Category: Announcements

Taking a Break

Salaamun Alaykum,

It’s been 5 years now, 6 if you count the exhibition games we played through the heat, rain, hail, and snow. 241 players have been registered on our database, both male and female. We have had at least 269 games played and/or scheduled to be played. We have also had the chance to host softball at Al-Wahda on what will be our 2nd year this year. We’ve had 3 Ramadhan tournaments, and 3 different teams take home the championship (Expos, Wolves, Wolves, Bucks), we’ll see if we can add a new name to that list this year. This does not even include the countless number of practices, exhibition games, batting cage sessions, or team get togethers that have occurred over the years. I have been proud to be a part of what we as a collective community have built.

I’ve had the privilege to be the commissioner of this league for the last 4 years (2016-2019), and to be part of the initial founding group with Imtiyaz Kara, Azim Chagani, and Ali Manek in our inaugural year (2015). The motivation for running this league has always come from some of the comments we’ve received over the years, I’d like to share a few of those so people can understand that what we’ve built is more than just a softball league.

In 2015, we asked “What was your favourite part of the 2015 season”

The brotherhood it fostered and how fun it was.

In 2017, we asked for any general comments

I’m a better muslim because of the brotherhood created as a result of being apart of this league.

In 2018, we asked the same question

So much organization, make up games, website, write ups, professional pictures, playoff food, drinks, etc. We are living out our childhood dreams, it’s the Muslim majors!

Every year we get comments like this, be it officially on the survey, through a message, or in person. We’ve tried to improve year after year and the result has been a league we’re proud to call our own.

None of it is possible without the help of the admin team (Imran Ebrahim – since 2015, Bobby Bharwani – since 2016, Nadim Rahemtulla – since 2016, Shane Worthington – since 2017, and Mikael Ratansi – since 2017), the large number of captains that have experienced their fair share of woes throughout the years, the players that have signed up, played, and shared their experiences, and most importantly our families that have been generous with allowing us to spend time on building and participating in this league.

After all of that, it’s time for me to personally step down and take a break. It’s important that others step in to take this league forward beyond what we’ve built so far. New ideas and different thinking are important to getting us to the next stage of our development and the only way for that to happen successfully is to give them the space to fail and succeed on their own. As a result, this year 2019 will be my last. So I wanted to take a second to first apologize for any of my shortcomings throughout the years and for all those failings that will occur this year, and I want to thank everyone for their patience and support. This has been a labour of love, and it’s now time to let others have the same opportunity.

So this is where you come in, if you’re interested in taking this league forward and you want to have a part in deciding how things will happen in 2020 and beyond – then we invite you to put your name forward along with your ideas and thoughts. This application will be reviewed by the admin team and we’ll be in touch to build out the team for 2020.

With Duas,

 

 

 

Miqdad Jaffer

Ramadhan Tournament Returns

We are pleased to announce that the Ramadhan Tournament will be returning this year.

By the grace of the Almighty, and thanks to the support from members of The Canadian Muslim Vote, as well as the continued support from City of Brampton and the CAA Centre we are pleased to be able to bring you back the JMS League Ramadhan Tournament. The Ramadhan tournament has been a long time favourite of many players as it is a chance to play during a month where playing in the day time is unavailable for many of us. We have always tried to make new teams and give players a chance to play with players they would otherwise never know. It also gives us a chance to share a meal together before the next day of fasting. We’re thrilled to have the tournament back and are continuing with the 4 team style, which will ensure maximum play time.

We’re not sure if this will happen again next year, so please don’t miss your chance.

Registration will open tomorrow (Saturday, April 27, 2019) at 2:00 PM ET. It will be open for as long as it takes to fill 72 places. The cost is $150 + Any applicable transaction fees.

This year’s tournament will include the following

  • 3 Weeks of Play – Games will be played on May 11, May 18, and on June 1 from 10:30 PM to 2:00 AM at the CAA Centre in Brampton.
  • Nightly Sehri – Sehri will be provided to all players at the diamond, we will be working to arrange for a BBQ
  • Jerseys – All teams will be provided t-shirt style jerseys with your desired number
  • New Teams – Teams will be made and will include a mix of players some you have played with and some you have never played with. The idea is to introduce you to other players and to make the season to come more exciting as you compete against former teammates.
  • New Captains – We will reach out to players to serve as captains, you may never have served as a captain before so this will be the chance to serve in the role for a limited period of time. You don’t need to draft a team, you just need to worry about making the lineup each night, and making sure the team has all the information they need.
  • 4 Teams – We will be accepting up to 4 teams with 12 players on each team.
  • Minimum 7 Games – Teams will play 3 games each on May 11,3 games each on May 18, and 2 games on June 1. We will be playing two full round robins, followed by a single elimination tournament. With both finals for 1st and 3rd place being played.

Example Schedule (Not Official)

If you’re ready to sign up, please click the link below – it will not work before 2:00 PM ET on April 27, 2019.

Tournament Registration
(Maximum 72 Registrations)
8 Games in the Tournament
New Teams with New Players
T-Shirt Style Jersey
Sehri Provided Each Night
Fee: $150 + Transaction Fees
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP (4 Spots Remaining)

2019 Mental Health Initiative – Naseeha

Historically we’ve made efforts towards the charitable side of things, making sure that our winning team would be able to make a contribution to the charity of their choice. It gave them a reason more than just the on-field competitiveness to play. It let them make a contribution to something or someone that they cared about.

2016 – Zido ($500) – Mecca Wolves
2017 – Our Village Humanitarian Aid ($500) – Mecca Wolves
2018 – Global Kindness Fund ($1000) – Mashad Bucks

This year, on January 31, 2019 – we sent out a message to some of our followers. That day was Bell Let’s Talk day in Canada, and it was our chance to bring a spotlight to the issue of mental health. Mental Health is a growing problem everywhere, and especially in our community.

It’s a fact: One in five Canadians will suffer from mental illness at some point in their lifetime. One of the biggest hurdles for anyone suffering from mental illness is overcoming the stigma. It is the number one reason why two-thirds of those living with a mental illness do not seek help.

So we’d like your help in combatting this problem, you can do so in one of 5 ways.

1. Be mindful of your language (it’s an illness just like any other)
2. Educate yourself and understand the facts
3. Be kind and supportive
4. Listen and ask questions
5. Talk about it

This year, JMS is partnering with Naseeha to provide awareness to mental health.

Naseeha provides our community with the tools needed to address mental health. With our confidential helpline, our youth receives immediate, anonymous, and confidential support over the phone from 3 – 9 pm, 7 days a week. With our educational programs, we raise awareness within the community the stigma around mental health.

This year we are introducing a campaign we call Swing for Mental Health.

Each hit registered in 2019 regular season will go contribute towards a donation to Naseeha, the bigger the hit, the bigger the contribution. We want to support Naseeha so that they can continue their work and together we can raise awareness within our families and communities and reduce the stigma around mental health.

Type of Hit  Contribution
Single $1
Double $2
Triple $5
Homerun $10

If we repeat last year’s numbers (838 Singles, 224 Doubles, 63 Triples, and 58 HRs), we would be able to make a contribution of $2181!!

We know that we’re capable of much more this year, so we’re eager to see the impact we can make, so we want to encourage all of our players to swing for the fences and help us contribute towards the noble mission Naseeha has undertaken.

If you’d like to contribute towards this cause, please reach out to charity@jmsleague.com. Any contribution is welcomed, so please don’t hesitate to give.