Former N.B. major leaguer named president of Baseball Canada

A former Major League pitcher with New Brunswick roots has been named the next president of Baseball Canada.

Jason Dickson, who lives in Fredericton, has also been named the new chief executive officer of the Fredericton YMCA.

Information Morning - Fredericton9:20Jason Dickson

Jason Dickson comes in to talk about his new jobs. He's the new CEO YMCA in Fredericton and he's taking on the job as president of Baseball Canada.

He was born in London, Ontario to a Maritime father, who moved the family back to Miramichi when Dickson was about six years old.

Dickson told Information Morning Fredericton that the chanceatboth opportunities just happened to come at the same time.

The former Olympian starts his new job at the Y on July 4and was acclaimed the new president of Baseball Canada on June 22.

"I've been the vice president... for a while and I volunteer on a few other boards so, the workload doesn't really increase. It's still a volunteer position," Dickson said.

While he's been with the organization for about six years already, he said the presidentship is a higher profile position in the sport he's been passionate about all his life.

Dickson credits outgoing Baseball Canada president Ray Carter, who's been in the job 16 years, with being a great mentor and encouraging him to put his name forward.

"I'd been a player, I'd been a coach, I'd done a little bit of work with Baseball New Brunswick... with the end goal of just creating opportunities for kids to possibility experience the dream that I had," he said.

The value of sport

Sporthas value,Dicksonsaid, by developing character in kids and teaching them what it's like to be part of a team as well assetting, and working towards, goals.

While he admitted that it's tough to break into the Major Leagues, and that natural talent has something to do with it, he said hard work and dedication is also important.

• Dicksonback on mound

"I think it's always a mix of, is there enough skill there and then are they going to work hard to get it," Dickson said.

"That's the fortunate part of being a Maritimer, right? We're naturally gritty and tough and we'll fight you tooth and nail for things we really want."

Dickson said the playoff push by the Toronto Blue Jays last season means baseball is growing in popularity right now, with the number of people playing the sport up between 20 and 25 per cent from last year.

"As the Jays do well, we do well," he said of Baseball Canada.

YMCA a good fit for Dickson

As for his new job at the YMCA, Dickson said his sports background, a love for his community and a passion for creating a better environment for kids makes that job a good fit.

"The Y is much more than a pool and a gym," he said.

"There's a lot of programming that they do. After school programming and daycare programming and a lot of different classes."

He wants to get a handle on what the Y staff already does, and what's in the organization's strategic plan, before he starts to put his own spin on what it does.

Dickson said the biggest challenge is being flexible as times change.

"Did we foresee an influx of Syrian refugees, say three or four years ago? And what can we do to help them settle in," he gives as an example of changing demographics.

He said Y members take ownership and pride in the organization, and many have already approached him.

"They've said, 'Once you get settled I have some ideas,' and there's been a lot of that," Dickson said.