News

 

Message from the President:

 

April 21, 2025

Morning fellas…
A reminder that our season opening breakfast is this Wednesday,  April 23rd, at 9.30 a.m. at our sponsor – Hometown Sports Grill, 1525 Bank Street.
There is a five dollar charge for the breakfast, please square up with your captain at Hometown.
Finally,  there is a considerable amount of construction in the area,  give yourself an extra five or ten minutes to navigate it.
Looking forward to meeting new players and reconnecting with teammates.
Cheers,
Gerry
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March 26, 2025

Good afternoon ball players….
It’s the end of March and we’re about six weeks away from opening day of May 8, 2025, the TENTH anniversary of the Ottawa Competitive Senior Slo Pitch season. Here is what you need to know:
*The league exec and team selection committee met today to build the teams, focussed on balance and offering a competitive season for all. You should hear from your captain in the next several days.
*We are a 100-player league this year and will field eight teams.  We will play TEN on the field at once,  a change from last year’s 11.
*While we have had some notable departures of long-time teammates, we are welcoming 20 new players this year.  Thanks to Warren Fishwick for managing the recruitment process.
*Our games will be played at diamonds 1 and 2 at Brewer Park and diamonds 1 and 2 at Carlington Park, Thursday mornings, first pitch at ten a.m. sharp. Carlington games May 22 will be played at Hampton. Diamond set up is a home team responsibility, and captains don’t do the bases. They have enough to do. Please pitch in.
*We will play a 28-game regular season schedule (up from 22 last year) and a 10-game playoff with championship and consolation finals played September 11, 2025. There are no bye weeks this year. Thanks to Past President Ken Kroeker for amazing work on the schedule, which includes two divisions in the playoffs and cross overs, giving all a chance to win while rewarding successful regular season play.
*We have purchased three defibrillators for our league to ensure the safety and well being of our players. Two will be in the equipment boxes at Brewer 1 and 2, and one will be at Carlington, in the box between diamonds 1 and 2.
*We are looking for TWO volunteers per team to take part in a 90 minute defibrillator training session Monday May 5 at Brewer 1 at ten a.m. Your captain will be reaching out. Previous CPR training is an asset but not necessary. Retired firefighter and teammate Alex Davey will run the training and he assures us it is very very simple.  This is vitally important.  Please step up when your captain asks. A special thanks to Alex for helping with this initiative.
 
*We will be hosting a season opening breakfast at our longtime sponsor – Hometown Sports and Grill Wednesday April 23, 2025 at 9.30 a.m. This is an excellent opportunity to meet  your captain and teammates as well as receiving your team jersey, which will commemorate our tenth season.  There is a $5.00 charge for the breakfast, the cost of which is largely being borne by the league.  Your captain will ask if you plan to attend so we can provide exact numbers to Hometown.  I strongly encourage you to attend if possible and captains will collect the five bucks then.
*Please bookmark, and make regular visits to ottawaseniorslopitch.com   New players are asked to review the rules and code of conduct closely, as well as making sure your bats comply with league rules. The site will be where our schedule sits and standings are updated weekly.  It will also be a platform for news and updates from the exec committee.  Thanks to Dave Tripp for maintaining and managing the site.
Lastly, a huge shout out to Bob Williams for the work he puts in as treasurer and registration management.  It’s a ton of work, I’ve promised him relief from the workload and we couldn’t get the season going without him.
For now, mark April 23 and May 5 in your calendars.  Hope to see you all at Hometown in April and the defib volunteers May 5 at Brewer.

.

Gerry Nott
OCSSPL President
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Message from the president:

December10, 2024

As the calendar rolls over into 2025, I thought it a good time to bring everyone up to speed on some things in the works for Ottawa Competitive Senior Slo Pitch League’s upcoming season.

The exec and captains met late last month and what follows is a result of those discussions:

*Courtesy runners:  We will adopt for next season the same rule used in our 2024 playoffs.  Teams can use unlimited runners, but no player can be used as a courtesy runner more than twice in any game.

