The Chatham-Kent Blackbirds have officially hatched.
The Blackbirds will play on Fergie Jenkins Field at Rotary Park in May of 2024 for C-K’s historic first season of Intercounty Baseball.
The management team, led by Team Owner and President Dom Dinelle, announced the team name on Friday morning at the Red Barn Brewing Company in Blenheim following a community-wide online contest.
“We are thrilled with the outpouring of support and love from the community,” said Dinelle, in a media release.
“The involvement of the entire municipality is so important to us. We want this to be a team for the whole community of C-K. We now have an identity. And now the real work begins.”
The new expansion Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) franchise received more than 600 entries with 400-plus names submitted in an online contest held on the Let’s Talk Chatham-Kent website.
The team name Blackbirds was chosen due to the popularity of the birds throughout Chatham-Kent and an overwhelming number of “Crow” related entries in the online contest, team officials say.
Baseball lifer Harry Muir was introduced as the first-ever Blackbirds General Manager.
Muir, from London, spent four years in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system during the early 90s.
The team has also introduced their first fundraiser, a special stand-up comedy night at The Red Barn Brewing Company on Thursday, April 6.
Victory Ford and Victory Lincoln in Chatham was named as the Blackbirds first corporate sponsor.
The corporate sales team will be led by Sales Manager and Executive Assistant to the President, Mark Jackson.
Local radio host Jay Smith was also named as the club’s Vice President Executive of Media Relations and Marketing Director.
Corporate packages are designed to accommodate any budget and to maximize return on investment while supporting Chatham-Kent’s new IBL franchise.
More details can be found, here.
