December 2017
Dear Potential Sponsor:
Re: Sponsorship Opportunities
This letter is to introduce you to the Okanagan Athletics Baseball Society (Okanagan Athletics) and promote the various sponsorship opportunities our team players have available. The Okanagan Athletics provides elite baseball players throughout the Interior of BC to compete across the province at the highest levels for their age group. Our Senior team (U18) has competed for the last nine seasons in the BC Premier Baseball League. This Premier baseball league is Canada’s best high school age baseball program. Our Senior Team brought home the BC Premier Baseball League Championship trophy in 2012 and competed in the Final Four Championships in 2015 and 2016.
Our goal is to develop players from Grades 8 thru 12 to allow them to thrive and compete in the Premier Baseball League and prepare each of our players for the next level. For some that is playing baseball for either a Canadian or US College or University which may include scholarships. Through all of this, there is increased recognition for our players which may lead to selection to Provincial and/or National teams. There are several Athletics who have played on Provincial Teams in Portland (The Pacific Northwest Championships) and Arizona (The Arizona Fall Classic), Florida (Perfect Game USA), in the Canada Cup, in the T12 Blue Jays Tournament, as well as on the Canadian Junior National Team. And for a select few, there may be the opportunity to be drafted by a major league team and play professional baseball. Local players that have played in the MLB are Paul Spoljarick, Trent Kitsch and Jordan Gerk. In 2017, one of our Alumni, Jared Young was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and currently plays in their Minor \program in Oregon. As well in 2013, one of our Senior Team players, Morgan Lofstrom, was selected in the Major League Baseball Draft by the Cincinnati Reds and currently plays in their Minor Program in Dayton, Ohio. Brett Lawrie, Justin Morneau, Ryan Dempster and Jeff Francis are Major League Baseball players that also played in the BC Premier Baseball League. And we are fortunate to have an internal resource with local knowledge and expertise from our Program Director and Head Coach of the Senior Team, Evan Bailey, who was drafted by the LA Angels.
Okanagan Athletics has the endorsement of all our local baseball associations within the Thompson-Okanagan area (Kamloops, Kelowna, Rutland, Penticton, Prince George, Vernon and West Kelowna). They have granted us the privilege of providing the gateway for their select few players to compete in these elite provincial leagues. By taking on this responsibility, Okanagan Athletics has taken away the stress of running these teams from the local associations. They now can concentrate totally on providing excellent house league experiences for their players. Okanagan Athletics teams are the only BC Interior based teams in their respective leagues and as such, the costs of running this Program is considerably higher than their competing teams in the Lower Mainland. Travel and accommodation expenses are significant for every player and their families. So in an effort to provide these young baseball players an affordable option to continue their baseball careers, we have initiated a campaign to seek corporate sponsors. Monies raised will go towards player's fees, travel and accommodation expenses and any general costs associated with running these teams (uniforms, equipment, player’s gear, umpires, fields, etc). We are a non-profit organization that encourages you to join us as a corporate sponsor. We have created several sponsorship opportunities for you to gain visibility and recognition while promoting and supporting these local players in our community.
Please refer to the attached sheet for sponsorship options.. We thank you for your time and consideration to becoming a sponsor and utilizing this traditional and effective marketing tool to gain exposure for your product, service or company.
Sincerely,
Chris Forrest
President
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