Tottenham Oldtimers Slo-Pitch League

In 1990 there was enough interest to expand to 12 teams, however due to a lack of available diamonds, had to leave Tottenham and use the newly lit Palgrave south diamond.  This situation led to local organizations such as Community Recreational Improvement Committee (CRIC) and the Town of New Tecumseth to build a brand new facility, Coventry Park, that opened in 1996.

Player Ratings and Registration

The initial way of drafting players was based on an A, B, C rating.  However, when the league began expanding beyond half a dozen teams in 1989, Ron Buxton formed a rating committee and expanded the categories to 10.

In the ensuing years rating sheets were handed out to the captains to assess their individual players and these were adjusted by the ratings committee to arrive at a final rating for each player. During this time, records on each player's statistics throughout the year were compiled (e.g., at-bats, hits, runs scored, etc.) that allowed the ratings committee to compare a player's stats against the league average to make an adjusted rating.  This proved highly successful and the draft resulted in the league evolving toward parity across the teams.

In 1992, Don Robertson suggested that a pre-season registration be held where players would pay a portion of their league fees up front.  Prior to this, team captains were tasked with collecting fees at the beginning of the season and often a last minute scramble to fill out team rosters would be needed as there were always players that had moved or had chosen not to return.  This pre-season registration event resolved many of these challenges and the advance of funds allowed the league to purchase equipment prior to the beginning of the season.

Years of Stability and New Communications

During the 1990s, the league operated each year with more or less 12 teams, picking up a few new players each year and losing roughly the same amount.  It was during this time that many of the local rules of play were "tweaked" and the Constitution expanded to cover situations and ideas that arose.

In 1996, Ron (Bucky) Buxton stepped aside and Steve Kennedy was elected as President, holding the position until 2001.

Bob Blewett served as President from 2001 to 2005 and during this period the league ran either 12 or 13 teams.  At this time, much of the league records and administration moved from paper-based, hand-updated to the majority of the records updated and stored on computer.  Year-over-year changes became easier to manage - for example player ratings are available from as far back as 2002.

The league domain (tottenhamoldtimers.ca) and the first version of the web site were launched in 2004 with standings, schedules and player statistics being posted regularly to the web site.  Clayton Campbell was instrumental in getting the domain and the web site launched.

Chris Ross was elected as the 5th TOT President in 2005 and began to move the league communications into electronic format. Emails and the web site became the primary ways of reaching out to players for communicating announcements.  By 2008, the league had retired the paper-based registration mailings and implemented an on-line registration program, supplemented by a series of registration dates in March for any players still wishing to sign-up "in person".

25th Anniversary

2010 was a watershed year for TOT as it celebrated its 25th year.  Secretary/Treasurer Kevin (Radar) Boston formed a committee to organize a series of celebrations in honour of the league's continued success.   These celebrations included:

• Design-the-League-Logo Contest.  18 logos were submitted with the winning design being an amalgamation of different logos, one submitted by Kevin Boston and the other by Kevin Hollingshead.  Click to see the final contest result for both the 25th anniversary and regular logos.

• 25th Anniversary Hats.  400 of the hats were produced and were distributed to all players at the beginning of the 2010 season in addition to be used throughout 2010 for promotional and good-will purposes.  Click to see the Hat.

• Alumni game. An alumni game was organized where 32 retired and long-time current TOT players participated in a 3-inning fun game held during the Michael Worrod Help the Kids Play Tournament.  The alumni game was a smashing success and is planned to be an annual event  during the tournament.  A write-up of the game may be found on the Alumni Game page and a full compliment of photos may be found on the 2010 Alumni Game Photo Gallery.

• All-Star Game.  The Oldtimers were challenged by the Tottenham Men's League to a best-of-the-best game where each league assembled an all-star team and played a 7-inning game during the Michael Worrod Help the Kids Play Tournament.  A write-up of the game may be found on the 2010 Tournament write-up page and a full compliment of photos may be found on the 2010 All-Star Game Photo Gallery.

• Re-branded Web Site.  tottenhamoldtimers.ca underwent a major renovation and restructuring throughout 2010.  The new site was launched in August 2010 with expanded content, a photo gallery, and a completely new look-and-feel.

For the 2011 season, Chris Ross stepped down as President and Jamie McClean was elected to succeed Chris.  The season saw the second annual Alumni and All-Star Games take place during the HTKP weekend, with special note that the Oldtimer's All--Stars avenged their 2010 defeat by beating the Men's All-Stars in a truly remarkable game of slo-pitch that went into extra innings.

Please be sure to check out the year-by-year summary that lists the executive, team awards and team rosters plus the odd historical tidbit for their corresponding year.

Please see the team and individual honours on the awards and trophies page.