Good folks of the BA,

No one could blame you for losing track of what time of year we’re currently experiencing. Snowfall feels like something that used to happen in a past life. Grass and trees don’t know if they are supposed to get on with the growing. Children come home from school in T-shirts, backpacks exploding with all the winter gear they needed that very morning. Believe it or not, it is April, and we are approaching a very exciting time in the BA calendar, as winter season enters the playoffs, and we look forward to the kickoff of our two summer leagues. Please give us a few minutes of your attention, there are some things we want you to know.

Strike Up The Band!

What a thrilling winter season we had! Standings tightened up after Christmas and it turned into an exciting race for the title. Congrats to the Winter 2023-24 league champions, The Mark (White) Band. They narrowly topped the Red team, with the title clinched only minutes before they took to the field for their 9:00 p.m. game. As the old adage goes, “Nobody cares about winning the league, it’s all about the playoffs, right?” If you don’t believe that’s true, just ask around: 7 of 8 teams agree! Speaking of playoffs, you should have noticed that there is a new schedule for the upcoming games; please do us all a big favour and set your availability now for all the games.

Survey Results

Speaking of asking around, a big thank-you to everyone who responded to our recent survey and first ever motion e-vote. The voter turnout was excellent, which is important to ensure confidence that the results represent the membership at large. The father-daughter proposal had strong support but fell short of the two-thirds majority required to pass, and will therefore not be adopted.

The second item we asked about was whether you’d prefer 4 teams on Saturdays or 5 teams with bye weeks in the schedule. The membership has spoken, and 5 teams has come out on top. We are closing in on 5 full rosters (9 spots remaining). Note that the goal is still to pull together enough registrations for 6, but at the moment we are still quite a distance from that becoming a reality. If you know anyone on the fence, now it’s the time to get them on board. We don’t have to sell you on how great this league is, why not share it with some good people? (Surely you know one or two?) As for Wednesday nights, we are 13 spots away from having 8 full rosters. We feel good about where we are with both leagues, but still need a small push to get to our ideal numbers.

The Event You’ve All Been Waiting… Fore!

Proof that the size of the balls has no bearing on enjoyment, who’s up for some golf? Many more details to come, but we wanted to let you know we are planning to organize a golf event for BA members in September. The focus is to make it a fun, social event for golfers and non-golfers alike. Plans have not been finalized so please reach out to the executive if you have any input and/or thoughts, or better yet, if you’d like to help organize! Until then, Diego Aguirre has a lead on an early June tournament in support of CHEO that is open for members to join. If you’re interested in that, please reach out to Diego, or the executive and we can put you in touch

Help Us Keep On Keeping On

As mentioned a few times in recent weeks, we need to stress the importance of protecting our keepers. In addition to being vitally important to the balance of the league, they are also vulnerable at times, during the course of a game. Please remember that we place the highest priority on safety, and you will be called (and/or carded) for even 50/50 challenges that might be allowed in other leagues. Especially when the keeper gives a shout, please do your best to avoid any contact at all.

That’s it! You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming, but a huge thanks again to everyone involved in this wonderful league for an excellent winter season! Good luck in the playoffs!

May your gamedays be warm and your drinks cold!
Your BA Executive Team