It is a basic function of a baseball team to decide which of its players best fit into which positions on the diamond. So, too, with management players off the field.
The Victoria HarbourCats have moved around some of their key executive personnel. Jim Swanson goes from vice-president and general manager to managing partner, Brad Norris-Jones from assistant GM to GM and Brittany French from logistics director to assistant GM.
鈥淚 have taken on additional roles with the West Coast League and this allows me time to do that,鈥� said Swanson, who will continue to lead the HarbourCats鈥� baseball operations in conjunction with head coach Graig Merritt and oversee business operations with vice-president John Wilson.
鈥淚t鈥檚 in our best interest that our league remains strong. Past incarnations of Victoria baseball teams [Capitals and Seals] would still be here if their leagues were still here [both the pro Golden League and Canadian League folded].鈥�
In their three seasons, the HarbourCats have yet to make the playoffs on the diamond, but have written one of the great WCL success stories off it. The HarbourCats have led the league in attendance the past two seasons, drawing a per-game average of 1,910 fans to Royal Athletic Park last season, 1,576 in 2014 and a league second-best 1,437 in 2013.
Norris-Jones has been around for all of it as marketing chief and assistant GM. He likes the trajectory and has an ambitious target as the new Victoria GM.
鈥淚 see a long, strong future for this club in this market, and we are going to push it to the highest level we can,鈥� he said.
鈥淩eaching an average of 2,500 fans per game is not out of the question. We鈥檙e not just selling baseball. We鈥檙e selling entertainment.鈥�
In terms of player recruitment, Norris-Jones said his connections to the collegiate NCAA in the U.S. Midwest will augment Swanson and Merritt鈥檚 strong NCAA connections along the West Coast.
Assistant GM French, like Norris-Jones, is a lifelong Victorian, and will assist the new GM in a number of capacities.
The club also announced other executive moves.
Richard Michaels comes on as director of community relations and corporate partnerships, Jonathan Hodgson as baseball operations and communications adviser, Martin Newham as marketing consultant and Shawn Petriw as director of print properties.
Hodgson joins the HarbourCats after seven seasons on the staff of the Okotoks Dawgs of Alberta, the Western Major Baseball League club that was the fourth-best drawing summer collegiate team in North America in 2015, growing from 1,600 fans per game in 2007 to 2,827 last season. The HarbourCats were the 14th-best drawing baseball team on the continent last year at the summer collegiate level.
鈥淥kotoks became a model franchise for summer collegiate ball, and this team [HarbourCats] is on the same path,鈥� said Hodgson.
Ken Swanson 鈥� one of four co-owners with Jim Swanson, John Wilson and Richard Harder 鈥� remains club president.
The Victoria season opener is June 3 in Walla Walla against the Sweets, with the home opener June 7 at Royal Athletic Park against the Wenatchee AppleSox.
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