Jim Savill already had 17 years of Volleyball experience before he arrived in Barrie. His resume included OVA Certified University Referee. High school girls volleyball coach. Organizer of a men’s Provincial B volleyball team. A Regional Volleyball Official. A National Candidate where he had the opportunity to officiate the Canadian Olympic men’s team in a game against the Japanese men’s team at a CanAm competition in Edmonton. In 1991 he came to Barrie and immediately got involved in local, and Ontario Volleyball Association officiating. He worked at the elementary, high school, and college level. He has held numerous refereeing clinics in the Barrie area and developed several coaches over the same period. Savill has assigned volleyball officials in Barrie, Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Parry Sound, and Huntsville. In 1994, Savill was the motivating force in developing the Georgian Cubs Volleyball Club beginning with two teams that season. The club grew to 21 by 2001, in Barrie, Orillia, and Collingwood. Jim and the Cubs organization insisted on providing certified OVA coaches to ensure the young volleyball players had the best possible training. The Cubs have won numerous tournaments, Provincial, and National championships at all levels. Savill represented Innisdale High School as the teams’ referee, at the1994 ISF World Championships in France. In the 1996 championships in Komarno, Slovaki, he was assigned as second referee in the women’s final. Seeing all the young players that he helped develop return to Barrie to get involved in the sport as coaches, referees and contributing members of the community are proud moments for Savill.

Bill McKeen took up the game of hockey at 20 years of age and played for 17 years. At 31 years of age, he started coaching while still playing the game. After he moved to Barrie from London in 1987, McKeen became involved with refereeing the game of hockey. Shortly after this, he began timekeeping in Oro for the Oro midget games. This evolved in to McKeen performing timekeeping duties in Barrie. For the past 9 years, he has been doing timekeeping exclusively for the Barrie “AAA” squads. By the end of January 2012, McKeen had already done 157 “AAA” games during the 2011/2012 season. McKeen has done 2 international games, approximately a dozen games for the Barrie Colts of the OHL, and even done an exhibition game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Islanders. Bill takes his position as timekeeper very seriously. He is normally at his place in the arena 90 minutes before game time, setting up his equipment, testing the time clock and picking up the key for the referee’s room. Despite having performed his timekeeping duties at a higher level, McKeen’s preference is to stick to timekeeping games for the younger ages. When players end up in the penalty box, he tends to joke with these players, trying to get them smiling before they leave the box. McKeen feels this is part of his duty as timekeeper, trying to keep the players happy and in the game.

Gary and Sue Charters have been married for 38 years. They have 3 sons Bob, Brad and Brett. They have been living in Barrie since the fall of 1991.

They began their involvement with sports when their son Bob began playing T-Ball in Pickering. From 1985 to 1991, Gary was involved as a coach in the Pickering Softball Association. After arriving in Barrie, both Gary and Sue have been involved with the Barrie Minor Baseball Association from 1993 to the present day.

Despite working full-time with TD Canada Trust for the last 40 years, Gary spent his spare time from 1993 to 2000 managing house league teams as well as coaching all-star tournament teams. From 2000 to 2009, he coached a Senior Team in the Ontario Senior Baseball Association. As well, he managed and coached both Bantam and Senior teams in the Barrie Minor baseball Association’s rep system from 2001 to present day. Gary has served 5 years on the BMBA Executive as select convenor and V.P. of house league. He has also been the equipment manager for the past 10 years.

Not to be outdone, Sue Charters has been involved in the Barrie Minor baseball Association since 1992. She has held the position of convenor for teams in the T-Ball through Senior Divisions, has been a V.P. in the house league and has managed rep teams. In addition to this, she has been Tournament Director, Registrar, the York Simcoe Baseball Rep and President of BMBA for an 8 year stint. Sue is presently an Umpire and the Park Scheduler for BMBA. All of this while working at Toys R Us.

Both Gary and Sue have also been busy outside of the Barrie Minor baseball Association. From 1992 to 2010, Gary has been involved with the Bowlerama Barrie Youth Bowling Council, as well as volunteering with the Barrie Chamber of Commerce for 13 years.

