by Kayleigh MacKay, LondonOntarioSports.com
Photo: City of London’s Chris Kubinski presents Jeffrey Reed with a milestone award for local sports coverage.
LondonOntarioSports.com publisher and editor Jeffrey Reed was honoured with a milestone award during the publication’s 20th annual awards ceremony June 7 at RiverBend Golf Community in Komoka.
The award, beautifully crafted by Nothers The Award Store, was presented by Chris Kubinski, Coordinator of Sponsorship, Advertising and Sales with the City of London.
During his 45-plus years as a sports journalist, Reed, 62, has proven to be an innovator, a trend setter and a visionary – a journalist dedicated to perfecting his craft. For more than 45 years, the Strathroy-area resident has been passionate about providing readers and listeners in Southwestern Ontario with a unique voice for local sports.
On June 7, Reed’s colleagues, family and friends honoured him with a milestone award for his 45-plus years in local sports writing and broadcasting, and, of course, for publishing LondonOntarioGolf.com (est. 2004) – celebrating its 20th anniversary as The Voice of Golf in Southwestern Ontario – and LondonOntarioSports.com, London’s Trusted Source for Sports News & Information.
Reed’s amazing journey as a sports journalist began in 1980. That year, he was writing for his high school newspaper, The Montcalm Tribune; volunteering as a sports reporter with 1410 CKSL Radio; and working a summer job at O-Pee-Chee where he packed hockey and baseball cards. He even wrote an opinion editorial on baseball for The London Free Press, a newspaper he once delivered door-to-door as a kid growing up in the suburbs of the Huron Heights neighbourhood, and a daily publication which would publish his byline for parts of five decades.
Jeffrey Reed presents copies of his 1994-published book, EBBA 40 Years of Baseball, to the London Public Library.
In a nutshell, 1980 says a lot about Reed’s career in sports journalism. For parts of five decades, his work ethic has been unparalleled.
During his illustrious career, Reed has been up close and personal with some of sports’ greatest personalities. In hockey, he has called play-by-play of the London Knights, rubbed elbows with Gordie Howe and shot the breeze with Wayne Gretzky.
In baseball, he formed the Intercounty Baseball League media relations office – still going strong today – and wrote London’s very first baseball history book, chronicling the history of the Eager Beaver Baseball Association. In that book, he was the first to discover that the EBBA founder, Gordon Berryhill, was a personal friend of both Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. Reed has spent hours around Major League Baseball batting cages and in big league clubhouses, speaking with baseball greats including Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr. and Roger Clemens.
In fact, for many years Reed was known locally as, The Baseball Guy – and the biggest supporter of the London Majors of the Intercounty Baseball League. His roles with the club included scoreboard operator, bat boy, ball chaser, PA announcer, radio and TV play-by-play and colour commentator, team photographer, team media relations director and, in 2000 and 2001 third base coach and relief pitcher. No one has played such a versatile role with the London Majors as has Jeffrey Reed.
But in the early-2000s Jeff turned much of his attention to golf writing and broadcasting, and from that point on has been known as local golf’s greatest champion – working tirelessly to promote the game of a lifetime. His coverage of the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour has seen him interview greats including Jack Nicklaus and Annika Sorenstam. Interesting note: Reed interviewed 2003 Masters Tournament winner Mike Weir when he was winning tournaments on the Junior Tyson Tour in the mid-1980s.
A three-time author, Reed wrote the 2018 book, The Canadian Seniors’ Golf Association, Celebrating 100 Years of Seniors Golf 1918-2018, now housed in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum and showcased this year at The Royal Montreal Golf Club, home of the 2024 Presidents Cup.
Reed’s enormously-popular TV show, Forest City Fairways, brought much attention to his professional broadcasting skills and – more importantly – his love of local sports.
Reed is a seven-time sports writing award winner and is the only Canadian golf journalist to have captured back-to-back wins for Best Website Feature Column from the Golf Journalists Association of Canada. Over the years, his golf writing has appeared in every major Canadian newspaper, and for many years in SCORE Golf Magazine.
On the playing field, as a disabled athlete, Reed even beat the odds to become a local teaching pro and a long-time brand ambassador today supported by Titleist Golf Canada.
Of course, despite the fact Reed has interviewed and written about thousands of athletes, coaches and sports personalities for more than 45 years, promoting local sports has always been his passion – and it’s why he was honoured June 7 with a milestone award. He is the senior member of the Southwestern Ontario sports media, and proud publisher of LondonOntarioGolf.com and LondonOntarioSports.com.
Heavily invested in the local sports community, Reed and his wife, Elizabeth, have surpassed $100,000 in local charitable giving – read that story here. Heart & Stroke is the Official Charity of LondonOntarioSports.com. The husband and wife team also oversee Southwestern Ontario’s golf’s annual Heart Award, Southern Ontario’s annual Jeffrey Reed Courage Award and the annual Best of London Golf Awards.
LondonOntarioGolf.com is currently assisting the local golf industry with the 2024 London & Area Golf Survey. Valuable data on local playing and spending trends will be made available free of charge to local golf clubs, practice facilities and retailers. Read more here. Take the survey here.
Jeffrey Reed with his Milestone Award, presented by the City of London on June 7, 2024.
