Ray Carter (Tsawwassen, B.C.) ran unopposed and retained his seat as Baseball Canada’s president while incumbent vice president Linda Lewis (Port Lambton, Ont.) was narrowly re-elected to Baseball Canada’s executive committee, Saturday, at the organisation’s Annual General Meetings in Ottawa.
Ken Sharpe (Minnedosa,Man.) is the only new member of the three-person executive, running unopposed and replacing Baseball Québec’s Gilles Taillon as treasurer.
A former Baseball Ontario president, Lewis edged challenger Peter Craig (Halifax, N.S.) by six votes to begin her third consecutive two-year term.
Lewis, who joined Baseball Canada in 1989, has served on a range of committees focusing on sport development, championships, women’s baseball and fair play. She has also been heavily involved in human resources and finance committees in addition to being the current chairperson of Baseball Canada’s umpires committee.
While her experience likely gave her a slight edge in this weekend’s election, Lewis agrees the close vote is a sign of a healthy organization.
The current chair of Baseball Canada’s sport development committee and Nova Scotia board representative for two terms, Craig made it a close race by presenting the idea that turnover in an organisation can be beneficial.
“That’s what ensures the future success of organizations,” Craig said as he addressed the membership moments before the vote, calling for fresh ideas and creative thinking to tackle new issues presented to Baseball Canada. “Innovative progression and innovative direction is going to bode well for the future. These things will directly translate into increased registration.”
Lewis was quick to acknowledge the merit of Craig’s argument and says she’s looking forward to working with Craig and other members from across the country to ensure that Baseball Canada continues to move in the right direction.
“I thought that Peter did a great job because he had a lot of valid points in his speech,” said Lewis. “We do have to look down the road and we will have to do a lot of things differently. We should look very seriously at a lot of what he said.”
Carter says that the board members’ ability to work together effectively has been exemplary and he doesn’t expect that to change.
“Everything went very well this weekend,” he said of the annual board meetings alongside the election process. “Our meetings were thorough and we were able to work through any issues we had very smoothly.”
With the new executive committee in place and fresh from constructive meetings, Carter and Baseball Canada are set to embark on a new two-year term – one in which Carter vows there will be extreme emphasis on grassroots programs such as Winterball, Rally Cap and Long Term Athlete Development.
“In addition to those there are a lot of very positive ideas that are re-surfacing and I’m very pleased with the progress that we keep making,” he said. “With more funding we would be able to put more programs into action, so that’s something we’re constantly trying to access.”
In addition to organisational meetings and workshops, Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Donald Fehr was also on hand, Friday, to collect feedback from the Canadian federation with regards to the World Baseball Classic held in March.
