BC SUMMER GAMES
Baseball
The BC Summer Games represents the entry level for athletes into the Baseball BC High Performance Program. These athletes (under 16 years old) are evaluated at the BC Games for Baseball BC’s elite programs, such as the BC Selects which competes in the Baseball Canada Cup on an annual basis.
Athletes in BC begin playing baseball at five years of age. They participate on a recreational basis for a number of years before entering into tournament play at local and provincial levels. Competitive tournament play generally begins at age ten. Aspiring athletes compete for spots on local teams, where they will challenge for provincial titles that are stepping stones to Western Canada, Regional and National tournaments.
Baseball BC is the provincial organization responsible for amateur baseball in BC and represents over 33,000 members. A number of BC Games alumni have made it to the “big leagues”, including 15-year MLB player Ryan Dempster, 2006 American League MVP, Justin Morneau, and active players Brett Lawrie and Mike Saunders.
More information about Baseball BC programs can be found at www.baseball.bc.ca.
Historians date the game of Baseball back to the Egyptian temples more than 4,000 years ago where drawings depicting something resembling baseball were found. There are other connections to Chinese, French, and North American tribes. The most popular theory seems to be that the game was invented by the English and was then brought to America by early settlers.
Baseball is a game that demands blinding speed and explosive power involving individual action within a team sport. It is played everywhere from playgrounds and back alleys, to community fields and state-of-the-art stadiums. Played right, baseball looks like the easiest game in the world. As quoted in a famous baseball movie from 1988, “This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains.”
