8 - A Feature Section of the North Shore News - June 9, 1982

Take it from the top

General Manager Bob
Ackles, the man in charge of
the daily operations of the
B.C. Lions club, is also a
very real part of the 29 years
of colourful history of the
franchise in British
Columbia.

From
waterboy
to
top man

His association with the
club dates back to the first
season of play. in 1954, and
he has_ been _ personally
involved in all facets of club
operations since then.

BOB ACKLES
After starting as a young
sideline helper, he was the
assistant equipment manager
for several years, and then
added the job of Minor
Football Co-ordinator. In
1970 he was named the
Director of Canadian Player
Development, and _ the
following season moved up
as the Assistant General
Manager to Jackie Parker.
During the 1975 season he

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was named to replace Parker
as the Lions’ General
Manager, and over the six
and one-half seasons since
that move, Ackles has been

instrumental in many
progressive moves made
within the club.

Prior to the 1977 season he
hired Vic Rapp as the new
Head Coach, and together
they have worked to bring
winning football to B.C. A
priority in their plans has
been the development of
native Canadian and British
Columbian talent, and an
expansion of the club's
whole player personnel
system.

The program of annual
High School development
camps has continued to
expand, and ts now
producing dividends as
players who first attended
those camps back in 1977 are
now graduating from college
programs and competing for
a spot on the B.C. roster.
The hinmng of a full time
Player Personnel Director in
1981 was a new step forward
for the Lions, greatly ex-
panding the wealth of in-
formation available for
scouting and recruiting. As
well, Ackles had con-
siderable input into the new
reserve list and injury list
regulations adopted by the
CFL last year.

Looking ahead, the major
project now being under-
taken is the move to the new
B.C. Place stadium facility,
which is anticipated will be
ready for the opening of the
1983 season. The advent of
the new stadium will open a
new honzon of opportunities
for the club, and dominate
the activities of Ackles and
his staff over the months
ahead.

HEAD COACH VIC RAPP

This year will mark the
eleventh season of coaching
in the Canadian Football
League for Vic Rapp. After
five seasons with the Ed-
monton Eskimos, from 1972
through 1976, he took on the
job as the Head Coach of the
Lions pmor to the 1977
campaign.

Over the past five years,
he has established himself as

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the most successful coach in
B.C. history, and by the end
of this season will also have
become the longest serving
Head Coach with the Lions.

Under the direction of
Coach Rapp, the Lions have
not recorded a losing season,
posting four seasons with
winning records and one at
an even .500 mark. Ad-
ditonally, the team has
qualified for the playoffs in
three of those years in the
tough Western Dyivision,
twice making it to. the
Western final.

He 1s also the Lions’ of-
fensive co-ordinator,
responsible for designing the
attack that has = never
produced less than 328
points In a season under
Rapp) This contrasts sharply
to the ten previous seasons,
when the BC offense broke

the $OO-point) barner only

twice, by margins of just 6
and 8 points.

In 1981, the Lions posted a
10-6 record, went through to
the Western final where they
were barely edged out by the
Grey Cup champion
Eskimos, and in the regular
season the offense broke the
400-point barrier for the first
time ever, setting new team
records for points (438) and
touchdowns (48) scored.

Club’s

most
winning
coach

Rapps' five season
coaching record in B.C. now
stands at 44 Wins, 32 Losses
and 4 Ties, for a .561 win-
ning percentage. He is the
only coach in B.C. history
with a career victory mark
above 500, and speculation
during last season about his

future in Vancouver was
ended _ shortly after the
season ended when he

agreed to a new contract
with the club.

A native of Marionville,
Missouri, Rapp played
college football as a guard,
and received his Masters
Degree in Physical
Education from the
University of Arkansas. He
joined the coaching staff at
the University of Arizona in
1965, where he was also
chief scout, then joined the
staff at the University of
Missoun in 1967. where he

spent five seasons before
deciding to move to the
CFL

Gotng into season six with
the Lions, Rapp is looking
for his solid core of returning
veterans to go one step
beyond the exciting finish of
1981

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