A Message From The President - The Next Era...
To The Owen Sound Minor Baseball Faithful,
I hope you've all been enjoying the holidays with friends and family. As we head towards the new year, I wanted to take a moment to share some important updates with you...
On December 16th the OSMB Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place at East Ridge School. The meeting included highlights from the 2024 season, opportunities and plans for the 2025 season, and the election / appointment of new Executive Members. For a full list of the dedicated group of volunteers on your
OSMB Executive - CLICK HERE.
Among the topics discussed at the AGM was OSMB branding. In late 2023, OSMB announced the start of the Jr Baysox Rep / Select program for the 2024 season (
see article here). In the first year of the program, OSMB offered Rep programming at the 9U and 11U levels, while also introducing the 7U Jr Rookie Allstar program, and seeing a 15U Select team established in the late spring. Across WOBA and Southern Ontario, teams took notice of the growing #BaysoxNation, and it was a year of great developments for Owen Sound Minor Baseball. The Baysox brand also experienced its greatest achievement to date, as the Sr Baysox team won Owen Sound's first ever Strother Cup, being crowned champions of the North Dufferin Baseball League (
NDBL - press release).
With these great developments in mind, a vote was put forth to the OSMB Executive with regards to branding...The options on the table included,
- Continue to operate as Hawks for House League and Jr Baysox for Rep / Select (no change)
- Re-align the House League and Rep / Select programs under the Hawks brand
- Re-align the House League and Rep / Select programs under the Jr Baysox brand
The result was nearly unanimous....
Owen Sound Minor Baseball was initially established in the 1960's. During that time, teams were simply known as Owen Sound - with the sponsor's name recognized as part of the team's name. Sometime between 1960's and 1990's, OSMB adopted the "Red Hawks" brand. Due to an unfortunate mix-up with the uniform makers, the Red Hawks logo was lost, leading to the "Hawks" logo design and adoption. The Owen Sound - Red Hawks - Hawks era included some great accomplishments, topped off with Ontario Baseball Association (OBA) Championships in 1968, 1993, & 1995. A few of the players from the 1968 team were actually coaches for the 1993 and 1995 teams, and many great volunteers have played a key role in keeping baseball viable for Owen Sound and the surrounding areas.
As we approach 2025, while recognizing that Owen Sound Minor Baseball learned to fly as the Hawks, we're excited to jump in with the big fish and announce that our House League & Rep/Select programs will be aligning under the Jr Baysox brand. Across the organization, with a renewed focus on the Principles of Community, Leadership, and Development, the Owen Sound Minor Baseball Jr Baysox will continue to grow #BaysoxNation. In the coming months, you'll see these changes reflected on our website and across our social media accounts. We're also working with our new uniform supplier (HomeTown Sports) to re-design both our House League and Rep/Select uniforms, and registration is set to open mid-January.
I hope you're as excited to join us on this journey into the next era of Owen Sound Minor Baseball, as I am in having the opportunity to lead this great group of volunteers. Be sure to stay turned for other important updates and developments.
Yours in baseball,
Jesse M. Edmunds
President
Owen Sound Minor Baseball
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