Foothills Major Baseball Association

The Foothills Major Baseball Association or FMBA is a men's baseball league located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It plays games out of Deerfoot Stadium which is located off of Deerfoot Trail & 32nd Ave. NE. There are currently 12 teams in the league, whom each play a 22 game schedule prior to playoffs. It runs from early May until the end of August.

In 2007, the [http://www.longhorns.ca Calgary Longhorns] won the playoff title, defeating the Acme Pirates in the final.

Member Teams

The league plays a balanced 22 game schedule. In 2007, the FMBA introduced its 12th team, the Wolfpack.
*Acme Pirates
*Calgary Cardinals
*Calgary Diamondbacks
*Calgary Dukes
*Calgary DustDevils
*Calgary Gamecocks
*Calgary Gunz
* [http://www.longhorns.ca Calgary Longhorns]
*Calgary Mets
*Calgary Outlawz
*Calgary Pirates
*Calgary Wolfpack

League History

The league was started in 1979, when Doc Cody and Ron McCartney petitioned the City for a more permanent baseball facility for amateur players over the age of 18. At that time, the three original teams in the league: the Cardinals, Caseys & Odeons played out of Optimist Park before it was decided they needed to do something about the need for more playing space.

In true Calgary form, volunteers from the community stepped forward and offered to construct a major league size park on City land. The main sponsor and benefactor was Jim Wilfley, with able assistance from other sports enthusiasts such as Hank Bassen, Gem-Sod, Alberta Treasury Branch, Coca-Cola, Conmac and others. The park was built on traditional ball park lines with wooden fences, stands and a press box. The project was started in the Fall of 1982 and finished in August 1984. The entire facility was built with donated labor and funding. The league opened for play, debt free, thanks to the dedicated generosity of its sponsors.

The first president was Ron McCartney. Glen Hansen took over in 1982. Many people over the years have contributed their volunteer efforts to keep the league going.

In 1991, the facility was partially destroyed by a fire set by vandals. The reconstruction work that followed changed the appearance of the park radically as all the wooden fences and structures were removed in favor of vandal-proof facilities. The present facility was reconstructed under the presidency of Ray Brisson with funds from the fire insurance and a generous grant from the Saddledome Foundation.

Past Champions

*2007: Calgary Longhorns
*2006: Calgary Longhorns
*2005: Calgary Dust Devils
*2004: Calgary Longhorns
*2003: Calgary Cardinals

External links

* [http://www.fmba.ca FMBA Website]
* [http://www.calgarycardinals.com Calgary Cardinals website]
* [http://www.longhorns.ca Calgary Longhorns website]