LEGION CAMP PLAYS HOST TO A WHO'S WHO OF CANADIAN SPORTS

If one takes a closer look at the members annually selected into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, there is one common denominator. For the last 20 years at least two inductees selected each year has attended the Legion Athletic Camp as either an athlete or coach. No other grassroots program in the history of Manitoba sports has offered such a multi-sport springboard

Below is a list of just some of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame members who have attended the Royal Canadian Legion Athletic Camp as either and athlete, coach or both.

Mark Berger, Mike Burchuk, Wezer Bridle, Jim Bulloch, Keith Carter, Jim Daly, Maureen Dowds, Alex Gibb, Dave Lyon, Brian MacLaren, Chris McCubbins, Frank McKinnon, Janet Madden Neale, Al Miller, Dennis Nord, Moe Oye, Bruce Pirnie, Garth Pischke, John Potter, Carl Ridd, Martin Riley, Joe Ryan, Zlatice Stauder and Kass Vidruk.

The Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame and Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame also have several honoured members with Legion Athletic Camp contact.

Each summer the Legion Athletic Camp also attracts top-notch international coaches usually on exchange programs.

Below are profiles of a few of the athlete/coaches whom have attended the camp over the last 42 years.

At the moment of her greatest triumph in winning the 3,000m bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, Angela Chalmers thoughts were of her late father. "My dad was a big influence in my life when he died in 1984 before the Olympic trials," Chalmers said following the race. "I said to him when he was in the hospital that I wanted to prove to him that I could do it."

Born in 1963 and raised near Brandon, Chalmers was one of Canadas finest female distance runners and one of the countrys few Aboriginal Olympians due to her Sioux heritage on her mothers side. Chalmers moved to her fathers hometown of Victoria, BC, as a young girl but returned to Manitoba in the early 1980s before heading south to attend Northern Arizona University. There she was an eight-time All American in track and field and cross-country running.

Chalmers had her first taste of international success in 1984, winning the bronze in the 3,000m at the World University Games in Kobe, Japan. That same year, she competed for Canada on four international cross-country teams including the World Championships team.

Her international breakout came in 1990. At the Commonwealth Games in Auckland, NZ, she struck gold in the 1,500 and 3,000m becoming the first athlete ever to win both events. As a result Chalmers was named the Female Athlete of the Year by the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association and picked up the Athletics Canada Phil Edwards Trophy for outstanding athlete in track events.

Chalmers 1992 Olympic bronze medal was only the second time a Canadian woman had medalled in the event. While that was definitely the high point of her running career, she still had two more highlights to add to her resume. First, she was the overwhelmingly popular choice to act as flag bearer for the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria leading the Canadian team into Centennial Stadium. Days later, she won the gold medal in the 3,000m. That performance and a gold medal in the 1,500 metres at the 1994 Grand Prix final led to Chalmers receiving the 1994 Aboriginal Achievement Award.

- Reprinted from Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame -

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A Kenora, Ontario, native and three-time Canadian Olympic team member, Michael Smith had a long and illustrious career in the decathlon after attending the Legion Athletic Camp several times.

In 1991, he became the first North American to win the prestigious Gotzis International Decathlon championship in Austria. Also in 1991, Michael won a silver medal in the decathlon at the World Track and Field Championships in Tokyo.

A tremendous honour for Smith was his selection to be the Canadian flag bearer at the Opening Ceremonies of the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona. In 1993, Smith won a silver medal in the heptathlon (seven disciplines) at the World Indoor Championships held in Toronto.

In 1994, he won the decathlon at the Commonwealth Games for the second consecutive time. He also won the gold medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland. Smith captured the bronze medal at the 1995 World Athletics Championships in Sweden. It was a step toward reaching the top again after setbacks due to injuries following the 1992 Olympics and the 1993 World Championships.

In the spring of 1996, Smith broke his own Canadian decathlon record with his win of another gold medal at the Gotzis International Decathlon. In 1998, Smith competed in a record 12th Gotzis International Decathlon.

This past season Garth completed his 23rd season as Head Coach of the University of Manitoba Men's Volleyball program. In the middle of that stint Garth coached the National Men's Team Head Coach from 1996-2000 taking them from 21st in World rankings to 10th.

During Garths 23 years as Head Coach, the Bisons qualified for the CIS National Championships 22 times. Under Pischke the Bisons have collected 9 CIS Gold Medals, 9 CIS Silver Medals, 2 CIS Bronze Medal, 1 fourth place finish, and their lowest showing being a fifth place finish.

Garth reached the milestone plateau of his 1, 000th Coaching Victory (University & Club) during the 1996-97 season. Thirty-Five of Garth's athletes have gone on to represent Canada in National Team Programs. Pischke has also been involved in coaching various developmental and experienced club teams to 3 under 18 National Championships, 4 under 20 National Championships, and 4 Volleyball Canada Open Championships.

Pischke's background with volleyball did not start with coaching. Garth has also won many National Championships as a player. These include 3 Canadian under 20 Championships, 3 CIS Championships, 5 Volleyball Canada Open Championships, and 3 USVBA Open Championships. Garth was a member of the Canadian Olympic Team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He also played professional volleyball in the United States (El Paso and Denver) in the International Volleyball Association (IVA), where he was named League Rookie in 1978 and League MVP in 1979.

Individually, he has been named to 12 All-Star Teams at Canadian National Championships where he received 6 MVP awards. South of the Canadian border, Garth was named All-American at 8 USVBA Championships and awarded an MVP award.

In total, he has won 30 National Championships including the 1991 Canadian Beach Doubles Championship.

