Hall of Famer Ron Hayter passes away
“For almost 50 years, Ron Hayter was a trailblazing executive and a strong and highly respected voice for baseball at the provincial, national and international levels. He worked selflessly and passionately to improve the game of baseball in Canada with many of his efforts done behind-the-scenes at the volunteer level. I enjoyed meeting Ron and his family when he was inducted into our Hall of Fame in 2006 and I was deeply saddened to learn that he has passed away on Saturday, April 21, 2018. On behalf of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, I would like to express my condolences to his family.”
– Scott Crawford, Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame director of operation
Ron Hayter has been a player, coach, manager, executive and organizer of Canadian and international baseball for close to 50 years. Born in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, he played in Northern Saskatchewan and British Columbia before taking charge of Baseball Alberta in 1968. The passionate sportsman revived the struggling provincial body and tripled the number of registered teams in just three years, before stepping down in 1971.
He would later serve Baseball Canada in various capacities, from developing the first Canadian rulebook to organizing the inaugural national championships. He also represented Canada with the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) for 18 years, sitting on the legal and technical commissions, and receiving the IBAF’s President’s Award in 1990.
In 1979, he founded the Edmonton International Baseball Foundation (EIBF), an association that has organized six international competitions in the city, including the first IBAF World Cup of Women’s Baseball in 2004. Former prime minister Lester B. Pearson enlisted Hayter as an advisor to help form Sport Canada. One of the most respected voices in Canadian baseball, Hayter received the coveted Vanier Award as an “Outstanding Young Canadian” in 1974 and was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, for outstanding community service, in 2004. He has also been named a life member of Baseball Alberta and was inducted in the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1978 and the Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.
