Aurora King Baseball Association

Hey all! Some super exciting news, the 2020 Aurora King Jays 15U A Rep team donated $1000 to Sport Aurora's All Kids Can Play Program: https://www.sportaurora.ca///DispSideMenuContentMain.aspx

The 2021 Aurora King Jays Rep Head Coaches and Tryout schedule are now posted at http://akba.ca/Site/2021-Rep-Tryouts. There is tryout registration information and COVID-19 protocol requirements posted as well. We are still looking for 10U A and 15U coaches so if you are interested please email: [email protected]. Stay safe & good luck at tryouts!... AKBA VP Competitive Teams

TRYOUT SCHEDULE UPDATE Happy Tuesday everyone! The 2021 Aurora Rep Teams Tryouts will take place after Labour Day Weekend. The tryout schedule will be posted next week on the website: http://akba.ca/Site/2021-Rep-Tryouts Thanks and have a great day!

REP & SELECT TRYOUT REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN at http://akba.ca. Tryouts will take place in September starting after Labour Day weekend, and will follow the AKBA, Baseball Ontario and government COVID-19 protocols.

The 2021 AKBA Rep/Select coaching applications are available now until Monday, August 31, 2020. To apply please go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2021AKBACoachapps Tryouts will follow in September after Labour Day weekend.

After careful consideration, taking into account all of the factors and regulations put in place by governing authorities, we (the AKBA Board of Directors) passed a motion at our Board meeting tonight to CANCEL the 2020 House League Season. "This was an extremely tough decision for the Board to make." said President McGuire "But, we knew that canceling the house league season was in the best interest of our players, coaches, umpires, volunteers and their families. Baseball wi...ll be back in 2020 and stronger than ever!" Details on how the refund process for all HL players is still be confirmed. Once confirmed, our VP Finance & Admin will be sure to send out another email with all of this information you will require. In the meantime, please do not reply to this email asking for a refund or what the process is, respecting that there are a significant number of refunds to be dealt with as a result. For those in our competitive program, a decision on the 2020 season has not been made. Neither Baseball Ontario or YSBA has made a decision about the fate of the season. However, the AKBA Board is continuing to work through a very detailed process to determine our risk as an Association and determine what we feel is in the best interest for our competitive teams and the Association, regardless if the OBA or YSBA continues with a season. The Board's next meeting is in a couple of weeks and if not before, more updates will be able within the next 20 days or so. We are extremely saddened that we are not able to offer a house league program in 2020, but we are committed to looking at other ways we can offer baseball to our house league players in the event we are permitted to do so by the Province and Municipalities and can do so in a safe and responsible manner, following the restrictions in place. We thank you for your continued patience and support as your elected volunteer Board has navigated through these very unprecedented times. There truly is no handbook for this. Stay safe, Yours in baseball The Aurora King Baseball Association Board of Directors

AURORA RESIDENT CLAIRE JOHNSON SELECTED FOR THE BASEBALL CANADA WOMEN'S NATIONAL 16U TEAM!! This is an amazing accomplishment for Claire, and she is the only player from Ontario selected. Claire has played her entire baseball career with the AKBA, starting in Rookie ball and now she is currently a member of the Aurora King Jays 15U Elite Team. On behalf of the AKBA, congratulations to Claire on this important step in her baseball career!

Hey all! Make sure to follow us on Twitter @aurorakingbball and stay up to date by checking out our website http://akba.ca Continue to social distance and stay healthy!... We hope to be in the baseball diamond soon!

COVID-19 UPDATE Our governing body, Baseball Ontario, announced today the extension of their mandatory suspension of all baseball activities until May 31, 2020. The AKBA Board continues to work on contingency plans for a shortened HL season and will communicate said plans when we know when we can get back on the diamond. We also continue to be in regular communication with the YSBA with respect to our competitive seasons.... It is unfortunate to see the May portion of our season shut down, but lets hope we can get a portion of the season in at some point this calendar year. More information will follow once we learn more from our governing bodies. Please continue to social distance to stay healthy and safe so we can see each other soon! Yours in baseball, The AKBA Board of Directors

Hello AKBA Families, Most importantly we hope that you and your families are healthy and safe. Here is an update regarding the 2020 season! As of today, no further decisions have been made on either the competitive or house league seasons, however we do know that nothing will commence while the Ontario government maintains to uphold the state of emergency. The current State of Emergency has recently been extended to May 12th, 2020.... We continue to be in regular communication with our governing bodies and know they are working on contingency planning in the event we can get back on the diamond in 2020. As we learn more from both Baseball Ontario and York Simcoe Baseball Association, we will be sure to pass the information along to our members. In the meantime, your elected Directors continue to work hard in the background, meeting every few weeks to work through a variety of contingency plans, preparing for a wide range of scenarios. The health of our players, coaches, umpires, volunteers and fans continue to be at the forefront of our decision making. In addition, our focus is to ensure the AKBA is financially viable so we can exist after this pandemic is over so we can continue to provide a great sporting experience for the youth of our communities, when we come out on the other side. While none of us want to acknowledge the possibility, we are being realistic that there may not be a season, and that is part of our contingency planning. It’s not the appropriate time to make any announcements about those plans, but please know we have plans in place and are ready to execute on those plans in the event the decision comes to that. We know many of our members are curious and at this point we ask for your patience. Lastly, mother nature is currently assisting all of us in our efforts to physically distance as the cold and windy weather continues to persist. In due time, the weather will get warmer and it will become more and more enticing to gather in parks etc. We continue to ask all of our members to respect the advice of the public health officials and the rules that our municipalities have put in place about gathering in public spaces. Together we can help slow down the spread of this virus and get back to the things we love to do faster. On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, we wish each of you the best of health and thank you for your continued support and patience as we all try and navigate through these unprecedented times. Let’s hope and pray together that the two words we all long to hear will be shouted soon Play Ball!

The Aurora King Baseball Association Board’s interest first and foremost is the health and well-being of our athletes, coaches, volunteers, umpires and their families, and that will continue to be our focus as we make decisions as a result of this worldwide pandemic. We have decided that in order to be in the best position possible when baseball does resume, we have kept registration open. If you have not registered your son or daughter for the season and you have the means t...o do so, we would strongly encourage you to reserve your spot for the season. In the event the season is canceled, AKBA’s commitment is to our members, and we will issue full credits to all registrants. Our decisions will be made based on the advise and directives from the Government of Ontario, our local Municipalities, the Public Health organizations and our governing body, Baseball Ontario. We will continue to keep our members updated as we make decision in the coming weeks. On behalf of the AKBA Board, please stay safe!

Baseball Families Find a Creative way to Celebrate a Teammate's Birthday during #socialdistancing #AuroraKingJays.

Registration continues for AKBA 2020 House League Season! The season will start on Tuesday May 19th and will end Thursday August 27th, 2020 Visit AKBA.CA to register and more details.

Reminder our Early Bird Registration closes this Saturday, February 29th. Make sure to save your spot and secure those savings for the 2020 House League Season! Sign up today at http://akba.ca!