Glen Todd is now among some pretty elite company in the international softball community.
Last month, during the Women’s World Softball Championships at Softball City, the South Surrey resident – founder of the White Rock Renegades and the Canada Cup softball tournament – was inducted into the World Baseball Softball Confederation Hall of Fame.
“It was a really nice honour, and a great night that my family and I really enjoyed,” said Todd of the July 22 ceremony, which was held in conjunction with a Renegades reunion.
For Todd, who became involved in the sport by coaching his daughters and formed the Renegades in 1986, hall-of-fame nods are becoming something of the norm for him. The longtime softball executive and coach is also a member of the BC Sports Hall of Fame, the Softball Canada Hall of Fame and the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame.
And as he’s always done, he deflected much of the credit to the hundreds of people who have worked with him along the way, either with the Renegades or as volunteers with the Canada Cup.
“It’s a big honour, no doubt about it, but I receive it on behalf of all of those people,” he said. “It would’ve never happened without them, so this was a recognition of not just me, but of so many people in the community who have helped.”
While Todd prefers not to soak up too much credit for himself, current Renegades president Greg Timm – who also chaired the world championships and will helm the recently revived Canada Cup in 2017 – was quick to heap praise upon the association founder.
“Glen was, in the words of the WBSC president who presented him with his plaque and his ring, ‘one of the most influential builders of international softball ever known,’” said Timm.
“It’s a huge, huge thing. You can’t understate it. It’s the biggest award you can bestow on a softball person in this world.
“We all felt so proud that our founder was being honoured – there’s less than 100 people in that hall of fame, and he’s one of them. We all had tears in our eyes when they announced it.”
Todd coached the first Renegades team in ’86 – and seven players from that original squad came back for last month’s reunion and induction ceremony – and helped build the association into the softball powerhouse it has become.
“It was very touching,” Todd said of seeing so many former players return to witness his induction.
The White Rock Renegades are among the country’s top programs, with teams combining to win more than 40 national championships. As well, hundreds from the association have went on to play collegiately and with the Canadian national team.
Though he is no longer involved in the day-to-day operations of either the Renegades or the Canadian Open Fastpitch International Championship – the tournament that replaced the Canada Cup in 2010 – he is still a supporter of the sport.
And though he was pleased with the news that the Canada Cup would return next year – replacing the more youth-focused Open – he said hasn’t tempted him to return in an organizing capacity.
“I’m leaving it all up to Greg,” he laughed. “But they did such an amazing job (at world championships). I was just overwhelmed by the job they all did.”
