Notable On-Field Accomplishments:

• 2017, 2019 and 2023 WCL Championship Finalists 
• 2017, 2019 and 2023 North Division Playoff Champions
  
• 2023 North Division League Champions (Second-Half)
• 2019 North Division League Champions (First and Second Halves)
• 2017 North Division League Champions (Second-Half)
• 2016 North Division League Champions (First-Half)
• WCL Record 19-game consecutive win streak (2016)
• WCL Record 40 win season (2016)

The Victoria HarbourCats have enjoyed tremendous on-field success and community support since their inception into the West Coast League in 2013.

The HarbourCats increased their win total in each of their first four seasons, leading to a WCL record-setting 40-win campaign in 2016, earning the first playoff berth for a Victoria-based baseball team since 1952, as the WCL North Division's first half pennant winners.

The HarbourCats continued their success into August in 2017, winning the second half division pennant, winning their first-ever playoff game and series, and qualifying for the franchise's first WCL Championship Series, coming within one win of a title.

They repeated that success in 2019, winning both the first and second half titles and then defeating Wenatchee in an exciting walk-off to advance to their second WCL Championship series in three years, once again losing to Corvallis in an exciting three-game series.

In 2023, the HarbourCats defeated Wenatchee in a best of three first round, before dispatching Bellingham in a tense and close one-game North Division final, to reach their third WCL Championship, where they lost a one-game winner take all against Corvallis.

HarbourCats alumni now populate rosters across many major league organizations, and as of September 2024, 33  former HarbourCats were active in pro-ball, including seven players who have reached the MLB level.  This includes Victoria native Nick Pivetta, who became the first former HarbourCat to reach the major leagues in 2017.

The ownership group comprised of John Wilson, Jim & Ken Swanson, Rich Harder, Helen Edwards and a number of others leads the HarbourCats confidently into the future, with a team that was an instant hit with the fans and at the gate, in a league that has a long-time track record of stability, and a reputation of excellence, as one of the premier summer-collegiate baseball leagues in North America.

The local ownership group took control of the team from John McLean in spring 2015, after the team posted a 22 and 24 wins in their first two seasons, while crowds increased from 1,425 per game in 2013 to 1,576 the next season. In the first season under the leadership of the local ownership group, attendance jumped to 1,910 per game, with total attendance eclipsing 55,000.

Victoria led the WCL in attendance for six consecutive seasons (2014-19) with 2018 total attendance of 62,599 setting yet another West Coast League record.  Edmonton and their 9,000 seat stadium have now eclipsed any previous HarbourCats league records, but the team did set a new franchise record in 2024, drawing over 80,000 fans in total for the season.

Victoria played host to the wildly successful 2013 WCL All-Star game, which set a league record for All-Star game attendance, with a crowd of 4,210. Through the team’s first three seasons, the HarbourCats have played for some of the largest crowds in league history, including the team's 'Canada Day Eve' game on June 30, 2016, that saw the team clinch the first playoff berth in franchise history in front of a team and league record crowd (at that time) of 5,133. The HarbourCats have since eclipsed that record with a single-game attendance of 5,240 on June 2, 2018.

Most importantly to ownership it is the sound overall business structure of both the HarbourCats and the West Coast League, which provide the biggest reason for belief that the HarbourCats will bring elite level baseball and entertainment to British Columbia’s capital city for a very long time to come.

The HarbourCats have longevity and stability that Victoria’s modern day professional baseball predecessors were not able to achieve. The Victoria Capitals lasted just half a season in 2003 before the independent Canadian Baseball League folded. Similarly, the Victoria Seals were very popular during their two seasons in 2009 and 2010, but were plagued by the unstable Golden Baseball League, ceasing operations after just their second season.

Victoria is a city with a proven love for baseball, and HarbourCats managing partner Jim Swanson says it is that same love that drives the organization to serve the community to the best of their abilities, through baseball.

