Babcock elected to Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame
Ken Babcock, athletic director at Durham College and Baseball Oshawa president, will be inducted into the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame later this month. Photo: Durham College
*This article was originally published on the Oshawa This Week website. You can read the original story here.
By Brian McNair
Oshawa This Week
OSHAWA — When Ken Babcock made his way up Simcoe Street to begin his studies at Durham College as a teenager, little did he know 35 years later he would not only still be living in Oshawa, but also preparing for induction into its sports hall of fame.
He vividly recalls being dropped off by his baseball team from his hometown of Brockville, which was making its way back from a championship tournament along Highway 401, to begin his sports management program in 1984.
Convinced to come to the college by then athletic director Dave Stewart, in part to play for the Lords basketball team, he would be hired by Stewart upon graduation and replace him as athletic director in 1995.
Although he has nothing but fond memories of growing up Brockville, Babcock’s second home is where he’s truly made his mark, both inside and beyond the walls of Durham College.
“It’s hard to believe. It feels like it was yesterday,” Babcock said of his time spent in Oshawa. “It’s a neat place to be. I’m proud I stayed. I don’t have any regrets at all. It’s just an awesome place to live.”
One of Babcock’s first memories of rubbing elbows with Oshawa’s sporting greats came in 1986, when Stewart prompted him to buy a tie and volunteer to work at the first induction ceremony for the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame — where the likes of Bobby Orr and Barbara Underhill were among the 31 original inductees.
He obviously came away inspired.
In his leading role at the college, Babcock has helped lead Lords sports teams to an astonishing 42 gold medals and 105 overall in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) and an additional five gold and 22 overall medals in the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association.
He has served a variety of roles on the executive of the OCAA, including president from 2001 to 2003, founded the Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association in 1994, created the Durham College Sports Hall of Fame in 1997, helped launch the OCAA Hall of Fame in 2003, and has drawn multiple provincial and national championship tournaments to Oshawa.
Babcock also served as athletic director for the first eight years of existence at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, where he oversaw the Ridgebacks’ first Ontario University Athletics medal.
“It hasn’t been work, it’s been fun,” he insists.
Off campus, Babcock has been involved with Baseball Oshawa since 2005, including as president since 2012, and was a member of the organizing committees for both the 2000 Ontario Summer Games and baseball portion of the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games.
He has been married to Diane for 27 years and has raised two children, 21-year-old Shannon and 18-year-old Braden, a freshman baseball player at McCook Community College in Nebraska.
As for his own induction into the Oshawa Sports hall of Fame, which will take place May 29, he says it will be strange to be on the other side.
“I’m the person that’s usually up giving out awards and have the pleasure of recognizing such truly amazing athletes and significant contributions, so it’s a little awkward,” he admits. “But this is really and truly an honour to be recognized with so many amazing people in Oshawa. Very humbling, and very proud.”