New HOFer Waffle proud of Etobicoke's new Field of Dreams

Alan Waffle, founding president of the Royal York Baseball League, was inducted into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame last month in recognition of his contribution to youth sports in the city. Photo: J.P Antonacci

December 13, 2019

By J.P. Antonacci

Canadian Baseball Network

It’s the kind of problem that gets Alan Waffle’s mind whirring – too many kids want to play ball, not enough diamonds for them to use.

“So I set out six years ago with the idea that we needed to build another diamond in Etobicoke,” Waffle said.

The longtime president of the Royal York Baseball League started working the phone. City of Toronto parks and rec staff suggested the best place for a new diamond was next to one of the jewels of Etobicoke baseball – Connorvale Park. The city promised to kick in $750,000 if the league could raise the remaining $250,000.

To do that, Waffle swung for the fences, bringing in the Blue Jays Foundation as a partner to the tune of a $150,000 grant through the club’s Field of Dreams program. A $25,000 donation from Humber College supplemented the league’s energetic fundraising campaign to cover the balance.

Alan Waffle stands in front of what he calls the Green Monster, a 30-foot fence that allows older divisions to use Etobicoke’s new Field of Dreams despite the short perch in left field. Photo: J.P. Antonacci.

This past summer saw players of all ages throwing the ball around on Etobicoke’s new Field of Dreams and trying to loft homers over the humongous left field fence.

“We were able to convince the city to put up a Green Monster,” Waffle said with a laugh, explaining that the 30-foot fence allows older divisions to use the bantam-sized diamond despite the short perch.

Building a new ballpark is just the latest home run in Waffle’s two decades and counting at the helm of one of the busiest youth baseball organizations in the city. The unassuming executive took centre stage last month when he was inducted into the Etobicoke Sports Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the Old Mill.

“I said, ‘I don’t believe it!’ I just sat there and was overwhelmed,” Waffle said of the phone call from Hall of Fame president Joanne Noble telling him he was a member of the class of 2019.

“I walk by (the inductee displays in the Ford Performance Centre) and would tell friends, to me, if I had my picture up there with all those athletes and builders in Etobicoke, it would be the pinnacle of my life. And it happened! It came true.”

Waffle first got involved the way most future sports league presidents do – as a parent. In 1986, his son Christopher wanted to give T-ball a try, so his parents signed him up with the Islington Baseball League.

“The more I got into it and saw the kids were having fun, I wanted to participate more in the activity other than just cheering them on,” Waffle said.

Pretty soon he was an assistant coach, then head coach, then convenor of the Mosquito division. His daughter Meghan wanted to play too, so Waffle started coaching her softball team.

“It was a way to give back to the community,” he said.

Waffle wasn’t a total rookie on the diamond, having played with Islington as a kid.

“I don’t think I was the best player, because they kept sticking me in right field and saying, ‘Go back, go back,’” he laughed. “But I really enjoyed baseball.”

A natural leader with a knack for bringing people together, Waffle ascended to the IBL presidency in 1997 and promptly spearheaded an effort that would have a lasting impact on baseball in Etobicoke.

Always with an eye to the future, Alan Waffle puts away money each year for diamond improvements and to ensure kids from low-income families can play ball without enduring financial hardship. Photo: J.P. Antonacci

At that time, enrolment in the Queensway Baseball League was “dropping like a stone,” Waffle recalled. Islington’s ranks were strong with 350 kids, but after Mosquito, players had to move to the Kingsway league for peewee and bantam, and Kingsway’s rules stated that no parents could coach rep or select teams on which their kids played.

Waffle balked at what he saw as an unreasonable stipulation and found a solution to kids aging out of Islington’s program by merging his league with Queensway and the Etobicoke Girls Baseball League, creating the Royal York Baseball League in 2001. Now with access to Queensway’s diamonds, Waffle – RYBL’s first and, to date, only president – formed rep and select programs for the upper divisions of the new league.

With its pipeline of players having run dry, Kingsway folded soon after and merged into Royal York, which saw enrolment shoot up to 600.

“That was our first hostile takeover,” Waffle laughed. “We’ve been growing ever since.”

A few years prior to the merger, Waffle had another idea. He noticed that he and many other parents were pulling double duty by coaching their sons and daughters. “So we said why don’t we switch our whole softball division to hardball?”

The coaches were all for it, and most of the 120 softball players and families surveyed gave the idea two thumbs up.

“That first year was a total disaster,” Waffle said, chuckling. “It was a hard transition.”

But soon the girls got the hang of overhand pitching and the popularity of the new division grew and grew.

