|
John Black lived sports. No matter the competition, as long as he was moving and in the thick of things John was enjoying life. He won swimming and diving medals as a youngster, and at one time was among the youngest Award of Merit holders in the Red Cross swimming program. He played football and was invited to a Hamilton Ti-Cats camp. He played softball as a PeeWee finalist in 1952 and as a Midget semi-finalist a few years later. He played hockey as a PeeWee finalist, Bantam champion (twice), and Midget champion. In track John came second at the Central Western Ontario Secondary School Association's 110-yard dash, which he ran in 10.5 seconds. He excelled at both golf and squash. He played Junior "B" hockey in Woodstock and Junior "C" in Simcoe. He went on to intermediate hockey in Port Dover (contributing to a "B" championship) and played some memorable games in Simcoe. Later he played old timer hockey with a band of Simcoe enthusiasts. John helped organize a men's league in Simcoe and was part of 10 championship teams in that league. He coached four years of minor hockey in Simcoe, and handled five different softball teams, guiding junior teams to Ontario championships in 1988 and 1989. "Blackie" also helped sponsor youth darts, softball and hockey for many years. John was inducted into our Hall of Recognition in 1996. ______ |
John Black
