Noticed in Vancouver

MIke McLenaghen : Continued from page 1

On being inducted into the Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame

by Michael McLenaghen

Luckily for me, my childhood was full of opportunities to play pick-up games of tag, kick the can, baseball, road hockey, with my friends in South Burnaby. I can recall my mom, Mary, feeding us porridge and toast in the morning then saying, “out you go” and make sure your brothers come back alive.

I started out with a pair of Gola Speedsters (hardtoed soccer boots) and a pancake baseball glove so how I ended up in the Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame I’m not quite sure. However, I know it had a lot to do with people supporting me. Soccer was my first love and lacrosse was my second. I understand that I’ll be inducted for my soccer career; however, my early unstructured “play” experiences along with my participation in lacrosse, basketball and other sports were key elements in my development as a soccer player.

The lack of structure with minimal parental supervision along with having the freedom to mess around with skills in creative ways on grass fields, playgrounds and the lacrosse box helped me develop a wide range of abilities.

I am grateful to the municipality of Burnaby and, in particular, the Wesburn, Norburn and Willingdon sport organizations. Also, Burnaby Parks and Recreation, where I was a playground leader, which was my first real job and the best.

It was on the playgrounds where I learned to balance play and recreation with my competitive side. I owe a big thank you to Jack Crosby, Dan Mattinson, Dave Evans, Bill Hartle and Lloyd Johnson. Jack, Dan and Dave are in several halls of fame; I was very fortunate to have had these positive mentors in my teens.

Jack Crosby was the key builder in Norburn-Burnaby lacrosse. Hall of fame goalie Dave Evans gave me a stick, pads and gloves to start me playing lacrosse. Dan Mattinson was our trainer for Norburn Junior Soccer and an excellent coach and friend during my junior lacrosse days. Bill

Hartle was way ahead of his time as a soccer coach, and I learned so much from him about life and soccer. Bill was a throwback to a time when young players were discovered on parks, sandlots and at the Sun Soccer Tournament.

Playing softball and soccer with Wesburn started me on my multisport path. When my mom moved my brothers and I from South Burnaby to North Burnaby’s Confederation Park apartments, we had no idea of what a sports mecca we had stumbled into. Confederation Park was where I could often be found practising baseball, lacrosse and soccer on the same day; I would toss the soccer ball, lacrosse stick and ball and baseball glove over our second-floor balcony on to the park below and meet up with my friends. Confederation Park was the home for Norburn-Pegasus soccer and Norburn-Burnaby Junior lacrosse. These soccer and lacrosse clubs were the best teams I played for and would go on to become two of the best amateur sport organizations in Canada.

My mom raised three very rambunctious boys on her own and used her tip money as a waitress to buy soccer boots, basketball runners and lacrosse sticks for us.

Mom was always there to support my brothers and I. After serving people all day at the Cave Supper Club or Monty’s Seafoods, I can recall her preparing several dinners in the evenings for my brothers and I, depending on when our practices and games were scheduled.

Sport led me into my life’s vocations including teaching physical education and coaching at the First Nations school in Mount Currie, creating a diverse recreation program at CNH; coaching children, youth and adults at many levels, and creating Collaborative Community Coaching (C3), a values-based approach to leading and coaching in sport.

C3 was the most important way that I could give back to sport. This methodology of leading sport was created by my wife Ali, Steve Musson, Ian Curry and myself. Values such as respect, doing one’s best, support, fun and responsibility were integral to this approach. We believe in the potential power of sport to transform people, groups and communities in positive, healthy ways. Sport by design takes work and being intentional about creating and supporting good sport is the way to go. Our ef- forts were instrumental in the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) creating True-sport – a Canadian national sport program.

Now I continue to play – fly-fishing, walking soccer, cycling up mountains, crosscountry skiing, hiking and golfing (I need many balls at the start of a round). It is a great privilege and honour to be inducted into Burnaby’s Sport Hall of Fame.

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February 2023