Ryan Hepburn was presented an award by Mayor Doug Measures on 19 June 2024 during the Culture and Sports Hall of Fame for the Young Leader in Sports for the 2023 Season.
Ryan started umpiring by completing
courses in 2020 but did not have the benefit of umpiring games due to the
pandemic and the majority of baseball activities were cancelled during that
season. Over the last three years, Ryan has displayed an increasing level of
confidence and knowledge of the game while exhibiting a better sense of game
management when umpiring games during the 2023 season. A student of the game he
is constantly reviewing the Rules of Baseball pending on the league he is
umpiring to advance his knowledge. He has demonstrated the desire to improve upon his
skills by readily accepting constructive criticism or consulting his umpire
partner, talking out a scenario, then makes the necessary adjustments.
Ryan, on numerous
occasions has demonstrated flexibility and extreme reliability as an umpire by
readily covering off games with only 20 minutes notice when an umpire failed to
show or provided minimal advance notice that they were unable to fulfill their
commitment, altruistically adjusting his personal schedule. This was
particularly critical as some of the visiting teams had to travel some distance
to play the game that required two umpires.
Ryan as a player, has
increased confidence by providing constructive criticism to his teammates in
order to help them improve their game while having success. After making an error,
Ryan will return to the bench and ask the coaches on what he could have done
different on the play and then make the adjustments.