*There will be no change to the count for batters, three strikes, four balls.

*There will be no change in the distance between bases, it will remain at 65 feet.

*There will be no change in how our games are umpired.

*Spares will be managed as they were in the ’24 season, provided we have an odd number of teams.  If we end up with an even number of teams we will create a spares list. Use of spares in the playoffs must be approved on an individual basis by the league president.

*We have agreed to work with the Monday over 50 league, and the Tuesday over 60 league in marketing our leagues, in purchasing equipment and new player evaluation/assessment to steer new recruits to the league that best suits their skill set.

*Warren Fishwick has generously agreed to manage recruitment for our league. IF YOU KNOW ANYONE INTERESTED IN JOINING OUR LEAGUE PLEASE DIRECT THEM TO WARREN.  His email is [email protected]  He intends to send out a note to recruits before Christmas so move quickly on this.

*Our website – ottawaseniorslopitch.com is being refreshed by Dave Tripp.  While we will continue to correspond through email, it’s my hope our website becomes the go-to destination for news, schedules, and registration.  All of our forms are being updated, and we will encourage registration through the website this spring.  You will still continue to receive league emails, but the web is a much easier method to communicate, given changing email addresses and players dropping in and out of the league.Our landing page now carries a definition of the league and the news tab, once active, will be the place to go for up to date information.

*To register this year, payment MUST be made by e-Transfer.  Proper addresses to register and send payment will be included when the registration email goes out.

*Season length and playoff format will be determined once registration is complete.  There is no change to the league fees ($170).  Brewer and Carlington remain our fields of choice.

*Finally, we are looking into the purchase of defibrillators for each of the boxes on the diamonds we play.  Purchase of such life-saving equipment is growing in senior leagues in all sports and health and safety of our players should be the first priority.  We have a number of ex-firefighters in the league who have familiarity with these devices.  Alex Davey has agreed to run a training program prior to the season.  More on that to come.

Any questions or comments, feel free to call or email me.  Look for registration call out in early February.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all, wishing you and yours the best of health in 2025!

Gerry

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Some of you may recall playing ball or hockey with Norm Saulnier over the last several years.

March 5, 2025

Master Warrant Officer (retired) Normand Joseph Saulnier, MMM, CD

RCAFIt is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Norm. He leaves behind his children, Daniel, David (Debra, Chelsea, Teagan, Hunter and Lilith), and Liane (Barry). He was predeceased by his parents, Adele (Thimot) and Armand (Joseph), his wife Pearl, and his siblings Edmond (Jeanne), Willard (Anna), and Anna (Ken). He is survived by Herbert (Claudette), Andrew (Nora) and Loretta (Jean-Louis).

Norm was a proud 27-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force and was awarded the Member of the Order of Military Merit for his distinguished service. He was a man of determination, taking on challenges such as playing hockey for the first time at 65, enjoying a 20-year amateur career.

Above all, Norm was a loyal husband and a devoted family man, finding his greatest joy in spending time with family and friends.

Family and friends are invited to a reception in honour of Norm on Saturday March 22, 2025 in the Hall of Colours of the Beechwood National Memorial Centre (280 Beechwood Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario) after 12:00 p.m., followed by a memorial service in the Sacred Space at 2:00 p.m. and interment at 3:00 p.m. at the National Military Cemetery of the Canadian Forces. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

 

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November 22, 2024

Some of you may recall playing ball with Mike Nihmey over the last several years.  He was a great teammate, always positive and willing to help in any way he could.  His passing October 9th was noted in a Citizen obituary November 22nd.  RIP to a great sportsman and friend.

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September 5, 2024

Congratulations to the gold team in winning the 2024 playoffs and the shawn argue trophy.

also congratulations to the black team for finishing first in the 2024 regular season and winning the regular season trophy.

 

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