Developing Players. Building People. Creating Opportunities.
The Lethbridge Longhorns High School Baseball Academy was established in 2021 with a simple goal: to give more young baseball players from Lethbridge and Southern Alberta the opportunity to develop their abilities, pursue their goals and see how far the game can take them.
The Academy operates from September through April, providing high school athletes with an intensive development and competitive baseball environment. Games are played throughout the fall and spring across Western Canada and the United States, while the winter months are dedicated to training and individual development.
But the Longhorns were never intended to simply be another baseball team.
They were created as part of something much bigger — a connected baseball pathway that can take a young athlete from developmental baseball through high school, summer and college baseball, and potentially beyond.
Why the Longhorns Were Created
For many years, the Lethbridge Bulls and Prairie Baseball Academy (PBA) recognized a gap in the baseball development system in Lethbridge and Southern Alberta.
The region has a tremendous baseball tradition and has produced outstanding players, coaches and programs. The Vauxhall Academy of Baseball had also established itself as an elite Canadian baseball academy, attracting outstanding athletes from across the country.
However, an elite national program can only accommodate a limited number of players.
That left a group of talented and committed local student-athletes who wanted to pursue baseball seriously but needed another opportunity to train and compete at an academy level while remaining in the Lethbridge area.
Lethbridge Bulls President/CEO Kevin Kvame described the need this way:
“The need to do something in the Lethbridge area for 20-plus student-athletes was real. The Vauxhall Academy of Baseball was already well established as an elite Canadian opportunity for athletes from across the country. To maintain that level, they could only take the very best players from Lethbridge and area. There were still many good young athletes staying home who wanted to develop and pursue baseball. Those are the players this program was created to serve — and we wanted to give them every opportunity to see how far they could take the game.”
Kevin even got an early live preview of the name when he visited a live Longhorn at a Texas event in 2019. When the idea was one of the final options, he was sold right away!
Prairie Baseball Academy Head Coach Todd Hubka also believed strongly in creating a high school development environment that would expose local athletes to the expectations of higher-level baseball throughout the year and better prepare graduating players for the transition to college baseball.
So In 2021, the Bulls and PBA decided to move forward. The Longhorns were established and their branding began to come to fruition.
Then-Lethbridge Bulls Head Coach Chance Wheatley was selected as the first Head Coach of the new High School Academy. Planning began immediately, and later that summer it was announced that the program would begin play in September 2021.
Yes — right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It wasn’t necessarily the easiest time to launch something new, but the need existed, the opportunity was there, and the people behind the program believed strongly enough in the idea to make it happen.
Why the Longhorns?
The new team needed an identity of its own while remaining connected to the baseball family that created it.
The name Lethbridge Longhorns was chosen as a nod to the Bulls — a longhorn being, of course, a type of bull — providing the new Academy with its own identity while maintaining its connection to the larger Lethbridge baseball family.
As the program developed, the JV Longhorns were created as a developmental high school team, helping athletes prepare to advance to the Longhorns.
The pathway continues below the high school level through our Junior Bulls Academy programs, including competitive 15U teams and development opportunities extending down through the younger age groups.
The objective is straightforward: as players grow and their abilities and ambitions change, we want appropriate development and competitive opportunities available to help them take their next step.
And we would be negligent if we didn’t mention that the Longhorns are proud to be part of the Lethbridge community. They fundraise part of their costs by putting in hours and hours cooking elephant ears at Whoop Up Days. They also assist at the Field of Screams and youth development camps. They are assisting the Bulls with player appearances at schools as well. Community is important!!
A Connected Baseball Pathway
The Bulls and Prairie Baseball Academy chose to place the Academy under their non-profit foundation, the Lethbridge and District International Baseball Foundation (LDIBF).
The Foundation continues to build a connected pathway for aspiring baseball players.
That pathway begins with developmental opportunities for younger athletes and progresses into increasingly competitive baseball. It can lead to the Longhorns High School Academy, summer baseball opportunities, post-secondary baseball — including the Prairie Baseball Academy — and summer collegiate baseball opportunities, potentially including the Lethbridge Bulls of the Western Canadian Baseball League.
For a small number of athletes with the ability, commitment and opportunity to continue even further, professional baseball may ultimately become part of that journey.
There is no expectation that every player will travel the entire pathway, nor is there one destination that defines success.
Our responsibility is to help athletes develop, understand their opportunities and become prepared for whatever their next level may be.
Proudly Part of Southern Alberta Baseball
Our pathway does not exist in isolation.
It complements a remarkable baseball tradition that has been built in Southern Alberta over generations.
