PRESENTATION

Presented at the Festival 1995.

SPORTS

In planning our 3rd Annual Festival, we realized that an important aspect of our community needed to be acknowledged and recognized for its impact and lasting influence.  For many years Fox Harbour has been a stand out in several sports and in particular softball.  Overall the quality, consistency and numbers of our athletes was indeed the topic of many conversations not to mention a recent documentary.  As in any story there is a beginning and in Fox Harbour it started with a ladies basketball team which competed against teams from Placentia and Argentia.  This team held three distinctions: they were the first competitive team from Fox Harbour; they were the first women's team; and they were the first successful team.  Led by Father Slattery they went on to beat Argentia and Placentia their first time out.

The team members were Mary Murphy,  Teresa O'Rielly, Kitty Duke, Kitty Murray, Mary Davis, Nora Davis, Veronica O'Leary, the late Mary Smith, the late Bride McCue, and the late Teresa McCue.  During these years not all our youth were fortunate enough to play organized sports.  Many of us were content to play Cat & Rounders which were early variations of softball.  Softball fever hit this community in the 1950's and life has never been the same.  With the interest, determinination and guidance of people like Father John Kent, Jim Houlihan and Kevin Carroll, softball came and captured the imagination and enthusiasm of our youth as well as the community.  There was no turning back!

Teams were organized.  Competitions were held!  Victories were had!  The whole community rallied round to promote our players.  Tom Spurvey came forward and bought uniforms and equipment at his own expense.  There are too many to mention here but to all those who coached, promoted  and helped our youth in so many ways, a sincere thank you!

As the years went by skills were developed and both boys and girls became proficient enough to compete provincially as well as nationally.  In 1977 four of our local girls were part of a team that won the All Newfoundland Softball Ladies Championship in Grand Falls.  They then went on to play in the National competition in New Brunswick.  Coached by Rick and Brian Foley, those recruits, Mel Spurvey, Carmel Pittman, Rose Marie Foley and Peggy Barron made strong contributions to their team. Our boys were often successful in area competition and later were super representatives on provincial and national tournaments.  In 1975, with their coach Bill Hogan, the men's team from this area brought home the First National Softball Championship.  The team members from Fox Harbour were Jim Pittman, Mike Pittman, Rick Foley, Mike Foley, Dick Davis and Frank Kelly.

Today, we take pride in honouring all those who guided, coached, managed and participated in any way to promote sports in our community.  We wish to especially recognize those people who have been inducted into the various Halls of Fame. Nominated to the Newfoundland Softball Hall of Fame was the late Tom Spurvey, - an enthusiastic supporter who donated uniforms and equipment to the players.  Dan Foley, who contributed in large part, not just as a player, but as an organizer and manager.  His dedication and concern for the well being of his players made him a stand out and contributed to the hard won victories of our teams.  Mike Kelly, was one of the first on the scene, making a name for himself with a first rate pitching arm and as a regular home run hitter.  Mike quickly made a name for himself as one of the toughest pitchers to take the mound and pushed for excellence in himself, as well as his teammates.   Mike constantly challenged and frustrated the opposition to bring home many victories.

Following in his brothers footsteps and making his own name in softball, Pat Kelly went on to become one of the most gifted players in Newfoundland.  As a  hitter, fielder and all round player he was named #5 in the top 10 athletes ever chosen in Newfoundland, and in the early 1970's he was invited to play in Halifax on a national level.  Such invitations were virtually unheard of at the time. Indeed it would seem that his early days on Fox Harbour teams provided a springboard to a successful career in softball and eventually, an inductee into the Newfoundland Softball Hall of Fame and the St. John's Hall of Fame.

The name Davis is synonymous with sport in Fox Harbour and indeed in Newfoundland.  Certainly in a family where the competitive spirit was so deeply ingrained, Jim Davis was no exception.  A fierce competitor, he helped Fox Harbour make its name in the world of softball.  He went on to be named the M.V.P. Senior A Player of Placentia and the All Star Senior A teams and played 3rd base in the Canadian National Championship.  He is also an inductee to the St. John's Hall of Fame.

In summarizing the theme of this year's festival it was very difficult to categorize our next nominee.  Although not a member of any local softball team, she broke all the rules and surpassed all expectations in many sports.  It is a tribute to her determination and great talent that she learned and developed her skills on the roads near her home and went on participate and excel on provincial, national and international levels.  Fox Harbour is very proud of her daughter Mag Davis.

The culmination of her accomplishments have resulted in numerous honorariums.  Mag is an inductee into the Canadian Hall of Fame, the Newfoundland & Labrador Softball Hall of Fame, the St. John's Hall of Fame, the Newfoundland & Labrador Sports Hall of Fame.  A bronze medal winner in the Summer Olympics and winner of 3 national softball awards and a member of the 1978 Canadian silver medal team at the world championships.  She was also voted by Softball Newfoundland, the best female softballer for the first 25 years of the sport in the Province.  She is only the 2nd Newfoundlander to be elected to the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

It would be remiss of me not to mention a young man who is following in the steps of the athletes who have gone before him - namely Michael Pittman.  It is with the same grit and determination that he, in his chosen sport of hockey, has propelled himself forward into the ranks of professional hockey players, having recently been drafted by the Chicago Black Hawks.

It would be impossible to cover all areas in which these players have excelled, but they have left Fox Harbour with a legacy of excellence and determination, as well as strength of character, that stand as examples to both youth and adults alike.

Elizabeth Barron

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