You may go to the Port Moody recreation complex for a child’s hockey game or skating lessons, for a spin class or a workout in the gym. But when you go, if you take a moment to peruse the display cases, you’ll learn a little about PoMo sporting history.
The city added to that history yesterday when it announced its newest Sports Display Award inductees at a ceremony.
The 2015 recipients — the city’s second ever — are: baseball player, coach and manager Wayne Norton; women’s soccer champion Geraldine Donnelly; and Special Olympics medal winner Jay Prentice. They all fit the criteria as “positive role models encouraging young people to get involved in sports, lead active and healthy lifestyles, and strive for excellence,” according to a city press release.
“We’re so proud of these local sports heroes,” Mayor Mike Clay said. “It’s incredible that in a community of this size, we have so many talented and successful athletes, coaches and community sports leaders. It really is inspiring to see what these Port Moody residents have accomplished.”
Past recipients include: NHL player Ryan Johansen (now with the Nashville Predators), Jamie Constable, Bob Flavelle, Olympic skater Tracy Wilson, and the Port Moody secondary school 2002 cheer team.
Some information on this year’s inductees:
WAYNE NORTON
Wayne Norton, also known as “Mr. Port Moody,” grew up and attended school in Moody Centre, and he and his family have lived on the city’s north shore for 50 years.
An athletic scholarship took Norton to Whitworth College in Spokane, Wash., where he was scouted by the New York Yankees. He played for AA and AAA teams, including the Vancouver Mounties AAA baseball team owned by Nat Bailey, founder of White Spot restaurants.
When his playing days were over, Norton became a baseball administrator and manager. He was technical director of Baseball BC in the early 1970s and into the ’80s, and, during that time, he oversaw the development of training manuals and was national senior team coach, manager and executive. He managed Team Canada at the 1975 Pan American Games, created the junior national team and, in 1986, along with Pat Gillick, founded the National Baseball Institute.
He has worked as a scout with the Montreal Expos and Baltimore Orioles, and, since 2000, as the Seattle Mariners’ scouting co-ordinator for Canada and Europe. Twice he was named Canadian Scout of the Year by the Canadian Baseball Network (1998 and 2013) and was the Mariners’ International Scout of the Year in 2007. He was also inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
Over the years, Norton has either played alongside, scouted or managed a lineup of top-level talents, including Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson, Pat Gillick, Tony La Russa, Larry Walker and Michael Saunders.
GERI DONNELLY
Geri Donnelly is a pioneer of Canadian women’s soccer. Born in London, U.K., she played street soccer with local boys before her family moved to Port Moody when she was eight years old.
Donnelly played youth soccer in PoMo at a time when girls’ soccer here was in its infancy, eventually moving onto the Canadian national team and the Vancouver Whitecaps.
She was an original member of Canada’s women’s national team back in 1986, scoring the first two goals in program history in a 2-1 victory over the U.S. in 1986. She participated in two FIFA Women’s World Cups (Sweden 1995 and USA 1999) and won one CONCACAF Championship (1998). She also won Canadian Player of the Year honours in 1996 and ’99. Donnelly made 71 appearances for the national team, retiring in ’99 as Canada’s all-time leader in appearances
Besides being an outstanding soccer player, she was a multi-talented athlete and attended SFU on a basketball scholarship.
She ended her soccer playing career in 2009 after guiding Surrey United to six consecutive provincial titles. Donnelly was named to Canada’s all- time women’s team in 2012 and was selected as a member of the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2014, and will be inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in June.
JAY PRENTICE
Jay Prentice has lived in Port Moody with his family since he was five years old and is a graduate of Heritage Woods secondary school.
From an early age, Prentice has enjoyed and excelled in athletics, and has participated as a Special Olympics athlete since 2007. He first competed in the Special Olympics as a baseball player, and now participates in various winter and summer games sports, including speed skating, snowshoeing, swimming, basketball, fitness, soccer and track and field.
He represented B.C. and won medals at both the Canadian national, summer and winter games. He also received several medals at the BC Games. In Prentice’s first year of speed skating, he qualified for the BC Winter Games and his exceptional results lead him to the 2012 Canadian Winter games in St. Albert, Alta., where he won gold, silver and bronze medals.
An extraordinary multi-sport athlete, he became the fastest male in B.C. in the 100 m and 200 m sprints, qualifying him to go to the 2014 Canadian National Summer games, where he won bronze in the 400 m event.