Little League Baseball has been part of the Lethbridge area for approximately 75 years, introducing generations of children to the game and providing important developmental and competitive opportunities.
American Legion Baseball has been part of the local baseball landscape for approximately 45 years, providing teenage players with meaningful summer baseball opportunities and competition through the Montana American Legion Baseball program.
These programs, together with the Junior Bulls, Longhorns, Prairie Baseball Academy, Lethbridge Bulls and other baseball organizations and partners, help provide something increasingly valuable for young athletes: a place to play and an opportunity to develop throughout the different stages of their baseball lives.
We respect the programs that came before us, value the partnerships that exist today and believe collaboration makes baseball stronger throughout Southern Alberta.
Developing the Complete Athlete
The Longhorns Academy operates from September through April.
During the fall and spring, our athletes play games throughout Western Canada and the United States, exposing them to quality competition and different baseball environments.
During the Southern Alberta winter, development continues indoors at the SHIFT Recreation Centre in Coaldale, Alberta.
The facility features a 200-foot by 100-foot indoor turf field, a drop-down batting cage and weight-training facilities, allowing our athletes and coaches to work on virtually every aspect of the game throughout the winter.
The Longhorns also partner with Bridge Physiotherapy, which designs and helps implement our strength and conditioning program while providing assessment and treatment for injured athletes.
Our objective is to develop the complete athlete — technically, physically and mentally — and prepare players for the increased demands they will encounter as they progress through baseball.
More Than Baseball
Player development is important to us, but our definition of development extends far beyond batting averages, velocity, wins and losses.
Our goal is to develop high school talent both as athletes and as strong young citizens.
Longhorns players are expected to meet high standards in the classroom, on the baseball field and in the community.
Our values are hard work, integrity and community.
Our culture is built around accountability, respect, honesty and loyalty.
We believe in the value of showing up every day. We believe in being accountable to teammates. We believe in supporting one another through successes and challenges. And we believe there is tremendous value in learning to be part of something bigger than yourself.
Baseball will eventually end for every one of us.
The lessons we learn from it don’t have to.
Preparing Players for What’s Next
For players who aspire to continue after high school, our responsibility is to help them understand and pursue opportunities appropriate for their abilities, academic goals and ambitions.
For some, the next step may be the Prairie Baseball Academy, including its JV and Varsity college programs. For others, the appropriate opportunity may be another college or university program in Canada or the United States.
As players continue into college baseball, there may also be opportunities to compete in summer collegiate leagues. The Lethbridge Bulls recruit top college players each summer, and one of our aspirations is to see capable local players who have progressed through this development pathway earn the opportunity to someday wear a Bulls uniform themselves.
And for those exceptional athletes who possess the talent, commitment and opportunity to continue further, perhaps professional baseball becomes the next dream.
We cannot promise where baseball will take a young athlete.
What we can do is help prepare them for the opportunity when it arrives.
Built by Baseball People, for Baseball Players
The Longhorns program was created and continues to be operated by people who genuinely love the game of baseball.
They believe in what the game can teach. They believe in providing opportunities. They believe knowledge and experience should be passed from one generation to the next.
Most importantly, they believe young athletes deserve an environment that challenges them, supports them and helps them discover what they are capable of achieving.
Today’s Longhorns Leadership
The Longhorns are currently led by Head Coach Michael Schwab, who previously worked within the program under Lethbridge Bulls Assistant Coach Carlin Dick. Dick served as Longhorns Head Coach for two seasons and helped oversee an important period of growth and development for the Academy.
Schwab is supported by longtime Assistant Coach Tim Blake and Pitching Coach Jaxon Filipenko, while Colby Snider and Sammy Hilgersom work with the JV Longhorns and help develop the next group of players preparing to advance through the program.
Lethbridge Bulls Associate Head Coach Josh Burgmann continues in his role as Program Director, providing leadership, guidance and mentorship to the Longhorns coaching staff and athletes while helping maintain the connection between the Academy and the broader baseball development pathway.
Together, the coaching staff shares a commitment to developing players, creating opportunities and maintaining the values and culture on which the Longhorns program was founded.
From a young player beginning to take baseball seriously, through the Junior Bulls, JV Longhorns and Longhorns, summer baseball, college baseball and potentially the Lethbridge Bulls and beyond, our organization and the Longhorns objectives align and remain the same:
Develop the player. Build the person. Create the opportunity. Prepare them for what comes next.
It’s been a great 5 years so far, let’s make the next 5 even better!
Published: September 27, 2026
