New owners, GM announced for Kitchener Panthers baseball team
Panthers and Titans to operate under new banner Waterloo Region Sports and Entertainment
The Kitchener Panthers baseball team has new owners.
David and Katie Schooley, alongside Sam, Naseem and Shanif Hirani, will co-own the team. The Schooleys also own the KW Titans basketball team and will operate the two teams under the name Waterloo Region Sports and Entertainment.
"Owning two local sports teams allows the group to unite the Kitchener-Waterloo community in a unique way," David Schooley said in a release on the baseball team's website.
"The Titans and Panthers share the same core values of promoting athletic performance, supporting player development, and fostering connections across our community. We are thrilled to join together and expand the dynamic culture of sports in our region."
Shanif Hirani has been named the new general manager of the Panthers, which play in the Intercounty Baseball League. He has been involved in the team for years, having played outfield on the team previously and for the U22 Panthers.
Shanif Hirani is a Waterloo Collegiate Institute graduate who went to University of South Carolina Sumter on a baseball scholarship, then did a masters degree in sports management at Columbia University.
"I've had tons of playing experience with them and been around them basically my entire life. So this one, this opportunity came up, it was extremely exciting," Hirani told CBC K-W's The Morning Edition.
LISTEN | Kitchener Panthers baseball team have a new owner:
The Panthers finished the regular season in eighth place in the Intercounty Baseball League standings and lost in the first round of playoffs to the Welland Jackfish, who went on to win the championship over the Guelph Royals.
Hirani says he's excited for the next season, which gets underway in May 2025, because there will be big changes to the team but also in the league.
The Hamilton Cardinals announced earlier this fall that they've signed former Major League Baseball all-star pitcher Fernando Rodney for the 2025 season.
Earlier this month, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced they have signed Ayami Sato, making the Japanese pitcher the league's first female player.
"Speaking to other people throughout the league, the league's going in a really good direction, something that we're really excited about and we want to do similar things," Hirani said.
"We want to bring in the best talent we can and make Kitchener a place to play, make it somewhere that fans want to come and players want to play."
WATCH | Kitchener Panthers kick off 2024 season at Jack Couch Park:
He said the new owners also want to talk to the city about improvements that can be made to Jack Couch Park, the home field for the Panthers.
"We want to make Jack Couch one of the the best venues in the league. It has a ton of potential and in the past, even when I used to play for the Panthers, it used to be an amazing place to play," he said.
"We'd pack out the stadium and it'd be a great atmosphere and we want to bring that back and make it something memorable for fans."
He said the Schooleys have made going to a K-W Titans game about more than the action on the basketball court, but there are also pre-game activities and after the games, players will sign autographs and take pictures with fans.
"It's a whole event or experience. So we want to bring that same energy to Panthers games," he said.
The Panthers will start the 2025 season with an away game in Toronto on May 11. The team's home opener is May 18.
With files from Cameron Mahler