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Our new phone number and email address are as follows: Phone: 519-438-7203
Ext. 370 Email: sportscouncil@westernfair.com
London Sports Council - Upcoming Events
Volunteer Recognition and Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner
The London Sports Council will be hosting its annual Spirit of Sport Volunteer Recognition and Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner on November 5, 2008.
The event will take place in the Carousel Room at the Western Fair. Tickets are on sale for $100 each or $800 for a table of 8.
Tickets will be made available by Sept. 1, 2008
This year's Hall of Fame Inductees include;
CASEY PATTON
ATHLETE MODERN
He put boxing and London on the map in the 1990s when he was named Canadian amateur boxer of the year in 1994 and competed in the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta.
Casey began his boxing career with the East End Club at the tender age of 13 and under the tutelage of the late Ken McNorgan, his coach and trainer, blossomed into an accomplished athlete. Among his early victories was gold medal in the 1989 Ontario Winter Games and a silver in the 1991 Games. He also won the 1991 Golden Gloves in Dettroit.
He was several times Canadian champion in intermediate and senior divisions, fighting mostly at 57 kg.
Casey was a true ambassador for London as he competed for Team Canada in many international competitions. He took silver medals in the Liverpool, Eng. multi-nation meet and the Copenhagen Cup, lost in round 2 of the world championships in Berlin, won gold in the Oceanic Cup in Cali, Colombia and was a silver medallist in the North American championships in Puerto Rico.
Casey retired after the 1996 Olympics, his dream of boxing in the Olympics fulfilled despite not winning a medal. There he fought his 100th and last amateur bout -- a first-round defeat at the hands of South African Phillip Nbou that ended with a controversial referee stoppage. This leftl him with a record of 81 wins and 19 losses. Certainly he was London's most successful boxer of the past 25 years.
BRUCE HUFF
BUILDER/FOUNDER MODERN
It seems as if he and his trademark column "Off The Cuff" have been around forever. He's been at it for some 55 years and shows no signs of slowing down. Sports has been his life and newspapers afforded him the best seat in the house.
Stanley Cup, Olympics, World Series, Grey Cup, Super Bowl, Indianapolis 500, Queen's Plate, Mann Cup lacrosse, Ali-Chuvalo, world championships in practically every sport -- he's seen it all. From the time he was a teen-age writer for his hometown weeklies in Dresden, to his first job in Tillsonburg through stops in Chatham, the London Free Press (twice), Sport London, Toronto Sun and Toronto Star, he's been commited to his craft.
He's been quick to shun accolades although awards and citations are plenty. Being a champion to the little guy has been a longtime trait. Away from the keyboard he has found little spare time in retirement as the founding chairman of the London Sports Hall of Fame committee, the first chairman of the London Oldtimers Sports Association, a charter member of the London Sports Council, co-ordinator of the Grandstand Display project at Labatt Park, director of the Intercounty Baseball League hall of fame committee and the person responsible for bringing the hall to London as a permanent site.
He is a member of the Canadian Oldtimers Hockey Hall of Fame, the Dresden Sports Hall of Fame, the Ontario Legends of Fastball and has been honoured as a London Hockey Man of Distinction as well as being London's Sportsperson of the Year in 2003.
He's a pretty fair athlete too having competed in baseball, fastball and lacrosse at the senior level. He was a multi-sport performer in high school and held his school record for the mile.
Since retirement in April of 1994 he has played and coached in more than 1,500 oldtimer hockey games including winning gold twice with London Huff N Puff in the Snoopy World tournament in Santa Rosa CA, being player-coach of a successful tour of Scotland, and being captain of his team in the recent World Cup in Quebec City where they finished second. He is also player-manager of an elite senior slo-pitch softball team that plays across North America and has competed in the Pan-AM, Canadian and Ontario Masters Association track and field events.
Cited in the Who's Who of Canadian Sport, he was born June 22, 1934 in Morpeth, Ontario.
MARJORIE BLACK
BUILDER/FOUNDER LEGEND
It was all in the dance and it led Marjorie Black from Manchester, England to a worldwide reputation as the woman who brought synchro skating to global prominence.
The small but mighty Marjorie was born on March 22, 1925 in Manchester. At an early age she became an accomplished ballerina at the same time taking to the ice. In 1948 won the European open and dance ice skating championship with her partner Ronnie Baker.
Later she spent six years as a principal skater with the Ice Capades followed by 45 years of professional coaching, mostly in Canada.
It was as a coach that Marjorie became widely known as an innovator and perfectionist as she taught several Canadian champions in singles, pairs and dance. However, her greatest satisfaction came in seeing "her girls" -- the London Supremes -- win the first of three consecutive Canadian Precision Championships in 1983. The Supremes also won the North American championship that year in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Majorie's pursuit for perfection and innovative techniques led her to being recognized around the world and in later years she was invited to hold instructional clinics on precision skating in Europe and the United States. But it was her influence as a former pairs and dance competitor in the intricate footwork and artistry used by the Supremes that drew rave reviews from judges and spectators alike and cemeted her reputation as a world-class coach.
