Philip Haddad is a longtime member of the Windsor-Riverside Minor Baseball Club who served as President during the most successful period in the club’s history.

Haddad was born on April 22, 1941 in Windsor.

Haddad graduated from London Teachers’ College in 1961. Later, he earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Windsor in 1966 and a Master of Education from Wayne State University in ’70. Haddad was an educator for 34 years with the Windsor-Essex Catholic School Board. For all but his first four years in education, he worked as a principal in a number of Windsor schools. From 1983 to ’84, he worked briefly as the Director of Development for the University of Windsor.

Haddad was President of Windsor-Riverside Minor Baseball from 1975 to ’85. He became a member of the club in 1972 and continued to be at the time of his induction into the WECSHOF. During Haddad’s presidency, Windsor-Riverside teams won five Ontario Championships and two Canadian Championships. At the national level, Riverside won the 1980 Midget and 1983 Juvenile titles. Impressively, Riverside’s Bantam teams captured silver medals in 1999 and 2000 at the National Championships, which Riverside hosted itself.

The Windsor-Minor Riverside Baseball association continues to sponsor the Canadian Bantam Championships and is a leader in the development of baseball players at the local, provincial, and national levels. As of Haddad’s induction, the program offered play at the elite level for all divisions and at the recreational level for 500 children. Its roster peaked at 1,000 players in the early 1980s.

Away from baseball, Haddad has also been instrumental in several other successful athletic organizations as a founder and volunteer executive director of the Windsor-Riverside Athletic Association. The Association provides administrative support to all of the organizations that are a part of the Riverside Baseball Centre Organization. The Association also sponsors tournaments, athletic competitions, and various training initiatives.

With Haddad’s help, the Riverside Basketball Association won 10 Ontario championships in 10 years, and the Riverside Volleyball Association sent its Midget team as Ontario’s representative to the 2000 National Championships in Moncton, New Brunswick. The Volleyball Association has also sponsored tournaments and clinics for children and travel elite teams at various levels.

Haddad has also overseen the Windsor-Riverside Golf Association, which operates a golf league for children, sponsors tournaments, and generally promotes the game of golf for young people. Similarly, Riverside Fun Camps operates summer day camps for children ages 6 to 12, primarily focusing on introducing children to sports.

In 1990, Haddad was significantly involved in the renovation of the Riverside Baseball Centre. He served as Volunteer Executive Director and was the project’s primary leader regarding purchasing and funding. In 1998, Haddad oversaw an addition to the facility and supervised its daily management. At the time of his induction, the Riverside Baseball Centre was valued at two million dollars and was completely debt free. It was unique in Canada in that it was owned by a non-profit organization and supported without government funding at any level.

Haddad personally wrote all of the constitutions of Riverside Baseball. He completed all the requirements to secure the association’s status as non-profit corporation and establish the Baseball Centre’s charitable status under Revenue Canada.