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Newsletter - January 2024
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My name is Curtis Flewelling and I am the President of the Innisfail Minor Ball Association
(IMBA). This Newsletter is a way for the Board to communicate to our Membership the exciting things
we have on the go, and make sure we are all ready to rock when the snow disappears.

What does the IMBA Offer?

IMBA is proud to offer fun ball options for ALL ages and skill levels, girls and boys. Here is a
summary of our programs:
Rally Cap (U7) / Rookie (U9) - Our Rally Cap and Rookie programs are for ALL of our players
aged 9 and under. These are our introductory programs to ball, and they run in May and June.
All of our players registered in Rally Cap and Rookie will receive 3 “Intro to Ball” sessions at
The Dome - Red Deer.
NEW in 2024 … IMBA will be offering U9 - Advanced. The details of this are still being
worked out, and will depend on the interest we receive in this offering.
Baseball (U11 / U13 / U15 / U18) … IMBA offers 2 baseball programs … AA and
Recreational. The AA teams will practice a couple of times during the week, and play every
other weekend. Their season runs from May 01 to the end of July. The Recreational teams will
play games during the week. Their season runs from May 01 to the end of June.
Baseball (U22 AA) … In 2023, IMBA relaunched our U22 AA (Junior) team. Their season runs
from May 01 to the end of July.
Softball (U11 / U13 / U15 / U17 / U19) … IMBA offers 2 softball programs … Competitive -
“B” level and Recreational - “C” level. The Competitive teams will practice and play 2 to 4
times a week. Their season runs from May 01 to mid-July. The Recreational teams will play
twice a week. Their season runs from May 01 to the end of June. Innisfail hosts a big Softball
Tournament each year that our teams attend, plus most teams will attend one or two travel
tournaments at their discretion.

Registration / Deadlines …

Registration for ALL TEAMS is open now. Registration is done through the IMBA website.
The deadline for registration for our Competitive Baseball and Softball teams is FEB 28 2024.
This will allow time for team tryouts (if necessary) and team workouts to get ready for the
season. These will begin on MAR 04 2024 and will be held at The Dome - Red Deer.
The deadline for registration for our Rally Cap, Rookie, and Recreational teams will be APR 15
2024. There will be pre-season workouts for these groups as well.

We note some of these programs are capped in numbers and do fill up … so we encourage you
to get your player registered as soon as possible.

AA Baseball / Competitive Softball: FEB 28 2024

Rec Baseball / Rec Softball: APR 15 2024

Coach / Asst Coach / Manager Applications …

Our Teams do not happen without our great volunteers stepping up to run them. We are asking
anyone interested in coaching, or helping coach, our AA Baseball or Competitive Softball teams
to submit their application ASAP, and by FEB 20 2024 at the latest.
Tryouts (if needed) or workouts for the Competitive teams are scheduled to begin in The Dome
on MAR 04 2023, so we need our Coaches in place by that time.
We are also accepting applications for ANYONE who wants to coach, help coach, or manage
our Rec Baseball and Softball this upcoming season. We would like to have those applications
by APR 15 2024.
The Coach Application Form is on the IMBA website or can be found by clicking on this link.

AA Baseball / Competitive Softball: FEB 20 2024

Rec Baseball / Rec Softball: APR 15 2024

IMBA Apparel …

Tom Bast Sports (TBS) in Red Deer is the official supplier of all IMBA apparel. Each Spring,
TBS will post a “store” on our IMBA website filled with all of your Innisfail Hawks gear. They will
run a couple of cut-off dates to these “stores” so the batches of orders can be filled and ready.
Our 2024 IMBA Hawks Apparel Store will be up and running on the IMBA website soon, so go
there and place your order at your earliest convenience.

Practices / Coach Development - The Dome …

IMBA will again be working with The Dome in Red Deer to assist our Players and Coaches in
their development. All IMBA teams will have at least one practice in The Dome this year run by
one of their Baseball or Softball professionals. We will also be providing additional training for
our Coaches this year through The Dome.

Adaptive Ball - Rachel Wiberg:

Adaptive Ball is a program designed for children with physical and intellectual challenges.
Since 2022, IMBA has assisted with an Adaptive Ball program that was started Rachel Wiberg.
Each Sunday, an IMBA team helps Rachel organize and run an Adaptive Ball practice. IMBA is
proud to continue to help Rachel grow and run her program in 2024. If you know anyone who
would be interested in participating in Rachel’s Adaptive Ball program, you can contact her at
204 740 9040.

ICFEA Update …

The Innisfail Community Facility Enhancement Association (ICFEA) is a group of local,
community-minded volunteers whose mandate is to help facilitate capital projects for the
betterment of our Town and Surrounding Area.
Their first project is the redevelopment of Diamond 7. This is a $500,000 project that will see
Diamond 7 (NW of arena) converted into a top-notch full-sized baseball field that can host all
levels of play from U15 up to Senior.
Through lots of hard work and tremendous support, this project is complete, and we look
forward to the Grand Opening of this top-notch facility in Spring 2024!
If you have any questions on this project or know a person, business, or organization that you
think would be interested in supporting it, please contact Jenny Crumley at 403 396 2355 or
Murray Reay at 403 391 6142.

Umpires …

Our games don’t happen without our Umpires! IMBA is always in need of umpires, all levels,
and all ages. We will let you know about upcoming Umpire courses as they come available. If
you have any questions on how to become an Umpire, or would like to be added to our Umpire
list, please contact Adam Rutherford at 403 304 9051.

Thank You - Retiring Board Members …

Thank you to Jenny Crumley, Candace Schmidt and Crystal Steeves, long-time IMBA
volunteers who are retiring from the Board this year. We appreciate all that you have done for
the IMBA, and you will be missed!