COACHES

Todd Hubka has been with the Prairie Baseball Academy for 27 years, 2024 will be his 14th season as head coach of the PBA Varsity program. After taking over in 2011, Coach Hubka led PBA on a streak of seven consecutive CCBC Championships, since renamed the Canadian College World Series. During his tenure as head coach, Hubka has compiled a record of 324-235 good for a .580 winning %. Hubka has also moved on over 150 players to four-year schools as an assistant and head coach with the program. Coach Hubka played his youth baseball in Claresholm before moving up to the Fort Macleod Royals American Legion Team from 1983-89. Following high school Hubka played college ball at North Idaho College where he was named to the All-Conference team. Todd jumped straight into coaching following his playing days and started with PBA in the fall of1996 and has been with the program ever since. Coach Hubka brings a great knowledge to all aspects of the game and is constantly learning and evolving his approach to the game. Coach Hubka lives with his girlfriend Marcie. Todd is the proud father of three children and two grandchildren: Kelsey 31, Treyd 25, Ty 21, Bennett 7 & Kade 4.

Josh Burgmann is in his 1st season coaching with the Prairie Baseball Academy. Josh was born and raised in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Burgmann attended the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball from 2013-2016. Josh played on the Canadian Junior National from 2014-2016. During his time with the Junior National Team he traveled to Florida, Australia, Dominican Republic and he also represented Canada in 2015 at the U18 Baseball World Cup in Osaka, Japan. In the fall of 2015, Josh signed to play D1 baseball for the University of Washington who compete in the PAC-12 conference. Josh was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 30th round in 2016. He decided to attend the University of Washington instead of signing with the Cardinals. Josh attended the University of Washington from 2016-2019. Josh missed the majority of his freshman season at UW due to having Tommy John surgery. He returned half way through his sophomore year when UW went on a run all the way to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. UW’s appearance in the 2018 College World Series was the first appearance in the program’s 100 year history. In 2019, Josh was selected to the Golden Spikes watch list at the halfway point in UW’s season. At the end of his 2019 year, Josh was selected in the 5th round to the Chicago Cubs. Josh played short season A ball in Eugene for the duration of the 2019 season. Covid shut down the entire minor league baseball system in 2020. Josh unfortunately ran into injuries during the 2021 and early in the 2022 season, which eventually led to Josh’s decision to retire from baseball. Burgmann has always had a passion for coaching and helping athletes grow and learn both on and off the field. He started helping coach at Vauxhall while he spent the offseason’s training at the Academy. After he retired from playing in the early part of 2022 he started coaching at Vauxhall full time and then spent the 2023 season coaching at the VAB as well. Also, Josh currently is the Pitching Coach for the Lethbridge Bulls in the WCBL College Summer League. Josh and his wife, Taylor, currently live and reside in Lethbridge and are loving life here in “The Windy City”.

Tate was born and raised in Lethbridge, and started his playing career at PBA in the fall of 2019 during his senior year of high school. Tate pitched a total of four seasons with the Prairie Baseball Academy, spending the spring of 2020 and 2021 on the junior varsity team before moving up to the varsity team for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. This is Tate’s first year coaching with PBA, he began coaching with the Lethbridge Bantam AAA team in the summer of 2022, and is now an assistant coach with the Fort Macleod Royals American Legion ‘A’ team during the summers. He is currently working towards a Bachelor of Arts in Kinesiology at the University of Lethbridge, and is expected to graduate in the spring of 2025. Tate is excited to share his love of the game with the players, while passing along the lessons he learned during his time at PBA.

Ryan MacDonald is in his 15th year coaching with the Prairie Baseball Academy and his 13th at the Varsity level with Coach Hubka. Ryan was born and raised in Kennetcook, Nova Scotia. MacDonald played for Team Nova Scotia at the Canada Cup in 2002 and 2003, as well as representing Team Nova Scotia at the 2005 Canada Games in Regina, SK. Ryan came to PBA in 2004 and played for three years before moving on to the University of Texas-Brownsville. Ryan played two years at UTB and was named to the 2008 All-Conference Team. Ryan graduated in 2012 with his Bachelor of Arts in Kinesiology from the University of Lethbridge. Ryan is married to his wife Melissa who is expecting their baby boy in March. Ryan also has two beautiful daughters, Blakely 7 and Makenna 4. Ryan was the head coach of the Lethbridge Bulls from 2014-2016 and led the Bulls to two consecutive seasons with the best record in the WMBL, and in 2015 the Bulls captured their first ever WMBL Championship going a perfect 9-0 in the playoffs. Ryan has been the assistant coach with the Lethbridge Bulls the past 3 seasons capturing his 2nd WCBL Title in 2021. Head Coach Todd Hubka feels Ryan’s commitment to the game of baseball and coaching has helped the Prairie Baseball Academy achieve the amazing results they have during his 15 years with the program.

A proud PBA alum, Myles Fletcher is back for his second year with the Prairie Baseball Academy, assisting with the infield group. Growing up in Lethbridge Myles was a member of the local little league, high school and American Legion teams; and in the fall of 1998 he joined the Prairie Baseball Academy making the varsity team. After 2 years manning second base for the Prairie Dawgs, Myles was fortunate to continue his playing career in Shreveport, Louisiana for the LSUS Pilots. Injuries and surgeries would affect Fletcher over the next three years and after the 2003 season he had to hang up his spikes, albeit on a high note as his Pilots captured 3rd place at the 2003 NAIA College World Series. This ended up being a blessing in disguise, as it allowed Myles to turn his eye to coaching, spending the next several years coaching American Legion baseball. Subsequent years saw stints with local High School, Alberta Baseball and Little League teams, and last year was invited by Coach Hubka to help out the PBA staff by working with the infielders.

“I get excited each and every day that I get to come to the Yard. I love this program, I love the coaches, and I love helping these boys succeed”.

Away from the diamond, Myles lives with his wife Jackie, daughter Ava and son Gavin.

Rhett grew up and played minor sports in Unity, Saskatchewan. He played for Prairie Baseball Academy in the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 academic years, winning a championship both years. He took home CCBC Pitcher of the Year in 2017. From there, he took his career professionally, signing to go play in the Dutch Major League in Utrecht, Netherlands. In 2019, he signed to go play in Adelaide, Australia for a season. Rhett has coached in three different countries, and has done Strength and Conditioning for many different athletes across several sports including college basketball players, CIS football players, and major junior hockey prospects. Baseball has taken him around the world as a player and he is excited to share his knowledge and love of the game of baseball with PBA players as well as the youth baseball community in Lethbridge and surrounding area.

Aidan grew up in Red Deer, Alberta where he played his minor baseball with the Red Deer Braves. He came to Lethbridge to play for PBA in the fall of 2020, playing one year of junior varsity before joining the varsity team for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, winning second team all conference outfielder in the 2022 season. After finishing his career at PBA Aidan has decided to focus on finishing his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology degree this summer before looking to progress to a master’s degree in biomechanics. Aidan looks to bring in both learning from his kinesiology degree and time spent playing at PBA to help players improve both on and off the field.