As part of the annual CKNW Leadership Series, Chris Brentlinger-Grant takes a look at how leadership on and off the field has helped the Vancouver Canadians recently add to their already impressive trophy case.
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It had been three years since the Vancouver Canadians could say this, but the team is back atop the Northwest League of professional minor league baseball after capturing their first championship since 2013 and fourth in franchise history.
As a Single-A team affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays, there is a high player turnover, so keeping up with the organization can be tough.
But one man who’s been with the team for all four championships is franchise president Andy Dunn, who joined the team in 2008 after years in the major leagues.
Dunn was a director of player development with the Washington Nationals when he met with Jake Kerr and Jeff Mooney in Vancouver.
“It was one of those grey, dark, dreary days and they both swore to me that a day like this never happened in Vancouver and it never rains,” laughed Dunn.
Dunn also spent time with the Chicago Cubs and Montreal Expos. He credits the “leadership” he saw at those stops, or rather lack thereof, for helping him strive to figure things out on his own.
“I think it’s helped me a lot because I’ll be honest, I never felt like I got a lot of mentorship in those places,” Dunn said.
“But I think I’ve learned more from working with people who didn’t have success and just watching them make mistakes and remembering that, you know, listen let’s not follow that footprint.”
WATCH: Vancouver Canadians look back at their championship season
When he first arrived to Vancouver, Dunn explains he had to re-start the organization from a staffing standpoint.
“So I hired a bunch of young kids coming up internship programs and said, ‘you know what, I’m just not going to waste my time trying to change somebody’s mindset. I’m going to take the young kids who want to work, who are aggressive, who want to be here, and we’re going to give them a mindset.’”
He said they spent a lot of time with those in leadership roles and with the various departments to implement a strategy.
Working at all the different positions has gone a long way to helping him understand what each department does and how customers should be served, said Dunn.
Throughout his time with the Canadians, the team has seen players like Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Stroman and Kevin Pillar move on to join the Toronto Blue Jays.
When developing elite-level players and building championship teams around them, it’s important to have the right leaders in the organization, added Dunn.
Younger players and staff, said Dunn, will listen to coaches and managers for about two-and-a-half years, but after that people start to think they’ve heard everything and tune it out.
As a result, Dunn said, organizations need to have great instructors.
“So if you want to get your money out of your investment from the draft you’ve got to have pretty good coaches and leaders down.”
But he said it’s not the product on the field that has made the Canadians a perennial power in Northwest-League attendance numbers. Rather, he said, it’s about what goes on behind the scenes.
“I think we’ve done a tremendous amount of our work in the community where we’ve devolved fans of friends from other organizations not only the sports industry but throughout Lower Mainland. But it’s just it’s clicked,” said Dunn.
He said Kerr’s and Mooney’s investment into the Canadians was made from the heart and the community can tell.
“We’re not looking to break a bank on this thing we’re looking to provide a great night for everybody who comes to the ballpark.”