OBJ x GRIT Athletics Partner

The Ontario Blue Jays (OBJ) and GRIT Athletics are excited to announce a partnership beginning in the Fall of 2022.

GRIT Athletics was founded in 2020 by Jeff Wolburgh, Shady Ashamalla and Neal Prabhu, each of whom spend their time away from their professional careers coaching their children’s sports teams, volunteering their time as board members with sports association and promoting the evolution of youth sport in Toronto. Jeff, Shady and Neal shared the common desire to develop a hub for youth sports locally to serve the passion and enthusiasm of emerging young athletes.

From GRIT Ownership, “GRIT Athletics is thrilled to announce our partnership with the Ontario Blue Jays. This novel collaboration was a natural evolution of two high performance athletic programs that share a common goal of taking baseball development to the next level. This partnership will bring the baseball expertise of the Ontario Blue Jays into the heart of Toronto, and allow for satellite training for high performance baseball players looking to train closer to home in GRIT’s world class training facility. Our GRIT athletes will have access to the Ontario Blue Jays’ coaching staff and baseball experience and together we will raise the bar of baseball development and in the middle of the city.”

President of the Ontario Blue Jays, Corey Eckstein, “The Ontario Blue Jays are excited about our new partnership with GRIT Athletics based in Downtown Toronto. After having one initial conversation with GRIT Ownership, it was clear our vision and thought processes were aligned as both groups take a great deal of pride in growing the game of baseball at the grassroots level. Having a satellite site that our OBJ players can utilize a couple times a week to hit and lift will not only extend our reach but also help alleviate some stress for players and families who live to the East and North side of Toronto who want to get some extra swings in throughout the week. In return the Ontario Blue Jays coaching staff will help in the training and development of GRIT athletes and GRIT teams, including the Leaside Baseball Association teams and other local associations in the GRIT environment.”

This partnership is another step towards growing the game within the community and fostering more opportunities for baseball players from grassroots to high level to learn, train and improve at all times throughout the year.