Burnaby Elects Not to Merge for 2017 - Armistead Named Interim Head Coach

Burnaby Baseball has announced a decision related to their 15U AAA program for 2017. After much discussion about the prospect of merging at the 15U AAA level, the board has elected not to explore further merger discussions at the 15U AAA level at this time. The board believes that if the BC Minor division is as weak in 2017 as some predict AND if unlimited imports are permitted under new BC Minor rules, that Burnaby may be able to field a team on their own. Burnaby has named Steve Armistead as an Interim 15U AAA Head Coach. He will be tasked with evaluating the interested players during winter training in October/November before the association makes a final decision on 2017 after BC Minor’s November AGM. At that time Burnaby could elect to explore merger opportunities, confirm their intent to field an AAA team, or release their AAA players and declare that they will only field an AA team. The two primary factors in that decision will be whether Arimstead assesses that enough talent exists for the AAA level and whether unlimited imports are permitted. Burnaby did not field a 15U fall ball team this year.

As a result of this decision, current Head Coach Kyle Williams confirmed that he will not return to Burnaby at the 15U AAA level in 2017. While undecided on his coaching future in any case with the birth of his second child three weeks away, Williams believes that the majority of his returning players will now pursue PBL Bantam opportunities and that Burnaby, in addition to most BC Minor associations, will struggle to field teams that are able to compete with the PBL Bantam league.