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Softball
Coach for 25 years
in Community of Falun
 George Stewart was born in Hanna, Alberta
in 1928 and moved to Lakedell in 1935. He has lived in the Pigeon Lake
area ever since. George and his wife Fay raised seven children, five
boys and two girls. George started coaching softball at Falun in 1970
and continued to do so for the next twenty five years.
Often the teams he coached
had no
league to play in.
During that time he coached both boys and
girls and his teams garnered seven Provincial titles and eleven
runner-up awards. Besides coaching softball, during the 1970’s he
also coached hockey in Wetaskiwin and drove his five sons and a
neighbour
boy back and forth to town to play.
As a youngster George played ball at
school but not on any organized teams. He was however a “student of the
game”. When attending tournaments as a coach and his team wasn’t
playing George would watch the other teams and analyze their strategies.
George’s philosophy was that “the bench warmers were the best players”
and his own children can attest to that as he showed no favouritism
towards them. Without formal coaching training he did the right things
like training his players in the Falun Elementary school gym before the
season started and working with his daughter Heather and her pitching in
the basement during the winter months and in the yard as soon as the
snow was gone. He even used a radar gun to track the speed of the
pitches. Often the teams he coached had no league to play in.
Yet, even so these teams from a small community were provincial
champions.
George’s teams became
experts at “sneaking home from third base”
His teams practiced a lot and George also
kept statistics on his players. George knew the rule book and used the
rules to his team’s advantage. His players learned to bunt from both
sides and often reached first base on a fake bunt. George’s teams also
became experts at “sneaking home from third base”. To George it was
better to challenge his players at a higher level of competition rather
than winning at a lower level in the play-offs. To improve the players
batting he convinced the Falun Committee to buy a batting machine which
helped all of the Falun teams. His own team raised half of the money
for the machine. George often transported players who didn’t have rides
and sometimes he even bought team uniforms, baseballs, bats, bases and
plates for his teams.
From 1970 to 1978 George coached the
boy’s softball teams. He started at the Peewee level as an assistant
coach working with Clayton Monahan. His second son Bob was on that team
and in 1972 they won the Provincial Championship. In 1973 George became
head coach and his new team placed second in the Provincials. George
stayed with that group of boys (including two of his sons, David and
Tom) until 1978 when they were Midgets. Those boys placed second in
1975 as Bantams and then won the Bantam “A” Provincial title in 1976 and
the Midget “A” Provincial title in 1978. As provincial champions they
represented Alberta in the Western Canadians and placed second both
years.
In 1979 George started coaching the
girls. His wife had coached the team that included their daughter Diane
and up until that point the girls were “playing for fun”. George
finally convinced Diane that they weren’t going to win with her
underhand pitching style and she was going to have to learn the
windmill. She did and as Bantams in 1980 they were second in the
Provincials and in 1981 the girls won the Provincial “B” title. George
stayed with that group of girls until 1984 when they were Midgets. In
1984 they lost out to Calihoo in the zone play-offs but two of his
players, including his daughter Diane were picked up by Calihoo and made
it all the way to the Canadian Championships where they won the Bronze
medal. George went along as scout for that team.
During his tenure with one team they
represented their zone in the
Alberta Summer Games three times
The last group of girls that George
coached included his youngest daughter Heather. He started with them in
1984 when the girls were six and seven year olds. In both 1989 and 1990
as Squirts they won the Provincial “B” Championships. In 1991 and 1992
as Peewee’s the team placed second both years in the “A” Provincials, a
feat they repeated as Bantams in 1993. During his tenure with this team
they represented their zone in the Alberta Summer Games three times.
George continued coaching these girls until they finished competing at
the Bantam level.
Besides coaching, George was also
involved working on the Falun Sports Committee. Many times over the
years his team was the host team for the Provincials. When that
happened George not only coached the boys or girls but he and his wife
also looked after the hosting details. During the time that George was
involved in the Falun program, to Softball Alberta, Falun was the
“Capital of Softball” and this was in no small measure due to his
contribution. For his efforts George was awarded the County of
Wetaskiwin Volunteer Sports Award Plaque in 1987. He has also
participated in curling for over 50 years. Because of his many years of
coaching and achievements with the Falun Softball Program we are
honoured
to induct George Stewart into the Wetaskiwin Sports Hall of Fame.
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