She had a picture of herself doing the famous "Beilman Spin" in 1938, more than 40 years before Denise Beilman of Switzerland did it at the world amateur championships.
In the spin, the skater grabs her free skate above her head with the leg extended straight up. "People are always pinching my ideas and it gets hard to think up new ones," she once was quoted as saying.
Alas, the woman who pioneered synchro skating on the rinks in and around London and then took it to the world stage, died on July 4, 2002, ironically the year of Girls and Women in Sport.
Today we are honoured to welcome Marjorie Black, the first inductee from figure skating, into the London Sports Hall of Fame in the builder/founder legend category. 1957 BECK SPARTANS
TEAM CATEGORY
For those who came in late, the green and white of Beck Collegiate was, in it's day, a leading producer of some of the most outstanding high school athletic talent in the city. Perhaps none finer than the 1957 senior boy's basketball team.
The east end school closed its doors almost three decades ago but the '57 Spartans left a legacy that still ranks with all the great London secondary school sports achievements. While provincial titles in other sports have been recorded by local schools, this team holds the distinction of being the only senior boy's basketball squad from London to win an Ontario championship -- a benchmark accomplishment that's stood the test of time for 51 years.
Coached by Roger Macaulay, the team went into the All-Ontario final carrying the standard of the London Conference, the forerunner of the Thames Valley District Athletic Association. Members of the team were Brian Laird, captain, Barry Howson, Gerry Witherden, Gary Boug, Tom Timbrell, Bill Woloshyn, Walter Turek, Larry Fazakas, Ken Earthy, Dave McLeod, John McNaughton and Jack Wistow. Howson went on to play for Canada in the 1964 Olympics and is a member of the Canadian Basketball and Sarnia-Lambton Sports halls of fame.
After winning the London Conference title it was on to WOSSA where epic confrontations between London and Windsor schools were commonplace in basketball, football, track and field and soccer. This time it was the Spartans who ruled the court as they downed Patterson Collegiate to gain a place in the All-Ontario tournament played in Toronto.
First up was the Irish of Welland Notre Dame who fell to Beck 51--50. Then came the big test as Beck drew the Sudbury Tech Blue Devils , the scourge of the north, led by big John McKibbon -- later a Canadian Olympian -- in the semi-finals.
"The Toronto papers were full of how big and strong Sudbury was," recalled Timbrell. "but we couldn't let that influence us. We had to go out and play our game."
The result was a 57-45 decision for the Spartans boosting them into the championship where they would defeat East York Collegiate, the Toronto and District champion, 57-35 for the Golden Ball Trophy.
Howson put up 26 points for a three-game total of 58 while Laird scored 23 for a total of 53.
The 1957 Spartans set the city abuzz with their gutsy performance. Oldtimers still talk about them with an air of reverence. The London Sports Hall of Fame is proud to weclome them into the team category for 2008.
Bell Canada and the True Sport Foundation Announce Expansion of Community Sport Funding Program
If you care about increasing opportunities for youth to play select team sports* in your community, the Bell Community Sport Fund can help you.
The Bell Community Sport Fund is a $1 million community investment program that provides opportunities for communities in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec to access funds for their local team sport programs.
Bell and True Sport believe in the power of sport to connect communities. We also believe that people like you care about making it as simple as possible for children and youth to play. That?s why we?ve partnered to renew and expand the Bell Community Sport Fund for a third year; which will help communities promote inclusion and increase access to team sport programs for children and youth, aged four to seventeen.
Over the next year, communities will benefit from $5,000 grants and $25,000 grants totaling $1 million.
More Information: http://www.truesportpur.ca/index.php/language/en/form/11
* Eligible Sports
Baseball, Basketball, Cricket, Curling, Field Hockey, Football, Hockey, Lacrosse, Ringette, Soccer, Softball, Volleyball.
Information on Implementation of the Children's Fitness Tax Credit
Parks and Recreation Ontario (PRO) has posted a page of frequently asked questions about the new Children's Fitness Tax Credit which came into effect January 1, 2007. It can be found at http://www.prontario.org/creditFAQ.htm .
As well, The Lifestyle Information Network (LIN) has started a discussion forum about the Credit. This is an ideal way to share information. Visit www.lin.ca, click on discussions to read postings. If you want to make a posting, you must join. On the discussion page click on “join” and fill out the simple form. You will receive an email from LIN confirming your user name and password. Then, you can post to the forum.
PRO also has quick links to the Government of Canada pages that provide detail about the credit. These can be found on PRO's homepage, www.prontario.org .
Sport Contact Info - Downloadable Contact Information
KidSport London
The purpose of KidSport London is to help local kids overcome social
and economic barriers, which have prevented or limited their participation
in sport, through issuance of registration fee and/or equipment grants.
For more information, click on our KidSport web-site.
http://www.kidsport.on.ca/london/
Sport Grant Application Form
Sport Grant Application Form - Instructions
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