Induction 2026 - Athlete Builder
Hockey, Fastball
Hockey
Player – Wetaskiwin Colonels 1963-1978
– MVP and Scoring Titles
– League Champions four times
– Provincial Champions four times
Fastball
Player - Player
for various home teams 1964-1979
– many league championships
Coach
– 1968 Wetaskiwin Bantam Fastball Team
– Provincial Champions
Player
Coach
– various Wetaskiwin Fastball Teams
Executive
Member and President Wetaskiwin Colonels
Volunteer, organizer
and fund raiser in Wetaskiwin and Alder Flats
A Legacy of Sport and Service
Harold
Maciborski is being inducted into the Wetaskiwin & County Sports Hall of
Fame as an Athlete-Builder for his athletic achievements in the sports of
fastball and hockey, as well as for his contributions to the communities of Wetaskiwin
and Alder Flats by coaching, managing, organizing, fund raising and serving on
various committees and boards - all for the development and betterment of sport.
Harold was
born in Alder Flats. When he was growing up In the late 1940’s and 1950’s there wasn’t much organized sport in Alder Flats for youngsters. However, Harold always possessed an innate
athletic ability and a competitive spirit. He played whatever sports were
available. He moved to Wetaskiwin in 1957 when he enrolled in grade 9 at Queen
Elizabeth Junior High.
Fastball Excellence
As
a teenager in the summers of 1962 and 1963, Harold traveled to
Edmonton to play Junior Baseball. This sparked a sixteen-season
career in senior men’s fastball in Wetaskiwin (1963-1979), where
he was a member of numerous league and tournament championship
teams. As the player-coach of the Wetaskiwin Rangers, Harold led
the team to victory in the Edmonton Umpires Tournament in both
1969 and 1971, earning All-Star Centre Fielder honors in both
years. His success continued with the Wales Hotel team, which won
the league championship five years in a row with Harold as playing
coach. From 1977 to 1979, he served as the playing coach and
manager of the Wetaskiwin Car Capitals, competing in the Western Canada Pro
Fastball League. In 1979 the team
advanced to the league finals by defeating Winnipeg and then lost in the finals
to Camrose. That was the final year of
the league and the Car Capitals.
Because of his competitive record and reputation for contributing to the sport
of fastball, Harold was recruited in 1982 to play on the inaugural Edmonton
Silverline Selects. The team was made up of men who had long been involved in,
and successful at, the sport. Their goal was to
provide entertainment and display good sportsmanship within a
competitive but relaxed atmosphere. With less emphasis on winning,
the club focused on giving back to the community by assisting with
clinics and programs for junior players. The Selects played
exhibition games for charity and participated in recreational
tournaments for athletes over 40. Continuing his lifelong love for
the game, Harold also competed in the Canadian Men’s Slow Pitch
Championships in 1991.
An Unlikely Hockey Hero
Incredibly,
considering he didn’t start to learn how to skate until he was 19 years
old, Harold had an amazing hockey career with the Wetaskiwin Colonels.
He began in the Wetaskiwin Commercial League with an objective of
eventually playing with the Senior Men’s team. He improved his skills
quickly, and after a few failed attempts, he was given a chance to play
in the Central Alberta Hockey League. Harold worked his way from a spare
forward to an outstanding penalty killer, moving from the third line to
the first line and power play squad.
His
unorthodox style of shooting off the wrong foot, or with both feet on
the ice, left goalies fishing pucks out of their net—skills he mastered
for himself. He worked the front of the net and corners with heart and
passion. He also possessed a knack for getting into differences with
rival players through his aggressive play, often resulting in far more
than just a verbal exchange to make his point.
With
the advice of teammates and former Hall of Fame inductees Ron
Emmerling, Gerry Greene, and Ross MacEachern, Harold’s skills progressed
to an elite level. In the 1973-74 season, he tied the League Scoring
Championship with 76 points in 30 games, including a five-goal
performance and a game in which he recorded 7 points. In 1974-75 he again won the League Scoring
Championship.
