SPORTS Coach made impact on North Shore sports Jan-Christian Sorensen Sports Reporter sorensen@nsnews.com NORTH Shore sports and scout- ing mainstay Bob Robinson passed away Oct. 3. He was 80. An avid golfer, softball player, coach and volunteer, Robinson spent the bulk of his teaching career at North Vancouver high — where he taught class from 1946- 961. . He was a longtime sports fan whose . playing career spanned from soccer as a ild to senior slo-pitch softball up to last year, when his health began to fail. Robinson grew up in Burnaby but moved to the North Shore in 1945. He moved from Lynn Valley to West Van in . . He was an integral force in establishing a large scouting body on the North Shore. . Nothing new for Robinson, though, said his son Bill - “He was a hell of an organizer. He got a lot of stuff going.” . He launched a: scout troop at St. .- Andrew’s United Church in North Van in the, early *50s. It quickly grew into the : largest. scout group in Western Canada at "that time. .°- ~ 5 Robitison, ‘who coached at the B.C. = Seniors Games, also helmed the North “. Shore Celtics soccer team. “When Ken and I were six or. seven years old we used to go out to the games’ ith him'on weekends and we'd start bug-. ging him that we wanted to play, too.” At that time, there was no youth soccer 2 em ‘to bel guide youngsters throurh the ranks “Ever. the aotleces Robinson quickly sought ) rectify the problem by creating Andrews’ United Church Sunday Shoal Soccer. Club for kids age 6 to ten: ‘That type of lesgue just didn’t exist hig on. school athletes ot the week. - Bill. before then,” said Bill. “The earliest they started was about 11.” Perhaps Robinson’s greatest legacy, however, will be that he was the man responsible for guiding legendary North Van sprinter Harry Jerome away from foot- ball and baseball and into track and field. At the time, Robinson was teaching math and phys. ed. and coaching soccer and rack at the school. “Harry was playing football and baseball at North Van High and obvi- ously his speed showed,” said “(Dad) tried to get as many kids out for mack as he could.” Robinson also helped Jerome — more adept at speed than _ school- work -—gain a scholarship to the University of Oregon, where the speedster earned a master’s degree in phys.. From there Jerome went on to completely dominate local, national and international track and field events in the 1960s, capturing Olympic, Pai Am and Commonwealth Games medals and at one point _~ holding simultaneous world records in the 100 metre and 100 yard events. Bill said his father was bothered by the lack of quality track and field facil- ities on the North Shore, which led “him to push the three municipalities for a dedicated training site. His dream came to fruition with the construction of the THE late Bob Robinson with West Van senior athlete Giga Kotelko. track at West Van High. He continued to make strides in keep- ing hometown tack and field athletes on the North Shore by forming the NorWesters Track and Field Club. “When kids were leaving North Van high they had no place to go on the North Shore. There were some pretty enthusiastic kids and they used to have to go over to Vancouver, so he started up the NorWesters,” said Bill. He also was instrumental in yetting West Van's Olga Kotelko out onto the track for the very first time at the tender age of 77. Another shrewd move —~ Kotelke, now 81, has claimed. over a dozen goid and silver. medals in seniors games competitions across the globe in the last year alone. Robiason was president and served on the executive of the forth Shore Teachers Association for a number of years. He also spent time teaching classes overseas over the course of his career —in such locales - as England, Australia phote submitced and Jamaica. “He was a busy g guy. He always hada lot — , on the go,” said Bill. Robinson, who retired in 1979, spent over 40 years as a member of the North Shore Optimists Club, where he helped " ‘launch. the “Opribear” progam — the club would donate hand- Knitted bears and animals to rescue and police organizations to help them better- make a bridge with young children. “When young kids are injured in trau- matic events they can be given one of these. - bears. Jt’s amazing how much they calm down. It’s of great therapeutic value,” said