In 2004, Hendon Park Sports Association started as a pickup game at a field near Rockford and Bathurst on Sunday mornings. The outfield had a tennis court right in the middle of it. The first game was so cold that winter gloves were needed to hold the metal bats. Behind shortstop was a huge hole, the cause of at least one sprained ankle before the season was over. With a lot of time and effort over that summer, 14 players came out every single Sunday with the teams supplying a catcher and first baseman for each other. The catcher acted as umpire and off things went.
The next season the City of Toronto offered us the Hendon Park East Field on Tuesday nights, a field we still use to this day. Within the first 6 weeks of that season, we got a core group of around 20 people who came religiously. This is when we became a real group. Most of these 20 people are still playing in HPSA to this day.
The following winter we grew from those 20 players to 6 full teams. This is when Hendon Park Sports Association, or HPSA, was formally born. By 2007 we had 12 teams, By 2008, 17 teams & 22 teams in 2009. Soon, HPSA was a 5 division, 40 team league built on the principles of safety, sportsmanship, and a passion for softball.
