|
For
His Outstanding Work
Countless Hours as Coach and Organizer
Minor Fastball & Minor Hockey
 While growing up and as a young man Bruce Rogers always
participated in sports and was a pretty fine athlete. In
high school he played football, basketball, hockey and
track. From 1954-1964 he played softball for RCAF teams
where he was stationed and also competed in swimming and
cross country running. Later he played fastball and
basketball in Chatham, New Brunswick; Ottawa, Ontario and
Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. In Chatham his basketball
team won the Maritime Senior “B” Championship and he is a
member of the “Jets” fastball team that was inducted into
the Portage La Prairie Hall of Fame.
Like many coaches, Bruce became involved in coaching when
his sons became interested in sports. When Bruce and his
family moved to Wetaskiwin in 1972, Bruce had already
coached in other communities. Because his oldest sons Ron
and Rick were at the midget level, in 1973-74 Bruce
volunteered to coach the Kinsmen Kings Midget Hockey team
and the Wetaskiwin Motor Midgets Fastball squad. Many men
can attest to the positive influence that Bruce had on them
as teenagers when Bruce was their coach in either hockey or
fastball during the 1970’s and 1980’s. It is for his
dedication, commitment, enthusiasm, effort, achievements and
countless hours spent in coaching and organizing these two
sports that Bruce is being inducted into the Wetaskiwin and
County Sports Hall of Fame.
Two Provincial Championships
Three Alberta Games Championships
Two Western Canadian Championships 1973-1985
Bruce coached the Wetaskiwin Kinsmen Kings
Midget Hockey team from 1973 until 1980. During those seven
seasons, the team was very successful and produced many
outstanding hockey players. Twenty-three of the young men
that Bruce coached went on to play at a higher level, either
junior, college or in the NHL. The first year that Bruce
coached the Kinsmen Kings (1973-74), they won the Midget “A”
Jasper Invitational Hockey Tournament. They won the same
tournament the next year (1974-75). In 1976-77 the Kings
were Midget “A” Provincial Champions. In 1977-78 the Kings
won the “A” Division of the Drumheller Midget Tournament as
well as the gold medal in the Alberta Winter Games. In
1978-79 the Kings won the “B” Division of the Edson Midget
Hockey Tournament and in 1979-80 the team advanced to the
Provincial playoffs.
Besides coaching, Bruce was also involved in
the administrative aspect of hockey. In 1974 Bruce
coordinated a visit and an exhibition game between the
Kinsmen Kings and the Yellowknife Midgets. In 1979 Bruce
organized a hockey game between the Wetaskiwin Junior
All-Stars and the Sherwood Park Crusaders, a game that saw
approximately 800 in attendance with the proceeds being
donated to the Wetaskiwin Minor Hockey Association. In
1979-80 Bruce served as Vice President of the Wetaskiwin
Minor Hockey Association. In 1980 Bruce organized the
Midget “B” Provincial Hockey tournament as well as
coordinating a fundraiser between the Red Deer College Kings
and the Camrose Lutheran College Vikings (both teams had
former Kings Players). Again there were over 800 spectators
in attendance.
Gold
Medal Wins in Fastball at the Alberta Summer
Games and the Western Canadian Championships
Bruce’s involvement in fastball began in 1974
with the Wetaskiwin Motor Midgets and that year the team won
gold medals in the Alberta Summer Games and the Western
Canadian Championships. In 1975, the Motor Midgets were
again Alberta Summer Games gold medalists. In 1976 Bruce
moved to the junior level and coached the Wetaskiwin Sport
Shop fastball team. They were Provincial Champions and
represented Alberta at the Canadian Junior Men’s Softball
Championships. In 1978 and 1979 Bruce coached the
Wetaskiwin Junior Car Capitals and in 1979 the team
participated in the Provincial Championships. In 1979 Bruce
was also the assistant coach for the Wetaskiwin Sport Shop
Midgets. The Midgets represented Alberta in the Western
Canadian Championships and won the gold medal. Bruce then
started coaching younger aged boys and in 1980 coached the
Mite ”A” fastball team to a silver medal in the Provincial
Championships. In 1984 and 1985 Bruce coached the Bantam
“B” fastball team and the 1984 team won the bronze medal at
the Provincial Championships.
For his outstanding work in the field of minor
sports, in 1980 Bruce was given an award by the Alberta
Minor Hockey Association. The award was presented to Bruce
at a surprise “Roast” held in his honour. For his
contributions and achievements in coaching hockey and
fastball, Bruce is most deserving of his induction into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame.
|