Pischke was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1989, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1999, the Canadian Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2000 and his greatest accomplishment was being named MANITOBAS AMATEUR ATHLETE OF THE 20th CENTURY in the fall of 2000. In 2000 Pischke was named as Canadas Best Male Volleyball Player of all time by True North Volleyball Magazine.

In 2000 when Pischke was nominated into the Canadian Volleyball Hall of Fame he was joined that evening by two former Legion Athletic Camp members Mark Tennant and Wezer Bridle.

Contributor of the Year: Mark Tennant, SK

1999 Junior World Championships - SK/AB Intrumental in bringing the first ever World Championship to Canada This international caliber event was exceptionally well-organized and deemed highly successful by the FIVB.

Not enough can be said about the influence that Mark Tennant has had in volleyball in Canada and throughout the World. Mark has been a volunteer with the FIVB since 1988. First with the Sport Organizing Commission (88-92), then the Rules of the Games Commission (92-94), the Management and Mini Volleyball Task Force (92-94) and finally with the Sport Organizing Commission (SOC) (94-02). As a member of the SOC, he played an important role in the development of tournament hosting standards and event regulations. His adeptness at tournament organizing was demonstrated in 1999 when he organized the first Junior Women's World Championships in Saskatoon. He is also an FIVB Coaching Instructor and has been assigned as a member of the Jury for numerous FIVB World Championship level events.

Referee: Wezer Bridle, MB

Wezer, or "Wez" as he is affectionately known was officiating in Canada before VC, then the CVA, even had a national certification program. Over the past 50 years Wezer has officiated domestically at too many national championships (including 26 consecutively) and CIAU matches to count, and has also represented Canada at various World Championships, Olympic Games, Pan American Games, and NORCECA events. Credited with forming the Manitoba Volleyball Association, not to mention being instrumental in the development of the Manitoba Volleyball Officials Association, Wezer is undoubtedly deserving of his induction into the VC Hall of Fame for his contributions as an official for over half a century.

-Reprinted U of Manitoba and Canadian Volleyball Association -

Grant Standbrook, one of the original members of the track and field camp at the Legion Athletic Camp in the early 1960s', begins his 15th season as University of Maine Black Bears hockey teams primary recruiter. Since coming to UMaine in 1988, Standbrook has coordinated recruiting of classes, which have consistently ranked among the best in the nation.

At UMaine, he has coached 27 All-Americans, including David Cullen, Steve Kariya, Paul Kariya, Scott Pellerin, Jim Montgomery, Garth Snow and Mike Dunham. Eight of his players at UMaine have been U.S. Olympians, two have been Canadian Olympians.

Standbrook has been on coaching staffs that have won five national championships, including two at UMaine in 1993 and 1999. Before joining the Black Bear staff, Standbrook was an assistant coach at Wisconsin where he played an integral role in the Badgers winning three national championships during his 12-year tenure at that school. Together with head coach Bob Johnson, Standbrook built a college hockey dynasty winning national titles in 1977, 1981 and 1983 in addition to reaching the NCAA championship game on two other occasions.

While at Wisconsin he recruited and coached several All-Americans, Olympians and future NHL players including Chris Chelios and Mike Richter.

A noted coach of goaltenders, Standbrook recruited and guided current NHL players Dunham and Snow while at UMaine.

From 1970-75, Standbrook was the head coach at Dartmouth College where he inherited a program with just 29 wins in the previous 10 years, and led the team to the Ivy League Championship game in his third season. He also coached soccer and lacrosse for the Big Green.

In 1987-88, he was the head coach of Varese-Kronenberg of the Italian league where he led the team to a second place finish.

He was an assistant coach of the 1976 U.S. Olympic hockey team, and the U.S. National teams in 1974 and 1975 and has coached several teams for USA Hockey.

Always an innovator in training methods and techniques, Standbrook initiated weight and interval training with his teams in the 1960s, well before such training methods were accepted by most in coaching circles.

A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, he is a 1961 graduate of the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He was a two-year letter winner for the Bulldogs, scoring 22 goals and adding 24 assists in 31 career games as a center on the hockey team. He also pole vaulted and ran sprints for Duluths track and field team. An accomplished athlete, Standbrook also played on a Canadian national championship soccer team in 1962.

- Reprinted U of Maine -

JIM DALY

The 1999 Pan Am Games are still fresh in our memories, but they may never have happened had it not been for the indefatigable Jim Daly.

The driving force behind bringing the 1967 Pan Ams to Winnipeg, Daly established Winnipeg as a big-event town. Thanks to Daly, the executive director, the host committee -- which boasted 9,000 volunteers -- was awarded the Olympic Cup for "establishing a new standard of organization." And Daly provided the blueprint for the many successful events that Manitoba centres have hosted ever since. In fact, Daly also helped lobby for the '99 Games in Winnipeg and we all know the electricity they created here.

But that's not all. Daly helped create a track and field program at the University of Manitoba in 1949, was the manager of Canada's 1964 Olympic Team and spent eight years on the Tennis Canada board, preparing the way for tennis to become an Olympic sport.

Daly was Canada's chef de mission for both the 1986 and 1990 Commonwealth Games. And he was the driving force behind a U of M campaign to raise $6 million for a new arena and library. When Daly was done, the campaign had raised double the amount, which was enough to also erect a new fieldhouse.

Actually, when he was inducted into Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1994, Daly estimated that he had raised more than $130 million for various causes in Manitoba. Few individuals have had a bigger impact on the provincial sporting scene this century.

- Reprinted Winnipeg Sun -

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