Please note: If you have any questions about the club that are not answered either here or elsewhere on the site, please contact us and we’ll be happy to answer them.

York University has a baseball team?

Yes! In fact, we’ve represented the university for over 15 years. The team plays in the fall season of the Ontario Conference of the Canadian Inter-Collegiate Baseball Association (CIBA), which includes colleges from across Canada, including British Columbia and Nova Scotia.

Why isn’t the Baseball Club a varsity team?

York University only supports a certain number of varsity programs. The programs are reviewed every three years. Last summer there was a review of all existing varsity programs and, while Sport York likes our programme, they decided against making the Baseball Club a varsity team for the time being.

Things look positive though in that, being one of the largest universities in Canada, York wishes to improve their success in athletics, which means that we have a chance at making the jump to varsity status after the next review.

Why does this team play in CIBA instead of the OUA?

For the time being, we feel that CIBA meets our current level of competition and funding. As we are a self-funded programme, CIBA allows us to maintain a lower budget and, for the most part, a lighter travel schedule, while enjoying a very similar level of competition, as compared to the OUA.

We should note that every year the top OUA teams are invited to play in the CIBA National Championships and this past fall the two finalists (including the CIBA champions) were from the CIBA Ontario Division.

Which schools play in CIBA?

The Baseball Club currently (as of 2012) plays against colleges and universities from across the GTA as well as from Windsor, including:

• Durham College Lords (2011′s National Finalists);
• Humber Hawks (2011′s National Champions);
• St. Clair Saints; and,
• University of Windsor Lancers.

How much does it cost to play for this team?

We are currently working with the university, Sport York, YFS, and SCLD to raise the amount of funding we receive so that the cost to players is not so prohibitive. But, as aforesaid, we are not currently a fully-funded programme; thus, we require that players who make the final roster provide a performance bond that allows the Baseball Club to make up the difference between what funding we receive from YFS and SCLD at the university, and what our expenses over the course of the season are. We require only enough funds to cover that budget shortfall and try to give as much as possible back to players at the end of each season.

For players who cannot afford the performance bond to play, we are willing to waive the performance bond requirement for players who are able to secure private sponsorships.