Annette Baseball Smoking & Alcohol Policies

At Annette Baseball, our diamonds are for diving catches, bunt singles, and dirt-stained uniforms. Not second-hand smoke or alcohol. The City of Toronto bylaw backs us up on this, and so do the parents in the stands.

The rule

Under City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 608, smoking and vaping (including cannabis) is banned within 20 metres of a sports field. That's roughly the distance from home plate to second base. So if you can see the game, you're too close to light up.

The 20-metre rule also applies around:

  • Playgrounds and play equipment
  • Splash pads and wading pools
  • Skate parks and BMX parks
  • Outdoor pools and pool decks
  • Picnic shelters and gazebos
  • Public washrooms

And no smoking at all in:

  • Service lines or waiting areas (think the jersey pick up line)
  • Off-leash dog areas
  • Swimming beaches
  • Zoos or farm areas

A Quick Word On Alcohol

You may have heard the City now lets people bring their own drinks to certain parks. True — but Annette plays at Ravina Gardens and High Park, and neither one is on the City's list. So the call here is easy: no alcohol at our games.

Toronto opened up exactly 55 parks for personal drinking. Ours aren't among them. Showing up to a kids' ballgame with a cooler of cold ones isn't a grey area — it's just a foul ball.

And even in the parks where it is allowed, the City keeps booze two metres back from playgrounds, splash pads, and other kid zones. The spirit of that rule is the whole point: where children gather, the drinks stay home.

Same Reasons As The Smoke

It's the law — for our fields. Drinking is only permitted in designated parks. Ravina and High Park aren't on the list, so there's no version of this that's allowed.

Kids are watching. Same diamond, same standard. What the dugout sees is what the dugout learns.

Keep the focus on the game. A ballpark on a Saturday morning runs on coffee and bad umpire jokes, not beer. Let's keep it that way.

Save the celebration for after the season. Right now, the only thing getting cracked open at the field is a fresh tin of sunflower seeds.

Why we take this seriously

A few reasons, and they all matter:

It's the law. Toronto bylaw officers can and do issue tickets. Fines aren't cheap. Don't be the one explaining a ticket to your spouse because you needed a smoke between innings.

Kids are watching. Annette Baseball is a kids' league. Every player on the field is somebody's son, daughter, niece, nephew, or grandchild. What they see normalizes behaviour. Our diamond, our standards.

Air quality matters. Hustling out a triple is hard enough without breathing in someone's exhale. Players, umpires, coaches, and fans all deserve clean air at the ballpark.

What about the parking lot?

If you smoke or vape, please step well off park property. Not just past the fence, not just to your car if it's parked next to the field. The 20-metre rule is a minimum, not a target. Use common sense and give the diamond plenty of room.

One exception, written into the law

The Smoke-Free Ontario Act permits Indigenous persons (and non-Indigenous persons accompanying them) to smoke tobacco when carried out for traditional Indigenous cultural or spiritual purposes. This is part of the bylaw, and Annette respects it.

See something?

If smoking on or near a field is becoming an issue at one of our games, the polite first step is usually a quiet word. If that doesn't work, you can file a Parks Conduct service request with the City:

  • Online at toronto.ca/311
  • By phone: 311 (or 416-392-2489 from outside Toronto)

More info

City of Toronto — Smoking in parks bylaw

Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 608 (full bylaw PDF)

Keep the smoke on the BBQ, not on the ball field.