From 1992 to 1998, Sue volunteered at Allandale Public School performing various duties as well as volunteering with the parents group at Innisdale Secondary School for 5 years. Furthermore, Sue has also volunteered with the Youth Bowling Council at Bowlerama Barrie.

Roger Gillespie has been involved in a variety of sports which include Barrie Minor Baseball, High School Volleyball, Slopitch Ontario, McMaster University Volleyball and the Barrie Baycats. With Barrie Minor Baseball Gillespie was a Rookie Ball Coach in 1990, Minor Mosquito Manager in 1991, Major Mosquito Manager in 1992 and a Minor Peewee manager in 1992. He also coached Baseball while a teacher at Barrie North Collegiate.

Gillespie is very involved in Volleyball. During his teaching career at Barrie North Collegiate from 1983-2011 he coached both Girls and Boys Volleyball. He then transferred to Nottawasaga Pines Secondary School and continued to coach Boys Volleyball from 2011-2014. During his high school coaching career he was presented with the Leadership in Sport award from OFSAA in 2008. He was on the organizing committee for OFSAA boys and girls championships held in Barrie . Gillespie coached the Georgian College mens team from 1982-83 He became a Volleyball referee in 1995 and he remains a referee today.

During the first and second season for the Barrie Baycats Gillespie was the official scorer and during their third year he became the first base coach. Gillespie is very involved in Slo Pitch. He played from 1975-2001 and he became an Umpre with SloPich Ontario in 1990 and remains involved in umpiring games today. In 1992 he became an Ontario Champion and in 1992 he became Ontario Slopitch Zone Director and remains so today. In 2004 he joined the Board of Directors for Slopitch Ontario and remains on the board today.

Gillespie’s son, attended McMaster University where he played Volleyball. In 2007-2008 Gillespie was the tournament Director for McMaster’s Florida tournament. He was a member of Barrie North’s 50th anniversary committee and he was also on the social committee at Barrie North and Nottawasaga Pines.

Carl Lawrence Davidson took over the Alpine Racing Program at Snow Valley Resort in 1964. He taught ski racing to the Nancy Green level (ages 6 to 13 years) skiers. Davidson also taught Alpine Racers (ages 14 to 18 years) and some A class racers. The A class racers traveled to various resorts for competition including Chicopee in Kitchener, Hidden Valley, Huntsville, Bethany, Devil’s Elbow and Beaver Valley. The final races were held at Collingwood. He stayed coaching at Snow Valley until 1969.

Davidson moved on to Horseshoe Valley where he became their first racing coach. He formed the Horseshoe Valley racing program and was the Head Coach from 1969 to 1979. At this time, the Huronia Racing League was formed, with teams from Medonte Mountain, Snow Valley, Pine Ridge and Horseshoe. This league was for Nancy Green and Alpine aged skiers covering ages 6 to 18. The racers that developed at Horseshoe excelled and the Club was asked to place a team in the Southern Ontario Division. This opened a new level of competition for local skiers. Davidson’s dedication to the early development of competitive skiing has influenced many local skiers and coaches. The annual Carl’s Dude Cup Challenge is named in his honour.

Mike Clark was born in Tillsonburg, Ontario in 1954 and relocated to Barrie in 1967. He has played pick-up hockey and is an avid golfer. He played for Bentorswell Construction and Starr Electric in the Barrie and District Intermediate Fastball League for approximately 15 years. He was also a member of the executive of this league for 7 years.

You may have never heard of Mike Clark. But if you have ever gone to a Barrie BayCats baseball game, you would immediately recognize Mike Clark’s voice. He has been the public address announcer for the Barrie BayCats at Coates Stadium since Day One. Mikes love of baseball lead him to put his name forward as a volunteer when the club was looking for volunteers in 2001. About two weeks before the start of the season, he was notified by the BayCats of an opening for a P.A. announcer and was asked if he was interested in performing these duties. Although he had no previous experience, he decided to give it a try. Clark said it was a lot of fumbling and stumbling at first, but the BayCats stuck with him and he now feels he does a pretty credible job. As an announcer, mistakes are pretty apparent to both the fans and the players. Clark remembers a time in the 2005 finals against Toronto where Dave Latour was at bat. Things were a little hectic in the press box at the time but Mike does not use this as an excuse. The umpire had just called strike two when Clarke called for the next batter to come up. A lot of people turned around and stared at him. As well there was a lot of hooting and hollering going on. Clark feels this was probably his most boneheaded call. Latour brushed it off as stuff happens.

