Victoria Eagles LHP Max Gardiner winds up eight years of playing in the same origanization this weekned. His father, Colin, discusses the meaningful impact a quality program had on a his son’s life. Photo: Christian J. Stewart,

Intro from Martin Winstanley ... Max Gardiner was a member of the Victoria Eagles for eight seasons, playing mosquito, peewee, bantam premier, junior premier, and premier Eagles between 2014 and 2021. We recently received a heartwarming email from Max’s father, Colin, conveying his feelings about the years his son played Eagles Baseball. Colin’s email also contains words from Max’s grandfather, Scotty Gardiner who was always in the stands watching his grandson play ball.

By Colin Gardiner

You asked for a little backstory. I apologize if this is too lengthy!

Our whole experience with Max playing ball has been nothing but wonderful. We were exceedingly fortunate to join the Peninsula Baseball and Softball Association about 12 years ago when it was under the superb leadership of Dave Swinton, who helped guide me/us over the years as a terrific mentor. I am forever deeply grateful for his devotion to nurturing PBSA, its players and for his advice as our sons (born a week apart) grew up through the sport.

Dave, for example, suggested that Max try summer ball, when I was naïve and unsure whether that was a worthwhile pursuit.

Our first exposure to the Eagles came in the summer of 2014, when Max was 10 and he played for the mosquito A Victoria Red Eagles. That season was unforgettable, as the team went almost undefeated. Almost. What a bitter life lesson it was to lose the provincial final that we were hosting!

In the summer of 2015, again Max played at the mosquito level with the Eagles.

In 2016, Max surprised me by saying he didn’t want to play summer ball, so I took the opportunity to drive with him to Nova Scotia and back, camping the whole way. We drove more than 17,000 km over 42 days, and almost every day he wore an Eagles hoodie or shirt.

It’s something I only noticed afterwards: I have photos of him wearing his Eagles gear in Vancouver the morning we departed, by Lake Louise, in front of a Saskatchewan grain elevator, playing mini-golf in Manitoba, on the shores of Lake Superior, standing at centre ice in the remains of the Montreal Forum, on a ferry from Nova Scotia to New Brunswick, on the Appalachian Trail (we dipped into Maine), at the site of the Lac-Mégantic train disaster, by Lake Ontario, at Niagara Falls, on a ferry by Georgian Bay, at the Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg, battling mosquitoes in Saskatchewan, visiting friends in Calgary, at the site of the Last Spike in Craigellachie, BC, and on the ferry home — always wearing his Eagles stuff!

(Note that, on that trip, we played catch everywhere from Barriere, BC to Elk Island National Park to low tide at the Bay of Fundy. We always had our gloves and a baseball at the ready.)

In the summer of 2017, I had my last stint helping out as an assistant coach (under Rick van Helvoirt), as Max played peewee with the Eagles. After that, it was bantam in 2018 (Bob Mabee), bantam Premier in 2019 (Ron Arcuri), and then — after the COVID interruption scuttled his 2020 Junior Premier opportunity — Premier in 2021 (Dave Auger).

It all came to a halt after the championship final of the 2021 BCPBL year end tournament, which Max was fortunate enough to pitch in. At that point, he did what we hope our children will do: he read his inner guidance system, weighed what was best for him, and made a decision to step away from the sport at what he felt was the right time.

That was tough on me!!! I’d thoroughly enjoyed the whole Eagles experience, from start to finish, and wasn’t keen on it not continuing. But what a wonderful thing, as a parent, to know that Max would follow his instincts and choose the life path that he felt was best for him. Thus, our wonderful journey with the Victoria Eagles came to a close.

My 91-year-old father, Scotty, saw an awful lot of ugliness during his career in the RCMP. He knows the value of teenage boys getting in with a good crowd rather than a wayward gang of troublemakers, or being dangerously idle. He has always felt great satisfaction at Max being led by wonderful coaches who were good role models (yes — I hereby assert that Bob Mabee is indeed a fantastic role model!) and supported him, helping to mould him into the competent member of society he has become.

The value of sports in developing confidence, camaraderie and various life skills is irrefutable, but it’s the extra qualities of a classy organization like the Victoria Eagles that are truly priceless in teaching youth how to navigate life.

I shall forever be grateful to Dave Swinton for leading us to the Eagles, and to him and all the other coaches (and support staff: treasurer, board, etc.) whose tireless dedication and commitment to guiding boys like my son made our rewarding baseball experience nothing but a complete success, regardless of the scores that popped up along the way.

When I emailed my father to say I was spending this weekend watching the last home stand of the squad that Max grew up with, he wrote me back: “Colin, as you attend the Eagles’ windup weekend, give them my thanks for Max’s years: a solid foundation in a young fella’s life.”

I couldn’t have said it any better.

Isn’t it interesting how eight years can whip by so quickly? I look forward to returning to the Eagles fold when my grandchildren come along … although I suppose neither Max nor I are in a huge rush in that regard!

Many thanks to all.