Ontario Blue Jays' 17U squad to call Florida home this summer
City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla., will be the home to the Ontario Blue Jays’ 17U squad for much of the summer. Photo: Ontario Blue Jays
March 29, 2021
Official Ontario Blue Jays News Release
The Ontario Blue Jays (OBJ) are thrilled to announce an agreement with Perfect Game USA and City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla., to be the host of the Perfect Game Summer Experience.
OBJ will be sending a 17 & Under roster south of the border beginning in June and returning to Toronto at the beginning of August.
"We've spent the better part of the last four or so months asking ourselves what we can do to continue providing the best for our players and we went to work on this idea and it's all come to fruition,” said Joe Ellison, the Ontario Blue Jays’ GM. “
“In a perfect world, we would have loved to send our entire program and give every player this opportunity but that's just not realistic at this moment. We're very excited about all our rosters for this upcoming season, at the end of the day, we want our players on the field, playing the game they love and developing as soon as possible. I've said this since the beginning of the pandemic, we want to be able to look in the mirror as a program and say we've done everything we can for our players, families and organization in the safest manner possible as we did this past fall with our previous Florida trip."
The team will take part in a 50-day trip based out of City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla. hosted by Perfect Game USA. During the team’s stay in Fort Myers, they will compete in Perfect Game National Events, a private OBJ Showcase as well as daily practices, exhibition games and workouts.
Mike Steed will take the reigns of the team headed to Florida alongside Corey Eckstein, Shawn Schaefer, Tim Smith, Jared Kennedy and off-field/media in Richard Clemons, AJ Padmore and Cale Mamo.
"What our organization has put together in terms of competition schedule and development opportunities over the spring and summer for our 22’s and 23’s is unmatched. Being able to be on field daily is what will separate our players from all others in our area when it comes to skill development. From a visibility standpoint to college coaches and professional scouts, it will be a game changer in terms of allowing our players to be seen in person multiple times and interact with them at four Perfect Game National Events along with exhibition games against four of the top amateur programs in Florida," said head coach, Mike Steed.
During their stay in Fort Myers, the team will call the former Boston Red Sox spring training facility, City of Palm Park "home" along with their amenities, including locker rooms, training rooms, batting cages and more. The team will be staying at a nearby hotel during their time in Fort Myers with meals catered daily. The team will make a single trip via charter bus to Atlanta, Ga., for the 17U WWBA National Championship in July but will spend the remainder of the summer in Fort Myers.
"After much consideration, our organization felt it was important to pursue all options and ensure we gave our players an opportunity to play competitive baseball this summer. We were not going to sit back and wait - losing two straight years of development and exposure was not an option. The schedule we have been able to put together is special. Add our college fall tour to the mix and that four months of baseball is a schedule I don’t see anybody being able to match from a development and exposure standpoint," said Corey Eckstein, OBJ director of player personnel and player development.
In the CPBL (Canadian Premier Baseball League), OBJ will field four teams, 18U, 16U and two at 15U. We await government direction for start dates, scheduling and more.