GRIT Athletics acquire Ontario Blue Jays organization

The Athlete Matrix, home of the Ontario Blue Jays

December 11, 2023

The Ontario Blue Jays have been acquired by the owners and operators of GRIT Athletics Toronto.

Current owners (Joe and Stephanie Wilkinson) have decided to pass the torch to a group of people who can be fully invested in the growth of Ontario Blue Jays over the coming years.

The new ownership group of consisting of Shady Ashamalla (head of general surgery at Sunnybrook Hospital and consultant surgeon for the Toronto Maple Leafs) Jeff Wolburgh (Venture Capitalist and president/CEO of BearTrade Corp) and Neal Prabhu (architect and associate Professor, OCAD University) will officially take ownership in February of 2024.

“I am pleased to announce that Stephanie and I have sold the Ontario Blue Jays to a consortium led by the owners of Grit Athletics. We have thoroughly enjoyed our seven years in the program seeing first hand success of the athletes that have emerged and their resilience despite the struggles of the pandemic. We are excited about the new owners and their passion for developing youth athletics in Ontario.” - Joe Wilkinson.

“Our new ownership group has been very positive, encouraging, and a pleasure to work with over our short time with them. It’s a strong and secure group with not just baseball and business acumen, but a community and family-based approach, with values and morals that align. I am very excited to see where this group can propel us to over the coming years. They are competitive with high expectations for us as staff which I greatly appreciate. They have been able to identify areas where we can improve, and we are excited to navigate through those opportunities together. As president, I look forward to building on our tradition and proud past, by ensuring a successful and exciting future for all of our players, families, and staff. I wish to personally thank the Wilkinson family for all of their contributions to the program over the years.” - Corey Eckstein.

In addition to this news, there will be more information regarding our brand new facility in Mississauga soon.