Baseball Academy | Instructors

A mainstay of the Blue Jays Baseball Academy at inception, Wayne has coached at all levels of baseball in Canada over the past 30 years, including seven years with the Women's National Team program. He is a graduate of the National Coaching Institute (NCI) in Toronto, and is a Senior Coaching Consultant at the Coaching Association of Canada. He is a Master Coach Developer in Baseball, Hockey and multi-sport environments, and is involved in many coach education projects with Baseball Canada.

John has been associated with the Toronto Blue Jays for over ten years as an instructor for amateur baseball and is an NCCP Baseball Master Coach Developer and Evaluator. He was born, played baseball, still resides, instructs and coaches baseball in Hamilton, Ontario. In his role as Instructor lead, he is responsible for supporting the training, onboarding and mentorship of new instructors as well as being a leading voice onsite at clinics and camps

Dan has coached minor baseball for over fifteen years in various centres and at different levels in Ontario. Prior to that he spent four years playing college baseball in Florida and West Virginia. He has over ten years of academy experience with the Blue Jays.

Tim played varsity baseball at St Clair College after a youth baseball career in Lambton County. Graduating from Brock University with a degree in kinesiology in 2016, he works at Crossfit St. Catharines, coaching Crossfit classes, olympic weightlifting, and helping run their kids program.

A former Canadian National Champion, Ontario Blue Jay & T12 Alum, Troy is a former NJCAA (Johnson County CC) & NCAA (Wayne State University) student-athlete currently pursuing an MBA in Sports & Entertainment management at Wayne State University.

Daniel is entering his ninth season with the Blue Jays Organization, and second year with the academy. He is currently leading his former varsity high school baseball program in Vaughan. He graduated from York University with a Business degree and played four years of university baseball while at York.  

Steven was on the Canadian Junior National team from 2010 to 2012 prior to spending five years playing baseball and studying in Texas, landing at University of Texas at San Antonio, where he majored in Business Communications. For the past six years he has spent time working and volunteering with kids to enhance their skills and their love of baseball. This is his first year with the Jays Baseball Academy.

Robert Grilli is a former Division 1 baseball player who graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in Economics & a minor in Business. Robert prides himself on helping others, evidenced by his book The Playbook, A Student-Athlete's Guide to Success along with his company Lakeborn. Robert has been playing the game of baseball since the age of four, has helped coach, and mentor thousands of student-athletes over the course of ten years. Outside of baseball Robert is not one to shy away from a game of table tennis.

Tyler's baseball experience has taken him from the grassroots level, rep, elite, all the way to university level baseball competition. Tyler has enjoyed personal/team success on the field as a member of the Varsity Men's Brock Badgers team. Tyler's true passion is with off-field training aspects of the game. Tyler has earned his Undergraduate and Master's degree from Brock University in Sport Management. He continues to work within the Athletic Department supporting their sport and academy programming. 

Craig spent time playing Junior College baseball in North Carolina before completing his degree at Brock University. While at Brock, he helped lead the Badgers to an OUA championship in 2010. He is an NCCP trained instructor and has coached in the London Badgers organization. Craig is an elementary school teacher with a passion for physical education and coaching youth sports.

Josh is currently enrolled in the Sport Management program at Durham College in Oshawa. He has recently worked as a Social Media/Marketing Manager for a junior hockey team, while also working in retail with Adidas and the Toronto Blue Jays. Josh received a scholarship to play at Waldorf University in Iowa out of high school, and has since returned to Ontario, earning a spot as a right handed pitcher and first baseman with Durham College and the Oshawa Junior Legionnaires.

Kyle is entering his eighth year of coaching and third season with the Blue Jays Baseball Academy. He coached the Royal York Cardinal 18U's to a Midget AA Baseball Ontario Provincial Championship in 2017 before moving over to the Etobicoke Rangers to coach their 15U Program in 2018. He was born, played baseball, coaches and resides in Etobicoke, Ontario.

Patrick has coached at the secondary level for over twenty years. He has also been involved in Jays instructional camps and has been part of the international team that travelled to France and Austria. With his background in education, Patrick has supported events like "Baseball - Everyone Belongs" which promotes inclusivity for players with special needs. He enjoys learning more about the game of baseball every day.

Cody was a member of the UBC and Park University varsity baseball teams, graduatint with a degree in finance from Park University. Cody has previously held positions in the organization in Clubhouse Operations and Luxury Suite Sales and Service. He is entering his fifth season as an Academy Instructor, and will be heading back to school to pursue a law degree in the fall.

Nur graduated from UOIT with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Criminology and currently is a Youth Worker with 360 Kids, part of the Leadership Engagement Gang Intervention Team. Nur played baseball for the Whitby Chiefs throughout his childhood and was a 4 year starter and eventual captain of the Durham College baseball team.

Justin joined the Blue Jays Baseball Academy during his playing career at Brock University. A passionate advocate of educating youth on fitness, Justin owns and operates his own strength and conditioning centre in Southern Ontario.

Andrew is an NCCP certified coach, and has proudly served as an Instructor for the Blue Jays Baseball Academy for many years. His years of experience in competitive baseball have enabled him to extensively instruct players and coaches from the local level to the university level throughout much of Canada for more than 25 years. By profession, Andrew is an elementary school teacher, who utilizes his work ethic and strengths to be an effective communicator, instructor, and motivator to ball players and coaches alike. He resides in Markham, Ontario, and is married and blessed with two great kids.

Geoff attended Niagara University where he served four years as a NCAA Division 1 student-athlete on the baseball team. As part of his four year tenure, he was a utility infielder playing all positions in the infield. He graduated with a Business Marketing degree and made the dean's list all four years. Additionally, he played one year in the Intercounty Baseball League playing for the Hamilton Cardinals and is currently working in sales within the Greater Toronto Area.

Adam has played baseball in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario with an Honours Specialization in Kinesiology. He combines playing and coaching experience with knowledge of athletic performance and sport psychology to deliver instruction on the acquisition and development of baseball skills. Adam is entering his second year with the Blue Jays Baseball Academy. 

Ashley is a recently retired member of the Canadian Women's National Baseball Team. She represented her country for 15 years competing in all eight World Cups. Ashley has six World Cup medals; two silver and four bronze. The highlight of her career was winning a silver medal at the Pan Am Games in 2015. She is a two-time national team Most Valuable Player and three-time winner of the Jimmy Rattlesnake Award, which honours on-field accomplishments, leadership, and team spirit of a national team member-this award was recently renamed in her honour. Ashley is a secondary school health and physical education teacher.

Shaun is the only OUA baseball player to be drafted in the MLB Draft (TOR, 2012) and was a member of the 2013 Northwest League Champion Vancouver Canadians during his time with the Blue Jays organization. Prior to that, Shaun played for Brock University from 2010 through 2012 where he helped Brock win the 2010 OUA Championship and captured two OUA Top Hitter awards. He was inducted into the Brock Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. In his free time, he enjoys travelling with his wife and spending time with their black lab.

Eric graduated UOIT with a degree in Kinesiology and also has a diploma from Durham College, from the Fitness and Health Promotion program. He is a CSEP certified personal trainer working at Extreme Fitness in Pickering. Eric played baseball for the Pickering Red Sox until senior where he continues to follow his passion for playing.