Year-round baseball got Schibler going places

Editor’s note: This week we’ve lined up a series of stories looking back at athletes who came through Medicine Hat’s Notre Dame Academy, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary. Today is a feature on baseball player Austin Schibler. For more names and photos see what Notre Dame’s been posting on Twitter using the hashtag #nda15. with. It’s a good learning experience.”

There is a bit of home with Schibler, however. His roommate at Columbia is Hatter Nolan Rattai. Naturally, you’ve got to wonder if Rattai’s trying to talk Schibler in to playing with the Medicine Hat Mavericks next summer. Rattai and company won the Western Major Baseball League title a couple months ago.

“Definitely it’s in the back of my mind,” Schibler laughed, before noting one major problem. “I’ll be graduating with a bachelor of marketing and minor in accounting. That’ll be coming up at the end of summer, I’ve got to take a couple summer classes.”

The Gas City is never far from Schibler’s mind, however, and he credits Notre Dame baseball coach and teacher Rob McDonnell as a big reason why he’s gone so far with the sport.

Describing himself as a “decent house league player,” Schibler started in the hockey academy at Notre Dame before McDonnell told him he had potential with a different type of lumber.

“Coach McDonnell took me under his wing and said you should probably play baseball,” said Schibler. “I stuck to it, went all the way through high school.”

He notes that the academy atmosphere isn’t for everyone, however.

“In my opinion it’s a great thing to have, but you’ve got to have the time management skills to go there,” he said. “It’s busy, it’s a lot of working out, lots of different activities you’re up to every day. You kind of have to sacrifice an aspect of your life to go into sport and get better at your sport, instead of hanging out with friends or other stuff like that.”

Which is to say the fellow baseball players — the ones making the same sort of commitment — became his friends.

“In a way it makes you work harder, and you get to be around a group of guys the whole time,” said Schibler. “They become part of your family.

“Being in the academy you get lifetime friendships. I don’t know if I’d have that if I went to any other school that didn’t have a program like that.”