Honouring our finest athletes

The University of Alberta is naming three outstanding athletes and community members to its Sports Wall of Fame. Every year, the honour is bestowed upon alumni who contributed to sporting success as students and who have equally excelled in community service. The Sports Wall of Fame dinner is held May 11, 5- 9 p.m. at the Shaw Conference Centre. Tickets $150 each or $1.500 for a table of 10. For more information call 492-3893 or visit: www.bears.ualberta.ca/?pt=content&ID=33616&parent=1069

DON SPRING BComm (1981)

Don Spring began a brilliant hockey career as a youth pursuing the Canadian dream – to make it to the NHL. He achieved his dream and along the way he has left a legacy of success stories. While a student in Edson's Parkland Composite High School he actively competed in volleyball and swimming. Hockey was his first and greatest love and by the age of 16 he was a star on Edson's Junior B hockey team. At 17 he became one of the youngest players ever to play for the University of Alberta's Golden Bears.

During Spring's seasons as Bears defenceman (1976-1979) the team won three consecutive Canada West championships and competed in three national CIAU finals. The teams captured the silver medal in his first season and gold medals in each of his last two – a rare accomplishment. All who watched his superb defensive play, including those charged with the selection of all-star teams, recognized Spring's all-round excellence. Spring was singled out for berths on the CIAU All-Star team in 1978 as well as on Canada West 2nd All-Star teams in 1977-1978 and 1978-1979. During his final season as a Golden Bear, Spring and his teammates were selected to represent Canada at the Pacific Rim tournament in Japan. They completed the tournament on the gold medal podium – a fitting international tribute to an outstanding team.

Spring (and four other Golden Bear stars) was named to Canada's 1980 Olympic hockey team.

Spring signed as a free agent with the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL in the spring of 1980. He joined the Jets for the 1980-1981 season and continued with them until 1984. He completed his professional hockey career with the ESC Essen (West Germany) Elite League hockey team in 1985 and returned to Canada to join Clare Drake's Golden Bears as an assistant coach.

Throughout his career Spring has served the Golden Bear Hockey program in many ways – as a hockey school instructor/co-ordinator, as an instructor at the Professional Hockey Conditioning Camps and as an active Golden Bear Alumni volunteer. In 1987 the Golden Bears won the right to represent Canada in the World Students Games (held in Czechoslovakia) and Spring accompanied the team as Clare Drake's assistant. The team was the only non-All-Star team in the tournament and still finished with a bronze medal

Spring joined Amoco as an Analyst in 1985 then moved to Petro-Canada as a Business Manager in 1987. In 1988 Don joined the host of volunteers who helped staff the 1988 world acclaimed Calgary Olympic Games by visiting schools in the Edmonton area to share his Olympic experience.

He has coached (and currently is coaching his son, Eric, at the AAA Peewee level); he has served as a minor hockey division co-ordinator, and been a major organizer of minor hockey tournaments. Truly hockey has played a major part in his life and today he shares his love of the sport with the youths who fill the rosters on his teams.

In 1999 Don, his wife Carol (whom he met at the University of Alberta) and their three children, Michael (14), Eric (12), and Lauren (10) moved to Kelowna where he is the owner and President of Spring Fuel Distributors Inc.

JOHN DEWAR BEd (PEd) (1955; MA (Ohio State, 1960); EdD (Florida State, 1965)

A native Albertan, John Dewar spent his youth in small communities throughout the province before moving to Calgary and subsequently to Edmonton, where he attended St. Anthony's College. During the Great Depression, entertainment had to be self-created. Sports were always favourite pastimes. It is not surprising, therefore, that Dewar developed an abiding love for games of all types. By the time he arrived at St. Anthony's Dewar was highly motivated in basketball, baseball, and hockey. The opportunity to play on the University of Alberta's Golden Bears basketball team was part of the lure of the U of A and Dewar enrolled in the Physical Education degree program in 1951.

