CYO History

In the Winter of 1953-54, the Christian Brothers, teachers at St. Gregory's School, made a rink in the school yard and organized the first hockey team. Father Wilfred Firth, Associate Pastor, was enthusiastic about the idea and called on me to see what we could come up with. We contacted Jerry Cole for further assistance and formed three teams -PeeWee, Bantam and Midget.

The arena in Oshawa had burned, and that meant we had to travel to Port Perry arena for practise. Feeling the need of a little competition after practising all summer, we were able to arrange, through Father Firth, playoff games with St. Catharines and Toronto C.Y.O. Leagues. One game was a great thrill because it was played in Maple Leaf Gardens.

On these trips Father Firth would come with enough sandwiches to feed the teams; we ate and never questioned who the provider was.
Several games I remember very well. We were playing st. Kitts (St. Catharines was known as such). The score was 3 2 for us, and our opponents tied the game with a minute to go showing on three sides of the clock. But the side facing the timekeeper indicated time was over. He awarded us the game!

Another time in the same arena, the late Monsignor Dwyer came to our game since he was in St. Catharines to visit relatives. Our goalie, AI Terwillegar, had been hit in the face under the eye at a practise earlier, but was still playing the game. The puck was shot at him and was at the toe of his skate -but he couldn't see it because of the swelling of his cheek! The puck somehow got past the line, and I think we lost the game. However, Monsignor Dwyer enjoyed the game so much he gave us $20.00 to treat the boys to a restaurant celebration. (I don't know what happened to the sandwiches that night.)

At a game in Maple Leaf Gardens, Mike Weidmark made a bad defensive error, allowing Toronto to score. I was coaching and yelled at him, so that he came off the ice very frightened. Since I was then ignoring him completely he must have been pondering his mistake, and thinking his turn wouldn't come to get out on the ice again. I did send him back, and he scored 3 goals to win the game. He certainly regained my respect as a player. Of further interest is the fact that the t~a.m we were playing was being coached by Father William J. O'Brien, who was later assigned to St. Gregory's Parish.

Several years passed and Father Firth was moved to Toronto. Father Lawrence McGough became the assistant at St. Gregory's. At the beginning of the season 1957-58 Father McGough called me for a short meeting, at which time I was told I would be President of the C.Y.O. League. We organized -a secretary-Treasurer,
Convenors and Coaches -hurried meetings, maybe after a game or before -no minutes were ever kept. That is why some of the information is vague -my memory fails me.

However, it wasn't long until other parishes joined in and organized their own teams. This was the 1957-58 season, and every Sunday and Tuesday evenings the "new" Children's Arena was filled with excitement, and the competition became very keen. About this time we cancelled playoffs with Toronto C.V.O. teams, as we had enough competition in Oshawa.

Players were responsible for paying for ice time, and to make up any deficit we held a Father and Son banquet at the end of the year, asking fathers to pay, and mothers to dS)nate food. The numbers became so big that each parish had to have its own banquet. Guest speakers at these banquets of C.Y.O. early days were such men as Dave Keon, Bob Goldham, Ted O'Connor, Tom O'Connor, etc.
I remained President until the late 1960's when I resigned, since I had become involved along the way in Neighbourhood Park League, City League and Junior B hockey. Doug Bryant (now of Windsor) took over as President of C.V.O. Hockey and from there it has progressed to what we have today.

The Parish priests were always willing helpers, and were there when we needed them.
My treasured memories with C.V.O. would fill a book. I have no regrets for the many hours I gave voluntarily, and my rewards are meeting young men who remind me that they played on one of our teams. My son, Ted, now coaches a St. Mary's parish team, and grandson Marc is a member of that team.

I hesitate to name the many willing volunteers, because I know I couldn't list everyone. Some of those I worked with very closely were: Jerry Cole, Peter Murphy, Hugh Crosby, Don Brockman, Bob Branch, Don Leach, Dorian McAvoy, Bob Bryant, Bud Houston, Tom Hurst, Bob Black, Harry Neal, Roy Bligdon. There were many more -my apologies to anyone I missed. It pleases me to know there are still willing volunteers to carryon this gratifying work.

I might mention two boys in particular who have become famous in the Hockey world Terry O'Reilly, a player from St. Gertrude's parish, now Coach of Boston Bruins, Mike Keenan of Whit by, played with a C.V.O. team, now Coach of Philadelphia Flyers.
Many others I know, have made their mark in other endeavours, but space does not permit me to list them all.

By Bob Dionne