Yorkton Cardinals continue to gear up for 2016 WMBL Season

The 2016 Cardinal Executive and Board of Directors are finalizing all operational plans for the 2016 WMBL Summer Collegiate baseball season. The  Cardinals, a community owned, not for profit baseball organization, are entering the 15^th year of operation and its second year of strictly Collegiate baseball, that falls within the scope of the Western Major Baseball League. Collegiate baseball meaning that the player must be attending a University or College somewhere in the world that has a baseball program and the player can produce visible statistics to verify he is indeed in a University program beyond High school. Each WMBL team has a maximum of 27 players on their roster at any given time during the summer schedule, of which 16 can be international players and the remainder to 27 must be Canadian. The 2016 regular season, for the Cardinals, begins on May 28^th and concludes on July 30. The schedule sees a total of 48 games, 24 at home and 24 away, and the top 4 teams from the Saskatchewan division and the top 4 teams from the Alberta division make the playoffs. The end date for the final playoff game is Aug. 16 and must be this, as the players are required to return for the new school term which begins on Aug. 19-20 in many jurisdictions. The Cities that have WMBL franchises in Western Canada are listed on the WMBL website. All Cardinal home games are played at Jubilee Park Yorkton.

The Cardinal organization held their Annual General Meeting on February 21^st which was well attended by the Executive, Directors and guests. At the meeting, the general order of business proceeded along with a review of the past seasons, 2015, financial shortfalls. The downfall of the major lottery has created some extra debt that our governing body generally agreed could be dealt with over a period of a couple of successful operational years. Lowering of some operational expenses and increasing some game day revenues along with extra fundraising, could go a long way in meeting and exceeding the operational budget.

The Cardinal WMBL organization believes that they are very vital to the community in a number of ways. Primarily the role that the team and its players play in leveraging young boys and girls to all the possibilities of an excellent secondary education, by way of athletics that enable the opportunity of scholarship funded schooling. Interaction in the community by Cardinal players with local minor baseball and youth oriented activities other than baseball. The visiting parents and relatives of Cardinal summer players along with teams from other WMBL cities contribute greatly in bolstering the City economy. Out of town baseball fans, attending Cardinal games, are also contributors to City vibrancy.

The Cardinals have scheduled an informational meeting for April 5^th at 7PM at the Days Inn. Any interested individuals that would like to learn more about the operation and structure of the Cardinals are invited to attend. There are areas of volunteerism required that would certainly help the organization. This is not intended to put a huge burden on anyone if they agree in any way to help in areas of their own comfort.

Cards Longtime Coach Bill Sobkow prepares for 2016 season