“That place, that setting; it’s the spot to do great things,” says Steve Hogle. He might be onto something. He’s talking about Re/Max Field — Edmonton’s premier ball diamond, home to the Edmonton Riverhawks, an elite summer collegiate team in the West Coast League.
But that field is not just a ball diamond.
Long before downtown’s towers ever arose, the Re/Max Field’s home — the flats on the north banks of the North Saskatchewan River — was the site of the original Fort Edmonton. The land also served as a meeting ground for Indigenous peoples for thousands of years before that. In an era where land acknowledgments have shifted from being a courtesy to being the subject of skepticism, and sometimes derision, Hogle is a true believer who somehow manages to strip away the performative gloss and make the acknowledgment before home games feel authentic.
Hogle’s career includes decades in media — years with the Alberta Research Council (now Alberta Innovates) and serving as the vice-president, communications broadcast with the Edmonton Oilers. And before the Riverhawks, Hogle spent six years in Saskatchewan as president of the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League.
Along with Randy Gregg (one of Edify‘s Six Who Inspire ’25) of the Edmonton Oilers’ glory-days fame (and 28 others), Hogle is one of “the 30 who believed in the cause” — a group that moved to ensure that Re/Max Field, in danger of mothballing, got a new lease on life. Hogle says The Riverhawks have been “in the black since day one,” when they signed a 10-year lease in 2022. Now the Riverhawks regularly sell out the 9,200-capacity field to fans who cheer on players that might typically play in front of a couple of hundred people in their hometown colleges. “Our players film the crowds at Re/Max, and they have become our best recruiters,” Hogle says.
But this isn’t a baseball story, at least not strictly.
It’s the story of how Hogle came to earn the laurel of the Edifier who best exemplifies the values of “Citizen Champion.” Its genesis lies in how he has built a community based on sound business plans — a knowledge of the special roles of sports, patriotism, sincerity and gratitude in the fabric of civic life. He has shown great commitment to welcoming and celebrating new Canadians. Hogle, as “director of fun” for the Riverhawks, has helped create a thriving business around the team, and he has become an ambassador for how we can appreciate the perspectives and experiences of new Canadians.
Every home game (all 27 of them) has a theme — such as “Baseball Goes Bollywood,” for example — but the most popular is the Canada Day ceremony on July 1, when the Riverhawks host an annual Canadian citizenship ceremony on the field. About 50 new Canadians are welcomed by Hogle and others in a pre-game ceremony that can include themed jerseys and special performances. It’s part of a theme that celebrates “all things Canadian”— including Indigenous celebrations.
“People come to Canada for all kind of reasons, and sometimes it’s because they had to escape,” he says. “I want to show newcomers that they are welcome, I want to thank them for choosing Canada.”
“It’s more important now than ever to make sure the positive outweighs the negative,” he explains. “It’s so easy to complain, but we have so much to be grateful for.” We do, indeed.
This article appears in the April 2026 issue of Edify