Clark is also readily recognized at the stadium on game days because of the shirts he wears bearing the names of obscure players like Wilson Betemit and Brad Lincoln.

Mike has a game day ritual he goes through before every game. He shows up approximately an hour before game time. He talks to the players and management to get a feel for what is going on that day. He will go over the visiting teams’ line-up with the opposing manager, in order to ensure he knows how to properly pronounce the players names. He feels it is important to get that right.

Clark is now in his 16th season as announcer with the BayCats. While it is hard for him to pinpoint the best thing about this volunteer position, he feels it’s the full experience that brings him in. If he wasn’t volunteering at the game, odds are that he would still be there, only in a position as #1 fan.

Don Buchanan was born and raised in Barrie. He has resided in Barrie all 62 years of his life. He has played Slo-Pitch for 32 years, is an avid golfer and a passionate Notre Dame Football fan.

Don became involved with Adult Slo-Pitch upon its’ inception in 1975. During these 42 years, he has been a player, coach, Tournament Director, Vice President and for the last 6 years has served as President of the league. For the last 21 years, he has organized tournaments in Barrie to help offset costs associated with the operation of the Barrie men’s Slo-Pitch League.

In 1998, Don was approached by Slo-Pitch Ontario (the official governing body of Slo-Pitch in Ontario as recognized by Softball Canada) to be a Zone Director. As a Zone director, Doc would be responsible for the ranking of players and teams for participation in Regional and provincial Championships as well as for the recruitment and registration of leagues within this zone. He accepted this appointment and still holds this position 19 years later.

From 2000 to 2004, Don `Doc` Buchanan was the Tournament Director for the Northern Ontario Championships. This tournament brought in over 100 teams annually to the Barrie Sports Complex for 3 days of competition to determine the various bracket champions.

In 2002, Don was elected to the board of Directors of Slo-Pitch Ontario at its Annual General Meeting. He has remained in this position for the last 15 years.

Don’s passion for the game of Slo-Pitch is unwavering. His involvement with this sport has positively affected the lives of thousands of athletes. He hopes to be able to continue to freely offer his time and guidance to this great sport and its athletes for many years to come.

Doug Cundall is a highly regarded official provincially, nationally and internationally. He began umpiring in 1966 working games 4 or 5 nights a week and most weekends. He acquired Level 4 Umpire certification in both Fast Pitch and Slo-Pitch but his hours of experience on the diamond were probably his greatest teacher. He has spent over 50 years as an umpire in Barrie, Simcoe County, and in communities throughout Southern Ontario.

In 1985 Softball Ontario made him Umpire in Chief (UIC) of Ontario’s Zone 6, an area covering Simcoe, Grey, Bruce and Dufferin Counties. Two years later he became a member of Softball Ontario’s Umpire Committee. Cundall carried on in this position for several years while maintaining his normal umpiring duties. He became a Development Clinician, developing and presenting clinics all across Ontario.

In 1995, Cundall became Chair of the Softball Ontario Umpire Committee and was responsible for the umpire program in the province. In 2000, Cundall was appointed Provincial UIC for Slo-Pitch. In this position, Cundall was responsible for staffing, supervising and officiating at numerous high profile provincial Tournaments. He was also in charge of the provincial eliminations and championships for various levels of competition.

