Kingston Sports Hall of Fame rolls out welcome mat for five new members
Posted Jan 21, 2010 By Mark Kerr
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Tweet ThisEMC Sports - Leandre "Leon" Doucet readily admits that he is not the highest profile inductee of the Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame. Without builders like Doucet, though, Kingston would not have the vibrant sports scene it has enjoyed for years.
"I am a builder so we are not as high profile as the Don Cherrys, the Doug Gilmours and the Kirk Mullers," said the longtime hockey, basketball and football coach, one of five new members of the Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame. "But colleagues of mine who are in the hall who did what I did, it's really nice to be there with them because I know how much work they put into it."
The Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame announced the 2010 inductees at the Kingston city council meeting Jan. 5. Doucet as well as Charlie Convery, Walter Pennock and Steve Skene will officially become members of the Hall of Fame at the 15th annual induction dinner April 30 at the Ambassador Conference Resort. Russell "Bud" Gormley will be inducted posthumously.
Doucet, 68, has resided in Kingston since 1967. During that time he coached several hockey, basketball and football teams. He won five senior high school football championships with three different teams.
Doucet said the opportunity to coach made teaching the best job he could imagine.
"What I enjoyed the most was the contact with the players, the coaches and the parents, but particularly the players that I coached," said Doucet, adding that he relished the chance to work with young adults and act as a positive influence in their lives.
In addition to coaching, Doucet served as integral member of several sports organizations including the Eastern Ontario and Ontario secondary school athletic associations. He was a basketball table official at the Summer Olympics in Montreal in 1972.
"Spirit of the Aces"
During her introduction of the inductees, Hall of Fame board member Anne Turnbull described Charlie Convery as the "the spirit of the Kingston Aces from 1968-1973" as well as the team's scoring and penalty minutes leader. Convery, 65, will be remembered for his passion for the sport, from his high school playing days right through to old timers hockey.
"I was surprised. I was stunned by it," Convery said of the honour. "It's very exciting, especially for my grandchildren and for my kids who saw me play."
When asked to single out a career highlight, Convery said the 1968 Spengler Cup ranks at the top. The Aces represented Canada at the prestigious international hockey tournament and brought home a silver medal.
"That was a big highlight for me. It was very nice," he said.
"Would have meant a lot to him"
Marsha Gormley was happy to hear that her husband Russell "Bud" Gormley had been inducted into the Hall of Fame. She just wished that he could have been there to enjoy the honour.
"Of course a lot of mixed emotions, it's sort of bittersweet," said Marsha Gormley, whose husband passed away in 2008. "But I am very relieved and very happy and very grateful. It's a great honour. I just feel a sense of satisfaction."
Bud Gormley is remembered as a pioneer of the Canadian Olympic Regatta Kingston (CORK). During the 1976 Olympic Games, Gormley was known as the unofficial mayor of the Olympic Village at the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour. He was a key organizer of many other international sailing events in Kingston. Later in his life, Gormley carried out several humanitarian missions in the Dominican Republic.
Marsha Gormley said her husband would have appreciated the recognition.
"This is something that would have meant a lot to him. It's nice to keep his memory alive and to be recognized by the city that meant so much to him."
"A moment of pride and joy"
Walter Pennock built a reputation as the most aggressive driver in the history of the Kingston Speedway, but he was humbled after being introduced as one the newest members of the Kingston & District Sports Hall of Fame.
"It was a moment of pride and joy," said Pennock when he found out that he was one of this year's honourees.
Pennock, 69, was a driver and owner from 1960-1979. He added five speedway championships to his name during that time in Kingston, Brockville, Cornwall and the Watertown State Fair Championship.
During the introduction, Turnbull said that "it was written about Walter Pennock that never in the history of stock car racing in Eastern Ontario and Northern New York had one driver dominated in the manner that Walter Pennock had that season (1971)."
"It got to the point where I was doing very well, and I thought I'd like to go on farther and see what I could do in the U.S. market where it was more competitive. However, I had a business to look after and a family and the money wasn't that good in racing. So I either had to go racing or shutdown and look after my business, which I decided to do," he said.
Pennock will take his place in the Hall of Fame alongside several other inductees who were influential in his career.
"Lenny Corcoran was really good with me. He helped me a lot with handling and so on. Fred Gibson and I exchanged knowledge quite a bit. And some of the other guys you just talk to. You learned from them and went to other tracks. And if there is someone running better you, you kind of see what they are doing and that's how you got better. That and a little practice," he said with a chuckle.
Racing has always been a passion for Pennock, even to this day. "I am still a big NASCAR fan today. Racing is in my blood and I love it."
"How proud we are of him"
Steven Skene, a long-time member of the harness racing industry, missed the announcement because he was in Florida, but his daughter Kerri Ashurst was in attendance proudly representing her father.
"My dad has had such an illustrious career. And when he was hurt, in 2002, it was kind of an end of an era for him. I wanted to show him how proud we all are of him and acknowledge what he has done for the harness racing industry," said Ashurst who nominated her father.
Skene, 59, has done it all in harness racing, but he is best remembered for his stunning accomplishments as a driver. He won 1,155 races, the only other Kingston driver to have over a thousand victories was fellow Hall of Fame member Ted Huntbach.
Skene's driving career was cut short in 2002 after an accident at Kawartha Downs in Peterborough. However, Skene did not let the injury end his involvement in harness racing. He earned his starter/patrol judge licence, and he is now a starter at Kawartha Downs and Quinte Raceways.
"He stuck with it even though he knew that part (driving) of his career was over," his daughter said proudly.
Ashurst said her father will be back in Kingston for the induction dinner. She said he was thrilled by the news.
"He was absolutely stunned. When he got the call, he was just ecstatic. He was obviously very proud, very excited. He couldn't be more proud, absolutely," she said.
