Ed Bryant

Builder (2005)

Baseball

Ed has been active as a coach, umpire and administrator in Saskatoon baseball since 1983. He helped establish a rookie league concept for boys under eight years of age, promoting it with both the Saskatchewan and Canadian associations. He has twice travelled with Saskatoon Kenko teams to international tournaments in Japan.

Ed was born in Prince Albert in 1945 and grew up in Shellbrook and began playing baseball at the age of eight. He played on the Shellbrook Little League team in 1957 and played in all age categories until he left the community in 1963 to pursue studies at the University of Saskatchewan.

He began coaching in Saskatoon in 1983, starting with the Giants, who played in the Mosquito division. He was coach of the Saskatoon Cardinals, a connection he would maintain for many years, and was also president of the Saskatoon Beaver League, which introduced a new citywide zoning concept.

In 1987, and again in 1988, Ed wore Canada's uniform when a Saskatoon team participated in a world championship Kenko tournament in Japan. Ed developed the idea of a Rookie League in Saskatoon, using the Kenko baseball and a pitching machine, stressing the safety factor of the game. The idea then gained momentum with both the Saskatchewan Baseball Association and Baseball Canada. Ed did double duty on the first Japanese tour, serving as assistant coach for Canada and also umpiring, for which he won an award as best official in the tournament.

Ed became a director of the Saskatchewan Baseball Association in 1986, was president in 1997 and spent two years as past president, with all roles leading to a 1998 Special Award of Merit. He received a life membership award in 2000, in part, recognizing that Saskatchewan was named The Province of the Year by Baseball Canada five times during his tenure of service.

He was voted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in August 2000, and, among other contributions, was cited for his work with Dave Shury, John Dewar and Paul Hack, in producing Wheat Province Diamonds, the history of Saskatchewan baseball. He shared the Hall of Fame moment with Lieutenant-Governor Lynda Haverstock, one of the guests at the ceremonies.