“Our owners and staff love baseball, but our fans are the ones who fuel the passion for the game.” Said Swanson. “Victoria is a great market, a vibrant community with a lot of pride and an excellent vibe for supporting sports. We love seeing people smile at our games, or at events we attend with our mascot, Harvey.”

Well-supported baseball is nothing new for Victoria, a city that can trace its history of professional baseball back well over 100 years, into the 1800s. The city’s first professional baseball championship came in 1920, when the original Victoria Capitals won their league championship, playing before a crowd of more than 4,200 on Opening Day, at a brand new ballpark then constructed behind the landmark Empress Hotel.

Wilson's Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park, home of the HarbourCats, was originally constructed in 1946, and first played host to the Victoria Athletics, who were a ‘Class B’ affiliate of the New York Yankees, from 1946 to 1951. The team changed its name to the Tyees in 1952, and won the Western International League pennant in their final year in 1954.

Modern day Royal Athletic Park was rebuilt in 1967, after a large fire at the original. The Victoria Mussels (1978-79) and then the Victoria Blues (1980) played out of the ballpark in the affiliated Northwest League.

Victoria was then devoid of elite level baseball until 2003, when the Capitals of the Canadian Baseball League were a hit with fans, but were done in by an unstable league, which folded half way through its first season. The Victoria Seals were similarly successful at the gate in 2009-10, but were also victimized by a faulty league structure, ceasing operations after two seasons.

The HarbourCats are the first Victoria based team to play more than two years, since the Athletics played from 1946-51.

The West Coast League is thriving into its 21st season in 2025. From the eight-team circut founded in 2005, five founding members of the original ‘West Coast Collegiate Baseball League’ (WCCBL) remain core members of today’s WCL. These teams include the Corvallis Knights (then the Aloha Knights of Gresham), the HarbourCats’ Canadian cousins, the Kelowna Falcons, as well as perennial league powers, the Bellingham Bells, Bend Elks and Wenatchee AppleSox.

Origins of many current day WCL franchises predate the league, with teams like the Corvallis Knights, Kelowna Falcons, Wenatchee AppleSox, Bend Elks, and Bellingham Bells tracing their origins in the Pacific International League as far back as 1999. The Corvallis Knights franchise has been in operation continuously since 1990, and was champion of the 2004 National Baseball Congress World Series, before joining the original WCCBL.

Having carved out a name for itself, the league simplified its identity to the West Coast League in October of 2008. The league has since expanded into several passionate baseball markets in the Pacific Northwest over the past several years. In 2010, the league welcomed the Cowlitz Black Bears and Walla Walla Sweets, the HarbourCats were born in 2013, in 2014, the Yakima Valley Pippins joined the fold, the Gresham GreyWolves hit the field in 2016 (changing to the Portland Pickles in 2018), The Port Angeles Lefties, began play in 2017 and the Ridgefield Raptors - the league's 12th team - joined the league in 2019. In 2022 (delayed for two seasons due to the COVID-1 pandemic) the league expanded to 16 teams, adding the Nanaimo NightOwls, Kamloops NorthPaws, Edmonton (Alberta) Riverhawks and Springfield (Oregon) Drifters to the mix. In 2025, Salem, Oregon will put the leagues 17th team on the map.

With a league-wide average of over 1,100 fans per game across its 16 member teams that span two U.S. states plus five Canadian franchises in B.C. and Alberta, the WCL is one of the highest drawing collegiate summer leagues, and one of the most stable baseball leagues in existence today. Coupled with a reputation as one of the preeminent summer collegiate leagues in North America drawing talent from many of the elite college programs and conferences, leading to numerous alums in Major League Baseball, and more than 300 in affiliated professional baseball in 2024, and it is clear to see that West Coast League baseball is a model for success and showcases some of the very best baseball at its level.

Victoria is arguably Canada’s most beautiful, picturesque city to live and spend a summer in, and has an indisputable passion for baseball. Uniting Victoria with the West Coast League is a partnership that we can confidently say will ensure the HarbourCats will be ingrained in the summertime traditions of Victorians for many years to come.