The Toronto Mets Baseball Club (TMBC) has been, and continues to be, committed to the development of high performance amateur baseball in the City of Toronto. We are members of the Toronto Baseball Association, Baseball Ontario, and the Premier Baseball League of Ontario (PBLO).
We field individual teams at the 18 & under and 16 & under age groups. Our home parks are Talbot Park and Bond Park in Toronto, Ontario.
Our program is designed to provide balance between playing baseball at an elite level and getting a good education, with education always coming first. To support these objectives, we strive to:
- Provide players with the highest level of instruction and playing opportunity
- Play in Canadian and U.S. tournaments, including Spring Training in Florida, in an effective way, limiting time away from school and still providing for maximum exposure and training through an 80 game schedule and in-season practices.
- Limit roster size at 16U in order to provide for maximum playing and instructional time
- Maintain reasonable program costs, as the past has shown many athletes to accomplish their education and baseball goals through cost effective means while learning and playing great baseball
Regular Season
Our season starts in late April and ends in August. We play regular season games in the PBLO throughout the Spring and early Summer, and regular season games in the TBA Junior and Midget Leagues throughout the Spring and Summer. The Mets have the option of playing for U.S. Championships in late July or early August or attempting to qualify for the Baseball Canada Midget Canadian Championships in August. Toronto Mets teams practice as frequently as possible during the season throughout Spring and Summer. All-in-all, Mets teams play about 80 games within a calendar year.
Tournaments
The Toronto Mets travel each March Break to West Palm Beach, Florida to participate in the Papa John's Challenge against U.S. college teams. In years past, in addition to the Papa John's Challenge, the Mets have played against the New York Mets Rookie Ball minor league players in Port St. Lucie and have travelled to Cocoa Beach to play other Canadian teams. Both the 18 & Under and 16 & Under teams participate in tournaments in Canada and the U.S. The Toronto Mets are proud to be hosting the fourth annual Canada Day Classic in 2010.
Instructional Time and Practices
Regular season practices are held as frequently as game schedules and weather permit. Off-season training is provided to all players from November to April at the outstanding facilities of Pro Teach Baseball located in southern Etobicoke. Both the 18 & Under and 16 & Under teams work out in Florida during March break. The Spring Training trip is a full part of the programme for BOTH 16U and 18U teams.
Roster Sizes
Unlike other programs in the province, we do not carry artificially large rosters. We carry anywhere between 16 - 18 players (16U) and 18-19 players (18U) because we believe this roster size enables our players to receive appropriate playing and instructional time and provides them with the ability to take time off for school without hindering the clubs ability to compete.
Time Out of School
All reasonable efforts are made to restrict the amount of time our players are out of school for baseball. Typically, this has meant that on average a player will miss anywhere between 6-8 days of school per year. Travel to U.S. tournaments is strategic to ensure effective development, exposure, and competition.
Provincial and National Teams
The Mets program is fully supportive of our athletes playing on both the Ontario Youth Team and the Junior National Team. We have great relationships with the management and coaching staff for both of these teams because we continue to produce athletes that meet the highest performance standards. For a list of athletes that have played on these teams, please see below.
Scholarships and Drafts
The Mets program has been extremely successful at producing quality players who have received scholarships (U.S. and Canadian) or have been drafted. While we won't "guarantee" that your athlete will receive a scholorship, we can tell you that we provide our players with opportunities to showcase their skills by playing in key Canadian and U.S. tournaments and showcases.
Obtaining a scholarship or being drafted is a direct result of skill/ability, projection and fit for the College or the MLB team. It is not often communicated to parents, but most U.S. colleges (i.e., 4-year schools) do not "typically" offer full scholarships for baseball, so cost can be an issue for a player receiving a U.S. scholarship. Another viable alternative for athletes is the option to play in Canada at some great universities (e.g., University of British Columbia).
Please click here for a list of Mets players who have received a scholarship or have been drafted.
Budget
The TMBC is a non-profit organization. As such, we are able to provide first-class instruction and playing opportunities for approximately $5200 annually. These fees cover the general operating expenses of the team such as uniforms, umpires, travel expenses for coaches, off-season training at Pro Teach, lunches at select doubleheaders and tournament entry fees and cost for the Spring Training trip to Florida and the September trip to New York City