HICKSON - Ever since he was a boy Hickson’s Kyle Smith loved spending time at the ballpark.
He found a way to spend even more time at the diamond when he joined the International Softball Congress (ISC) as a broadcaster in 2006. Now, Smith is getting even more involved with the sport he loves. Last month, the ISC appointed Smith as regional commissioner for Canada east.
As commissioner, Smith will act as liaison between teams and the ISC board.
“I work as a connection, promoting the game,” he said. “I go to various tournaments around the countryside and work as a contact for the teams through to the ISC. I’ll try to grow the game in Canada east.”
"Kyle is already very active on the men's fastball circuit in Ontario and we're very happy to extend his involvement with the ISC beyond the broadcast booth," said ISC executive director Ken Hackmeister, adding that Kyle already works closely with ISC vice president of operations Blair Setford and ISC vice president of communications Joe Todd.
“I’ve been working close with those guys probably for about two years, so I’ve been working in the organization already,” Smith said. “I’ve already got the lay of the land for how things work.”
Not planning on leaving the ISC anytime soon, Smith said he’ll bring continuity to the job. The 29-year-old Smith brings a youthful presence to the ISC, Hackmeister said.
“I bring a youthfulness and some new ideas to the table that haven’t been shared before,” Smith said. “You always have different ideas when you’re not a part of it. Maybe you see a few different things when you’re the outside looking in.”
In his new role, Smith said he’ll still get to spend lots of time in the broadcast booth. He has a passion for broadcasting and he’s glad he gets to keep calling games on ballparkradio.com.
“I’ll still be in the broadcast booth pretty much every night,” he said.” Not much is really going to change there other than maybe a little more work behind the scenes administrative wise than what I was doing before.”
The plan is to improve the broadcasts, moving forward with technology over time. Smith brings the technical skills to make that happen, Hackmeister said.
“We’re trying to build the product into a better product as we move forward using new technology more to its potential,” Smith said. “We’ve got great equipment. Now it’s just time to move it forward.”
Serving as regional commissioner was the next step for Smith. Taking the job was the natural progression from the broadcast booth into an administrative role. He’s enjoying the new job so far.
“I really like being hands on with the teams and hands on with the players an interacting with the players a lot more administratively and trying to grow it,” he said.
Smith was a ball fan from the beginning. Growing up, he played played minor ball in Hickson and started umpiring after finishing midget ball.
“I umpire to this day,” he said. “I’ve traveled the countryside umpiring in lots of local ballparks. I’ve loved the game since I was a young child growing up.”
He is a member of the Innerkip and Woodstock umpires associations and umpires in both the Tri-County Fastball League and the South Perth Men's Fastball League.
“I love the game,” he said. “My bio on ballparkradio.com says I spend more time at the ballpark in the summertime than I do at home and that’s more true than some people think. They say how are you going to do this, does it mean more travel? Well, not really because I go to all the tournaments as it already.”
Spending all that time at the ballpark is just fine by Smith. There’s no place he’d rather be.
“It’s sort of a release for me,” he said. “It’s a place where I can go and not have a worry in the world other than what’s going on in front of you at that time.”
ron.thomson@sunmedia.ca