During his playing career Dewar emerged as an outstanding team member of the Golden Bears and by his final year he was selected as co-captain. Canadian basketball was highly competitive during the 1950s both at the university and the Senior "A" levels. The Bears of Dewar's era competed strongly in both divisions. In 1951-1952 they won the Western Canada University title but lost the Canadian championship final. The next season, playing in the Canadian Amateur Basketball Association championships, the Bears lost in the finals to the powerful Toronto Tri-Bells. His excellent play and team leadership won Dewar national recognition and the University's Big Block Award.

After graduation Dewar accepted a position as the Physical Education Program director at Regina's Scott Collegiate Institute and from 1955-1959 was a teacher, an administrator and a player for the Sr. A Regina Crescents. His team captured three consecutive provincial titles during his tenure. Dewar also played with the Saskatoon Regals Sr. A basketball team and in 1959 he moved to Calgary to assume the position as supervisor of physical education for the Calgary Separate School Board. On several occasions Dewar was drafted by the Sr. A Lethbridge Broders to strengthen their squad for key competitions. His playing career, however, was near an end; Dewar was joining the ranks of leading national coaches. In 1960-1961 he was the head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and following a year off the courts to begin a graduate program at Florida State, assumed the head coaching position at the University of Alberta (Calgary Campus – UAC) from 1962-1966. Under his leadership, the Dinosaurs emerged as a contender at the national level. Dewar's Dinosaurs won the silver medal at the 1966 CIAU championships.

From 1967-1969 Dewar served as director of Physical Education at St. Francis Xavier University. In 1969 he moved to Sudbury, Ontario, and became the Dean of the Division of Physical Education at Laurentian University, where he initiated the first Sport Administration degree program in Canada. In 1977 he was selected as Dean of the College of Physical Education at the University of Saskatchewan. He continued in this role until 1985. With reduced administrative responsibilities he returned to his first love – basketball. He became a volunteer coach and chief administrator of the Saskatchewan Wheelchair Basketball team (1987-1992) and then the coach/co-ordinator for the Saskatchewan First Nations basketball teams that competed in the North American Indigenous Games (1992-1996). From 1992 - 1998 he served as an advisor to the Saskatchewan First Nations Sports Hall of Fame. His legacy in these fields lives on today. Upon retirement he was named Professor Emeritus.

The University of Alberta is proud to add his name to the Sports Wall of Fame.

SANDY WRIGHT (nee KIRSTEIN) BEd (1964)

It has been said that a person can always find the time and the energy to do something if they are truly motivated to accept a challenge. Sandy Wright has accepted challenges all of her life. Added to her drive to participate in sports was her outstanding athletic talent. Basketball, golf, swimming and diving, and curling – Wright excelled in them all. Her fine play won her a place on the Panda basketball team in her freshman year and over the course of the next four years Wright proved to be a superb player, helping lead the Pandas to co-championships in the Western Canada Intercollegiate Athletic Association (WCIAA) in 1961-62 and 1962-63. The calibre of play of her Pandas also enabled them to win the Edmonton City Ladies Basketball championship in 1962, 1963 and 1964. In recognition of her strong leadership qualities, Wright was selected as the Pandas co-captain.

Wright, in addition to her major contributions to the Panda basketball program, made time to compete as a member of the University's Women/Men's Golf team in 1960-1961, 1962-1963, and 1963-64. During her freshman year she also won a spot on the Panda Diving team. Little wonder that she was the winner of a Women's Athletic Association Major Athletic award in 1963 and the winner of the Bakewell Trophy in 1964 (awarded annually to the university's most outstanding female athlete).

In addition to her commitments to Panda athletics, Wright also contributed to student government on the campus. She was elected president of the Women's Athletic Association (WAA), which also involved serving on the University Athletic Board and the Students' Union. She also won the University's WAA Major Executive Award.

After graduation Wright entered the teaching profession but she continued her love affair with sport. She joined the Jasperettes Senior Ladies Basketball team and during the 1964-1965 season helped them to win a provincial championship and a fourth-place national finish. Her team won the provincial championship again in 1967, with it the right to represent Alberta at the first Canada Winter Games.

