Doug Jones
A critical success component for the Badlands Baseball Academy is visionary leadership. Doug Jones, President of the Oyen and District Multiplex Society, was instrumental in developing the vision for the Badlands Baseball Academy, engaging partners and stakeholders, securing initial funding and leading the fundraising initiative. Doug has been involved in baseball as a player, coach, and later as a manager. Doug was elected as President of Baseball Alberta in 1992. He helped develop a youth program in the Winter of 1992 and Spring of 1993. This youth program provided Alberta with 20 and 21 year old athletes for the 1993 and 1997 Canada Games. Doug committed to the role of General Manager for the 1997 and 2001 Canada Games. The 1997 Canada Games resulted in Alberta winning the bronze medal (the first time Alberta has ever placed in the medal rounds). The 2001 Canada Games resulted in another bronze medal and since then, Alberta has always placed in 3rd or 4th place at the Canada Games. The success of the 1997 program was due to a group of people in 1993 in Oyen starting up a junior baseball team called the Oyen Pronghorns and joining the Saskatchewan Major Baseball League to provide a venue for competition for the 1993 and 1997 Alberta Canada Summer Games Team.
In 1995, Doug started a college baseball program in Lethbridge called the Prairie Baseball Academy (PBA). The PBA has had over 300 athletes graduate with college or university degrees in the past fifteen years.
In 1999, Doug started the Lethbridge Bulls Baseball Team, a place for the 2001 Alberta Canada Games team to practice and play from. In 2010, the Lethbridge Bulls played their 11th season.
In 2001, Doug started the Western Major Baseball League, a summer collegiate baseball league, with Lethbridge, Swift Current, Moose Jaw, Weyburn and Regina. This league now has 12 teams: five in Alberta and seven in Saskatchewan. Doug is the Past President of this League.
In 2005, the Vauxhall Baseball Academy was started with Doug’s help. Doug is one of the original signatories on the incorporation papers.
In 2008, Doug started the Little League District 5 Girls Softball team for the Oyen region. The District 5 Girls Softball team competed in the National Finals in Windsor, Ontario in 2008. In 2009, the girls once again made it to the Nationals, enabling Oyen to hosted the 2009 Junior Girls Little League National Finals. Oyen District 5 Girls Softball team competed in Calgary as the host team in the Girl’s Little League National Finals in 2010.
