowns and went on to the Provincials in Timmins)

The Spring CRLL house league season runs from early May until the playoffs in late June and the Summer competitive season runs from early July to late August. There are 2 games per week usually from Sunday to Thursday. Teams will also likely practice about once a week as scheduled by the team coaches.

Equipment

Each player should have their own glove, batting helmet and baseball cleats. Players are required to wear a jock/jill while playing and practicing baseball. All other equipment and uniforms are provided by the Hawks or Aces.

Ages and Costs for Little League Baseball

Age Level	Age	Cost per season*
Minor	9-10 (born between May 1 2005 and August 2007)	$110
Major	11-12 (born between May 1 2003 and April 30 2005)	$110
Junior	13-14 (born between May 1 2001 and April 30 2003)	$130
Senior	15-16 (born between May 1 1999 and April 30 2001)	$130
Big League	17-18 (born between May 1 1997 and April 30 1999)	$220 (season is May through Aug)

* There’s a $25 late fee charged for payments received after April 2nd. A post-dated cheque (Sept. 1) for $75 is required for uniform deposit which is not cashed if the jersey/pants are returned in good condition.

Please note: While we’re confident we’ll have one Hawks team at most age levels, having a team at each level depends on registration numbers in Greely/Metcalfe as well as the CRLL overall. Also, we want to make sure there are enough adult volunteers to coach and manage the team and we only have a certain amount of allotted diamond time available in Greely and Metcalfe.

Location, Location, Location

For our Minor and Major teams, home games are at Greely’s Andy Shields Park. Junior, Senior and Big League Greely Hawks teams home games are at Metcalfe’s McKendry Park on the large diamond with the raised mound and grass infield. Most practices will be in Greely and Metcalfe respectively. Away games at all age levels are dependant other communities’ registration numbers, but usually Russell, Casselman and Embrun have Spring teams.

Some other District-6 teams may also be involved – eg. South Ottawa, Orleans and Glebe. We may also be interlocking with the Prescott-Russell teams (Wendover, Rockland, Hawkesbury, etc) at certain age levels. At the Senior and Big League level and Summer ball at all age levels, away games will be across the city as we interlock with other teams in ours and other Districts (eg. Kanata, Pinecrest, Nepean, etc.)

Baseball has Grown in our Community

While we are very excited at the enthusiasm shown in our growth in numbers, we at Greely Hawks Baseball want to cover all our bases. We need to have the appropriate amount of adult volunteers and players to help run all our teams smoothly. Without good coaches, managers, and volunteers, we can’t have extra teams. Also, we can’t have too few or too many players on a team. If we try to make an extra team without enough players, we run the risk of defaulting games when players inevitably miss. If we have too many players on a team, our kids sit too often during their games. Both of these scenarios are not fair to the players. Our main goal is to give every player the best possible baseball experience. (Team photo of the 2011 Senior Greely Hawks who upset a powerhouse team to make it all the way to the Spring League Championship Game)

Thus, all returning Hawks players, who register on time, will be given priority to keep their spots on their Hawks team. If we reach our capacity at a new player’s age level, then there may be room for players in the nearby CRLL associations in Russell, Embrun or Casselman. Or, again if there’s room, players from our area could play softball in the very good Greely Softball Association.