The Nanaimo NightOwls are a
collegiate summer baseball
Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...
team located in
Nanaimo
Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...
,
British Columbia. The Night Owls are members of the
West Coast League
The West Coast League (WCL) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 2005, comprising teams from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alberta. The WCL was previously named the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League (WCCB ...
and began play in 2022; they play their home games at
Serauxmen Stadium.
History
The Nanaimo NightOwls were announced to the public on 15 July, 2020
with the ball club's name paying homage to the Nanaimo Owls baseball team of the 1920s,
whilst the 'night' in the name refers to the work that the City of Nanaimo's undertook to install floodlights at Serauxmen Stadium.
On the same day, the team's mascot was also announced; Ney-te (pronounced 'Nate') the NightOwl was named in honour of former mayor of Nanaimo
Frank Ney
Frank James Ney (May 12, 1918 – November 24, 1992) was a mayor of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, serving for twenty-one years. Ney also served a term as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. He was known for his o ...
.
A month later, it was announced that former
Georgia State Georgia state or ''variation'', may refer to:
Primarily
* Georgia State University ("State", "Georgia State"), a state university
* Georgia (U.S. state) ("Georgia state"), a state of the United States of America
Sports
* sports teams of Georgia St ...
Head Coach
Greg Frady would serve as the team's inaugural Coach. One month after his appointment, Frady announced his first signings for the club; a quartet of players affiliated with
Illinois State
Illinois State University (ISU) is a Public university, public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is reco ...
, three of whom had Canadian passports. This group was made up of infielders Aidan Huggins and Nick Gile, outfielder Dayton Peters and right-handed pitcher Chase Florendine.
Name
The Nanaimo NightOwls are unusual among sports teams in that they have two names; the Nanaimo NightOwls and the Nanaimo Bars.
Named after the
dessert of the same name, Nanaimo Bars had been the most requested name by the fans when asked to name the team.
Games that are played during the day will see the club go by the Bars moniker, whilst evening games will be played under the guise of the NightOwls. To this end, the team partnered with supermarket chain
Save-On-Foods in order to stock away game concessions stands with Nanaimo bars.
2024
On July 9th, Adison Mattix, Nevan Noonan, Riley Paulino, and Wylie Waters were selected to represent the NightOwls in the 2024 All Star Game in Bellingham.
[https://westcoastleague.com/wcl-all-star-game-rosters-announced/]
Season-by-Season Record
References
External links
Nanaimo NightOwls*
{{College Summer Baseball
Amateur baseball teams in Canada
Baseball teams in British Columbia
Sport in Nanaimo
Baseball teams established in 2020
2020 establishments in British Columbia