June 11 is Doug Hudlin Day in Victoria

Doug Hudlin worked for the City of Victoria, but his love was being on the field as an umpire. He umpired generations of Vancouver Island ball players over four decades and is remembered as the “Gentleman Umpire”. The City of Victoria commissioned this plaque. It was unveiled at the National Little League Park on Hillside Ave, Victoria on June 11, 2022. The plaque reads:

In 2017, the City of Victoria recognized June 11 as Doug Hudlin Day. Doug was a long serving employee of the City and was chosen as the first non-American umpire — and the only Black non-American umpire — to work the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and did so twice. Doug was inducted into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame, the BC Baseball Umpires Association Hall of Fame, and has been recognized at National Little League Park and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. He was also a Little League Umpire Alumni and a founding member of the British Columbia Black History Awareness Society.