Wright was a talented golfer, playing at a championship level. Her commitment to golf lead her to an 18-year involvement as the volunteer director of the Junior Golf Program at the Black Bull Golf Resort. Every summer she organized programs and personally taught youngsters the fundamentals of golf. She imbued in them the love of sport and the joy of effort.

Curling occupied her winter months. In 1979 her Royal Glenora Ladies team represented the Edmonton area in the Northern Alberta championships. She next joined with teammates at the Balmoral Curling Club. Her new team became club and city champions in 1981 and Northern Alberta Ladies Curling Association Bonspiel champions in 1982.

As a teacher with the Edmonton Public Schools for 30 years, Wright held positions at Victoria Composite, Jasper Place Composite, M.E. LaZerte and the Bennett Centre.

Wright has been inducted into the Wetaskiwin Sports Hall of Fame and has added immeasurably to the healthy, active lives of thousands of students. Her name brings honour to the University of Alberta's Sports Wall of Fame.

DAVID C. REID BPT (1970); MD (1974); MCh [Surg.] (U of Liverpool, 1980); Dip.P.T. (U of Toronto, 1968); Dip. Sports Med (CASM); MCPA; FRCSC

Dr. David Reid is a talented man. Early in life he made his mark as an excellent soccer player and weight lifter. On his arrival at the University of Alberta he won a spot on the Golden Bears Soccer team (1968-1970). From the start, his career was based around the application of his research, scientific and professional knowledge to the care of those individuals traumatized by sports-related injuries. He is one of Canada's finest experts in the sports medicine and orthopaedic surgery.

Educated in England and Canada, Reid completed a diploma in Physiotherapy and degrees with distinction in Physiotherapy and Medicine. In 1978 he was named the Canadian Orthopaedic Association's North American Travelling Fellow and the following year received a Fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada and certification as a specialist in Orthopaedic Surgery. Subsequently he was awarded the Lord Nuffield Scholar in Orthopaedics from Oxford University and, in 1980, the University of Liverpool conferred on him a Master of Surgery degree.

It was his abiding love of sport, however, that kept Reid linked closely to the world of athletics. From 1964 onward he consistently and generously dedicated a substantial part of his professional life to student athletes who participated in programs at the University of Alberta. He served as a physiotherapist, team doctor, orthopaedic surgeon and consultant to most of the university athletic programs. Reid was our university's first Sports Medicine scholar/practitioner. Reid was instrumental in establishing the initial degree program in physiotherapy at the U of A. He founded the Canadian Physiotherapy Association's Sports Therapy Division. In 1987 he co-founded the Glen Sather Sports Medicine Clinic and he was named its first and, to date, only director.

During his career Reid has been the team physician for most of the Golden Bear and Panda teams. He has carried out duties as team physician for Alberta's Winter Games, Alberta's Youth Soccer team, Team Canada at the 1998 World Hockey Championships, as chief physician for the Canada Winter Games (1975) and as Chief of Medical Operations for the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. He has served as orthopaedic consultant for the World Cup Wrestling Championships, the World Figure Skating Championships, the World Junior Men's Basketball Championships as well as the Alberta Ballet Company, the Canadian Synchronized Swimming Olympic team, the Edmonton Oilers and the Edmonton Eskimos.

Reid was one of the initiators of the Carnival of Champions, which helped to support such organizations as Kids with Cancer, the U of A Burn Unit, and STARS Emergency Medical Transport teams. He serves on the Board of the Oilers Community Foundation that focuses on youth, education and wellness.

Never inclined to a quiet life, Reid, his wife Kaye and their children are now involved with a family venture – raising Alberta-bred racehorses. Reid is a longstanding member of the Board of Directors of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and is chair and CEO of Horse Racing Alberta. He has recently been granted the prestigious Cam Fella Award and the Horse Industry Association of Alberta's Distinguished Service Award.

Scholar, award winning teacher, author of numerous books, articles and publications, physiotherapist, physician and surgeon, innovator, philanthropist, Reid's talents have been recognized with 30 plus awards. The University of Alberta is proud to name him to the Sports Wall of Fame.