Harold was awarded MVP honors for his team in 1972-73
and 1973-74 and also was a member of four League Championship Colonel teams
(1963-64, 1969-70, 1971-72, 1973-74). Harold served as Assistant Captain and Captain, was a first-team league all-star,
and for numerous years, he was top ten in league scoring. The Colonels were Provincial Champions four
times during Harold’s tenure with the team.
He played on the "heroic home-town Colonels from 1963-64 until the 1977-78 season when he
played only one month before suffering a severe knee injury that ended his
career,
Later in
life, he continued playing with the Wetaskiwin Relics (Oldtimers) Hockey Club in many
tournaments in Canada and the USA.
Striving to Give Back to the Community
As a member
of the Wetaskiwin Kinsmen Club, Harold believed strongly in giving back to the
community. That belief is evident in the plethora of contributions that Harold
has made in his communities. In 1966
there was no minor fastball available for youngsters in Wetaskiwin. The Senior Men’s Fastball team was approached
by parents of young boys interested in playing fastball. Harold volunteered to establish a program and
coach the youngsters. Three years later,
under Harold’s tutelage, the 13 and 14 year-old Bantam Boys won the Provincial
title - the first age-group Softball Provincial Champions in
Wetaskiwin’s history. The team was
inducted into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame in 2024. Harold’s
initiation of the program and his work developing a league launched Wetaskiwin into
a city with one of the most successful fastball programs in Alberta.
Harold was the founder of the Alberta Major
Fastball League and organized towns and cities to play against each other. As the Playing Coach and Manager of the
Wetaskiwin Car Capitals, it was Harold who was able to procure a franchise for
the team to play in the Western Canada Pro Fastball League along with teams
from Camrose, Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg and
Brandon. As well, in 1977 Harold was
chosen to be the assistant coach for the WCFL All-Star Team in the First World
Series of Fastball, a testament to the respect that was held for Harold in the
league. The tournament took place in Camrose where the competitors came from
across Canada and the United States. Harold also helped the Wetaskiwin RCMP
organize their fastball team.
Hundreds Benefit from Hockey Schools
His
contributions extended to hockey schools for hundreds of children. Harold
worked with Ron Emmerling from 1971-1975 conducting hockey schools in
Wetaskiwin with over 300 kids enrolled.
He also organized and ran a hockey school for two years for kids at
Alder Flats. Harold served on the
Colonel Hockey Team Board where one of his jobs was to help with fundraising by
soliciting local businesses to purchase advertising space in their hockey program. He also sold the most season tickets for 12
years in a row!
In 1975-76, Harold took
on the role of President of the Colonel Board.
Additionally, Harold served one term on the City of Wetaskiwin
Recreation board where he assisted in reconfiguring the ball diamonds from two
to four. Harold also served on the first
board that organized the North-Am Snowmobile Races. In 2009 Harold worked on a committee
that organized a Sportsman Dinner with International Stars and a Colonels
Reunion.
Sports Shaped his Life - Dedicated Community Builder
Upon
retirement Harold returned to Alder Flats and immediately became involved in
the community by volunteering his time and leadership skills. He restarted the local curling club by
spearheading a fundraising drive to raise $130,000 for a new ice plant. He
followed that by raising funds and using government grants to have the outdoor
skating rink covered.
Harold now
lives at the Pigeon Lake Village in Westerose, near Pigeon Lake. As an octogenarian he remains physically
active and spends his summers golfing at the Black Bull and Dorchester Golf
Courses and winters at the Lakedell Ag Curling Rink taking part in a couple of leagues.
It is said
that sports build character and helps shape your life as an individual. Add talent, heart, enthusiasm and leadership
skills combined with a strong sense of community and you have all the
attributes necessary to make Harold a most worthy recipient of induction into
the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame and take his place in
Wetaskiwin’s Sport’s history. Harold,
your athletic achievements and community contributions are exceptional. Congratulations!