Dan Asham never forgot the advice he received from one of his minor baseball coaches while growing up in Brandon.
The 56-year-old was told by Lorne Lilley that when he was done playing baseball he should give something back to the game.
Asham, who played baseball until he was 37, took that advice to heart by getting involved in coaching and joined the Saskatoon Baseball Council.
He spent 10 years as the president or past president of the Saskatoon Knights of Columbus Mosquito Baseball League, which he helped grow from 17 to 71 teams and brought in enough money to make $52,000 of repairs to Saskatoon baseball fields. He also created winter baseball in the Bridge City.
For putting in so much work, the baseball community is giving back to him by inducting him into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The induction ceremony will take place in August at Battleford, Sask.
"I think being recognized for what I did for the sport was nice," Asham said from his Saskatoon home.
Asham has had success no matter his involvement in baseball. He was a Bison Western Canadian silver medallist with the Brandon Kiwanis team in 1974 as a player and he participated in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League until 1979, when he moved to Saskatoon and joined the Outlaws. He played until 1993.
Asham has coached at all levels — from mosquito to senior — and led teams to numerous city and provincial AAA titles. In 2005, Saskatoon hosted the Junior AAA national championship, and he coached the host team to a bronze medal. He also coached a team to the Junior AAA Western Canadian championship.
However, Asham has never let his successes get to his head, as that has never been what he wanted to get out of baseball. Instead, he treasures all the friendships he’s developed over the years.
"I taught a lot of boys right from wrong," said Asham, who’s still coaching. "The boys appreciate it. We must be doing something right because I’m still coaching and the boys at the end of the game still ask my wife and I if we want to go for a pop with them."
» cjaster@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition June 15, 2012
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