In 2002, Cundall became the first Level 4 umpire to become a member of Softball Canada’s Officials Development Committee and, as such, is a Deputy Umpire in Chief of Canada. His responsibilities on this committee were numerous. He was UIC of 9 Canadian Championships for both slo-pitch and fast pitch and personally officiated in five Canadian Championships. He took on the role of updating and developing Softball Canada’s many instruction and training manuals, including power point and overhead materials. He was also in charge of Softball Canada’s Slo-Pitch national exam for four years and was co-presenter of Softball Canada’s first Level 4 on-line clinic in 2011. He has instructed Instructor/Evaluator, Level 4 and Mechanics Clinics and at 5 Blue Conventions across Canada. He was UIC for numerous provincial championships and at the 2010 Ontario Summer Games. Internationally he officiated at the first ever International Softball Congress II championships and worked the plate in the championship game.

Cundall and his wife Gail reside in Barrie. He is also proud that he could give back to the local officials, as Co-UIC (2011) of the Barrie and District Girls Minor Softball Association and as past UIC for the local Slo-Pitch Association. Cundall was presented an Award of Merit by the federal government for his volunteer work in 1988. In 2003, the Softball Ontario Umpire Committee awarded Cundall its Jim Bradford Memorial Award given for instruction and evaluation excellence.

Len has been a long standing member of the sports community here in Barrie and the surrounding area. Len has dedicated much of the last 35 years to the game of rugby here in Barrie and Simcoe County.

Len has been President of the Barrie Rugby Club for 25 years! During that time Len has volunteered his time organizing, planning and developing the Barrie Rugby Club into what it is today. We are the 2^nd largest club in Ontario and 5^th largest in Canada with just over 500 active playing members. This does not include the coaches, executive members, and other volunteers that Len has been instrumental in providing a structure and culture designed to encourage growth of the sport as well as growth of character and community.  We currently run programs consisting of  U7 all the way through to Men’s and Women’s Programs. To accommodate such a large playing community Len has also taken on the role of fixtures manager. Meaning that he organizes with Rugby Ontario, Rugby Canada as well as other clubs to set matches, tournaments, and referees. Speaking to the growth of the club. The club is now entering it’s 52^nd year. Prior to Len’s involvement the game of rugby was very much a fringe sport, to the point where junior programs did not exist and the game in the sport in the area was falling off. Len has been instrumental in developing a structure in which the growth of the game in Barrie has flourished. Securing land with the city of Barrie and leading a team that was able to secure the Jim Hamilton Rugby Field for the club is one of his many contributions to the growth of the game. Prior to this new space being acquired, Len spent every weekend cutting and lining fields to prepare for upcoming matches. Under Len’s leadership there has been a distinct rise in the amount of girls and women playing the game. Not only does Barrie Rugby offer the opportunity for females to play at every age level, Len has also provided a culture structure that has led to a great deal of success for girls and women on the pitch. Most of our girls and boy’s teams are annually competing for provincial championships and our Women’s and Men’s teams compete in the highest divisions available in Ontario. This would not be possible without Len’s commitment to growth and positive culture within the sport.

Len manages to find time to still actively play, coach and lead within club despite his outside volunteer commitments as well. Len has been the chief organizer behind the development of Blood Drives run by local athletes. Len is also a long standing and high ranking member of the Lions Club. He also gives up his time to coach at a local high school and organizes food and toy drives actively involving youth in the process as a means to grow positive character traits and a sense of community. Len truly believes that Rugby is not just sport, but it is a lifestyle and believes that the game itself is an excellent tool for building community, positive work ethic, inclusiveness and positive contributors to Barrie and the surrounding area.

While all the tangibles are clear and Len’s volunteer hours are unprecedented it is the intangibles that make Len so worth of this award. Len’s compassion for those that are without is something that stands out. Len has given away countless pairs of rugby cleats, balls, jerseys, shorts, and equipment to youth that otherwise would have not been able to participate. Len has organized fundraisers to assist struggling families within the rugby community here in Barrie. Len has opened his home to those that have lost theirs due to fire or flood. Len’s immediate family follows his lead and are active members of the rugby community and approach it the same way with an open heart and passion for development. Len has given so much to the game of rugby and the community here in Barrie, but you would never know this because of how humble Len is and his belief in community over self. Len has selflessly dedicated his life to the development of the Barrie Rugby Club and the larger community. Len does much of this behind the scenes because again he is focused on the development of others not of himself, a sign of true leadership.