Chatwood named head coach of WCBL's Sylvan Lake Gulls

Jason Chatwood (above) has been named the first head coach of the WCBL’s Sylvan Lake Gulls. Photo: Twitter

July 26, 2020

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

The Sylvan Lake Gulls announced on Sunday that Jason Chatwood will be their first head coach.

The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) club, which will make their debut in 2021, made the announcement at a press conference broadcast on Facebook Live on Sunday afternoon.

“I’m super honoured for being named the first ever coach in Gulls history,” said Chatwood at the press conference. “I think we really have an opportunity to build something special here for Sylvan Lake, and not only for Sylvan Lake but for central Alberta.”

The 33-year-old Chatwood is a school teacher, who has been in charge of a baseball academy based out of Red Deer’s St. Joseph High School since 2018. He played his minor baseball in Innisfail and Red Deer and has played and coached at a competitive level for the close to 20 years.

As a player, he competed at the Western Canada Summer Games and Canada Cup. At the college level, he played for the Colby Community College Trojans and at Gonzaga. Chatwood is also an associate scout with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“The thing I’m most looking forward to is working next to Aqil [Samuel] and starting the recruitment process and building our staff and doing everything we need to do to prepare for Opening Day in 2021,” said Chatwood on Sunday.

The Gulls were scheduled to compete in their first WCBL campaign this summer, but the global coronavirus pandemic cancelled the season. The team will play out of a new stadium at Pogadl Park that is currently being built.