Bill, who estimated that at least 3,000 of | the stuffed toys had been given out to chil- — dren over the last few years. Robinson. is* survived ‘by ‘his wife Katherine; brothers George and Bill; sons Bill and Ken and daughter Susie; a number of grandchildren, nieces and nephews. - “LIONS GATE BRIDGE -weight title last week- NAMB: Christie Johnston SCHOOL: Collingwood ' GRADE; 12.2" senior COACHES: ‘Lisa Evans and-P Winstanley oa THE SCOOP: tory’. over. Argyle .on Monday ‘helped keep alive Collingwood’s: unbeaten trin which now.stands at eight _wins‘and ‘one tie. She also tallied one in the 2-2 draw. _ with « West:Van_ laste week and has now scored at least every league match ag total of 27: in the Cavaliers’ 24 games overall. field. . "=. COACH: Peter Howes : THE SCOOP: | ~ shattered the four-year-old Chiistie’s s. §0-m butterfly. record for : - in” league: games . NAME: Chris Craxton SCHOOL: Handsworth GRADE: 12 SPORT: senior swimming EVENT: butterfly ‘Chris “C” swimmers (those not also training with a com- nunity club) during both the second and third exhi- bition meets of the season, in preparation for the North Shore champi- onships this afternoon at Griffin Pool beginning at _ 2:30 p.m. His best time in _, the event is 34.34 seconds, which he recorded in Jast Sunday’ s third meet. + Selections are made by the North » Shore-Secondary Schools’ Athletic ‘Association based on outstanding performances in school competition. _ SCHEDULED CLOSURES October 28 to November 3 > Saturday 10:00 p.m. to Sunday 10:00 a.m. > Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night, 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. p Thursday 7:00 p.m. to Friday 6:00 a.m... All closure dates and times are subject to change. Please check the the information sources below for updates. Plan to take the Ironworkers Memorial ‘Second Narrows Bridge to and from the North Shore. For up-to-date information on detours and closures: to 94.5 FM and locai traffic reports (604) ‘473: 1500 or toll: Free: 1-877-473-0202 your community newspaper : : THE LIONS GATE COMPLETION PROJECT wider * stronger * safer Tegan Foy Aroty 1 Qdstedantbsbtob! Sunday, October 29, 2000 — North Shore News - 39 Roughriders tep Packers MICHAEL Dente scored three touchdowns to help the Roughriders raise their peewee division record to 6-0 with a 37-0 win over the Packers during Gordon Sturtridge Football League action last weekend. The shutout was secured by crack defensive play on the part of Adam Furaya, Mac Bartlett, Matt Touhey, Mark Heenan and Henry Singer. In another peewee division tilt, the Raiders toppled the Steclers 28-7 on the strength of Bo Palmer’s three touch- downs and one convert. Also adding to the cause was Taylor McLennan, who returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown. In minor division play, Phil Jacox had four touchdowns — one a 50 yard pass from Ryan Hamilton — as the Redskins . tamed the Colts 48-9. Facox, Hamilton and Brian Schott also were good for an interception each. {n Flag I division games, the Chargers banked the Falcons 20-0 as Erik Jackson netted a pair of touchdowns and five flags. In another flag I matchup the Packers beat the Blue Devils 20-8. ; Meanwhile, the Spartans clipped the Falcons 22-6 in flag II division action. —— Jan-Christian Sorensen Sijelines LOCAL kickboxer Mehdi Pouroskoui claimed the Canadian Muay Thai cruiser- dieweighe bout in a unanimous. decision over Port Moody's’ Neil Ushida. ~ 9099 The . Capilano . Rugby Football Club’s premier side dropped an 18-13 game to UVic on the Island last week- end. In other team action, it was: UBC 55, Cap.: Ist div. 8; Cap. 2nd div. 27, JBC 23: UCC 24, Cap. 3rd aN. 0; Cap. U-18A 71, Rowers 6; Cap. U- 18 .B°7, Burn. Lake «5; Meraloma 17, Cap. women 7. end with a TKO over Toronto’s Rick Sanita. Pouroskoui, who owns KB- One Kickboxing in North Vancouver, claimed the match with a blow to Sanita’s knee in the second round. Meanwhile, another North Shore - fighter, Mitch Kirby, took his three-round light mid- Stratford Hall Visit us in November, our Open House Month! Stratford Hall, a university preparatory, - co-educational, independent school, is now accepting =. applications for September 2001. : Junior Kindergarten to Grade 7." ; NS ESAT ss We re re fookiig pe ~ people to deliver the