“We now have one of the largest contingents of girls playing hardball in Ontario, and maybe Canada,” said Waffle, who coached the Royal York Women’s AAA baseball team from 2000 to 2012, winning back-to-back provincial championships in 2003-04.

As president Waffle is pushing for gender parity on the RYBL executive – which numbers 18 to 20, depending on the year – to ensure a variety of perspectives are heard.

“We’re nowhere near the goal, but we’re working toward it,” he said.

Now with 1,250 active players in its ranks, Royal York fields 26 rep and select teams, which is head and shoulders above any other league in the Etobicoke Baseball Association.

“We’re providing players with another level of baseball that they might not be able to achieve at another organization,” Waffle said, stressing that the league’s continued success is a team effort.

“I always had a really good group of executives – people who were really involved. Over the years they kept me interested in the game and our league. I really enjoyed their company and their visions.”

The all-volunteer executive doesn’t take formal votes, Waffle explained. They discuss options for the future and come to a consensus.

“That way you get this win-win situation that they’ve all bought into a process and an opportunity, and they want to make it happen,” he said.

Drawing on his managerial experience with Environment Canada, Waffle empowers the committee to think big and welcomes discussion of even the most expensive ideas.

“Money is the easiest thing to get. Commitment is the hardest,” he says.

He tells committee members, “Let me worry about the money. You tell me what you need and the tools you need, and I’ll make sure it happens.”

Everything Waffle does is designed to give kids and families a more enriching experience at the ballpark. That’s why his coaches and players train with Pro Teach Baseball, the renowned south Etobicoke facility led by former pro player and RYBL executive member Denny Berni.

“Alan just figured a long time ago that along with fields, you have to give the players some instruction,” Berni said.

Each spring, players at every level participate in clinics led by Pro Teach staff, who stress baseball fundamentals year after year. Pro Teach instructors will also take over one practice per team to show coaches how to keep kids engaged and get the most out of drills.

“We hammer home the skill sets to the players. And because we use Pro Teach, they’re getting the same instruction from T-ball to bantam,” Waffle said. “We found that we can keep people in the game longer and they’ll enjoy it more.”

That has been the case, Berni said, explaining that coaches and players alike embrace the advanced training they get at Pro Teach. After a season or two, it’s not unusual to see house league players graduate to select, and select players advance to rep.

“It’s a snowball effect, which is great to see,” Berni said.

Berni, who grew up playing at Connorvale and whose Etobicoke Rangers use the park regularly, supported Waffle’s quest for a new diamond by donating towards the scoreboard at the Field of Dreams.

The electronic scoreboard at Connorvale Park’s Field of Dreams was installed with financial support from Humber College and Pro Teach Baseball. It was money well spent, said Pro Teach founder Denny Berni. Photo: J.P. Antonacci

“It was a great way to spend some money,” he said of Pro Teach’s financial support of the project. “They did a great job. When there’s two games going on in the summer there, it’s a great atmosphere. That’s a lot of work Alan and his committee did.”

Berni said it didn’t surprise him in the least to learn that Waffle had been deemed worthy to join the ranks of Etobicoke’s sporting greats.

“Just seeing all the man hours he has to work to keep such a big league going, it’s impressive,” Berni said. “It really is a full-time job, even though it’s a volunteer job. It’s just non-stop, and he’s so dedicated to it.”

As a leader, Waffle always has one eye to the future. He squirrels away $25 from every player’s registration fee into a capital improvement fund, and then works with the parks and rec department and private contractors to upgrade the league’s fields more often than what the city could afford.

“We want to make sure the boys and girls have a safe diamond to play on and show their skills,” Waffle said of pristine parks that are the envy of other baseball associations in Toronto, and much appreciated by those who use them.

Another of his watchwords is accessibility. If Waffle hears of a child who wants to play but whose family can’t afford it, he’ll call parents personally and assure them that “money is not going to be a barrier to your son or daughter playing baseball with the Royal York Baseball League.”

Without revealing the full cost of registration, Waffle asks families in this situation to cover a $25 fee. The league will also outfit kids with a glove and any other equipment they might need.

“We feel that small commitment will help them feel that it’s not a freebie or a handout,” Waffle explained.

He wants to make sure every child can reap the benefits of team sports, just as he did growing up.

“The ability to get along with other people goes a long way,” Waffle said. “It’s a team effort. It’s not just one person. You have to count on everyone playing up to their best ability. It’s not if you won – it’s did you have fun and did you learn something?”

After more than three decades spent supporting youth baseball in Etobicoke, and as he looks ahead to what’s next for the league he founded, Waffle can answer those same questions with a resounding yes.

“The most important thing is I’m still having fun,” he said. “I say to everybody, it’s got to be fun for the parents and the kids and the coaches, or else you’re in the wrong business.”