Jim and his family moved to Calgary from Vancouver B.C. in 1999 to begin his instructional baseball career in a central location that has a tremendous amount of untapped talent.

Jim’s adult playing career started in 1985 where his Richmond Auto body Jr. Team played their way from Provincial and Western Canadian Champions to bronze medalists at the Nationals. From there his career continued to exceed his expectations by playing for Team Canada (1986) the National Baseball Institute (1986-87) and B.C.’s Junior Men’s All-Star Team (1987).

In 1988 Jim took his career to a new level heading to a NAIA ranked school; Huntington College in Indiana. There he was an integral part of his team, taking the Area Championship title only to lose in Regional Finals.

The Major League Draft occurred shortly after his school’s successful year, where Jim’s dreams were about to come true. He was drafted as a right handed pitcher in the 10th round by the Oakland A’s. Jim’s professional career lasted 3 years which included joining the “AA” Huntsville Stars, Southern League.

Shortly thereafter in 1990 Jim returned to British Columbia and continued to play and coach. He coached and played for the Richmond Senior Men’s team where he led them to back to back provincial titles (1997/98). Since moving to Calgary he has kept his playing career active but began his new focus of coaching and instructing young players. Jim is the founder of the Calgary Redbirds Senior Men’s Team. The Redbirds are a team made up of ex professional, national team and college players. This team gives players a chance to play at a very high level while still maintaining a job or college career. They have represented Alberta at two recent National championships (2004/2007). Jim still actively plays with the Redbirds.

One of Jim’s highlights as an Amateur player came in 2002. The St. Albert Tigers earned its berth into the 2002 Baseball Canada Senior Championships and Jim was the first person they called to join their quest for the National title. Jim pitched in 3 games going 2 wins, 0 losses, and 1 save, and was named All-Star Right Handed Pitcher and Most Valuable Pitcher of the tournament. Jim’s outstanding showing at the Nationals proved to be invaluable helping the team bring home the 2002 National Championship Title.

Since the 2002 National Championships Jim has been focusing his time and efforts on developing Pro Baseball Force INC. and in addition to PBF Jim became the head baseball coach at the National Sport Academy in 2006. This program is based out of Central Memorial High School in Calgary and offers players with a passion for the game to improve their skill level so that hopefully after high school they can reach their goal of playing baseball at the college/university level.

The PBF travel team is something Jim is very proud of and he hopes all players who participate on the team will look back and say that PBF had in some way helped develop them into the ballplayer they are.

Playing Career:
- Santa Fe College (Gainesville, FL) 2004-2006
- Alexandria Beetles Northwoods League (Alexandria, MN) 2005
- Southeastern Louisiana University (Hammond, LA) 2006-2008

Jobs in Baseball:
- Pitching Coach - Central Lafourche High School - 2009
- Clubhouse Manager - New Orleans Zephyrs - 2008 - present

Education:
- Associate of Arts - Business Administration
- Bachelor of Science - Sports Management

Les started his college playing career at the Prairie Baseball Academy in its first year. Fortunately Les received the first athletic scholarship out the PBA. From there Les moved on to Division 1 college baseball in the prestigious PAC-10 conference. Washington State University Cougars is where Les continued his college career for 4 years while playing against many of the best players in college baseball and traveling throughout the United States. While at WSU Les received PAC – 10 honorable mention all academic team 3 times. Les finished his career with the 2nd most appearances in the programs 104 history.

It was in 1998 when Les began his coaching career with the Lethbridge AA Elks. Coach Mac enjoyed 4 years of success with the Lethbridge Elks including their first Montana State title in 13 years in 1998 and all 4 years the Elks made the Montana State Tournament including 2 – 3 rd place finishes to go along with the state title.

Coach Mac began his collegiate coaching experience in 2000 with the Prairie Baseball Academy as the pitching coach for Blair Kubicek. It was at the PBA that Coach Mac found a real passion for coaching year round. The Prairie Dawgs enjoyed two great years, highlighted with a Canadian College Championship in 2000. Coach Mac was proud in 2001 as 4 pitchers signed letters of intent to pitch at the University of New Mexico. In the fall of 2000 Les was employed by the Seattle Mariners as their Alberta scout.

Coach Mac began his Head Coaching career with the Lethbridge Bulls of the Western Major Baseball League. Over 3 years at the helm of the Bulls they made the playoffs in all 3 years including winning the Western Pennant in his final year. While coaching the Bulls Les was employed by the Alberta Amateur Baseball Council. Over the 4 years as Operations Manager, Alberta ranked 3rd Nationally at the Canada Cup and 3rd at the Canada Summer Games while enjoyed success at the all other program levels. In 2002, Coach Mac was the pitching coach for Team Alberta at the Canada Cup and the club finished with a silver medal (the highest finish in Alberta history). In the fall of 2004 the Seattle Mariners invited Coach Mac to participate as a guest coach in Peoria, Arizona.

In the spring of 2004 Coach Mac was able to reach one of highest honors a coach can endure in Canada. He was able to assume the pitching coach position with the Canadian Junior National Team. In 2005, the Canadian Junior National Team qualified for the World AAA Junior Championship with a 3rd place finish at the Pan American World Qualifier and in 2006 Team Canada finished with a Bronze Medal at the World Junior Championships in Santi Spiritus, Cuba.

Currently, Coach Mac is the Head Coach at the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball and is surrounded by an outstanding assistant coach, Jim Kotkas and support staff.

Mark, a graduate of Salisbury High School in Sherwood Park attended college in California and was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1989:

Mark played professional minor league baseball for nine years. He is currently a member of high performance sport committee for baseball in Canada, Senior National Team pitching coach and talent evaluator for Baseball Canada.

He is also the owner and president of Boulevard Interiors located in the Edmonton warehouse district. Mark is also a certified instructor in the national coaching certification program with levels i, ii and iii.

Mark was formerly the pitching coach for the Canadian National Junior team and a player with the National Team from 1998 through 2001.

He has also worked with the Atlanta Braves as a scout and attended spring training as a coach with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2002 and Pittsburgh Pirates in 2005.

He was the General Manager and coach of the Edmonton Big River Prospects that play in the Western Major Baseball League in 2005. He came out of retirement for a short stint and played for the Edmonton Cracker Cats of the Northern League in 2006 and pitched in 6 games while surrendering 0 earned runs.

Most recently Mark has started and coordinates a High School Baseball Academy at St. Francis Xavier High School in Edmonton, Alberta.

Some of Mark’s playing accomplishments include:

* Named to all – star team in world championship qualifier Nicaragua 1998
* European Cup MVP award Austria 1995
* MVP award Sweden elite series 1994
* Player of the month in Philadelphia Phillies organization august 1990
* First player signed by Allentown Ambassadors in inaugural season 1997
* Rolaids relief pitcher of the year 1989
* 80 careers saves as a relief pitcher
* These are some of Mark’s team accomplishments:
* Bronze medal – Team Canada Pan Am Games 1999
* Senior National Champions - St. Albert Tigers 1999
* St. Albert Cardinals midget
* AAA national bronze medal 1999 and 2000
* Team Alberta Selects Canada Cup bronze medal 2001
* Qualified for midget National Championships 3 years in a row 1999,2000 and 2001
* National champions Sweden 1994
* Florida State league champions 1993
* Managed Sherwood Park junior baseball club silver medal 1996

-Cardinal-Roy HS Baseball Head Coach
-Assitant Coach with Junior National Team (2006-2007)
-Scout for the Milwaukee Brewers
-Assistant Coach, Quebec Capitales, Can Am (pro)
-Midget AAA Charlesbourg Condors Head Coach