Leader - Volunteer - Role Model - Mentor

Danny Gusdal taught and coached at Wetaskiwin Composite High School for twenty-one years.  He coached  high school football and golf as well as community hockey. During his years of coaching, his teams won three football league championships, challenged at provincial football playoffs and won a Provincial High School Golf Championship.   Danny was instrumental in the development of the Wetaskiwin community minor football program and also helped establish the WCHS Football Fundraising Society.  Because of his contributions and dedication to the youth of Wetaskiwin and in recognition of the hours of volunteer time spent coaching Danny is being inducted into the Wetaskiwin and County Sport Hall of Fame as a Builder.

Sports Enthusiasm Leads to Career and Recognition

Danny was born and grew up in Manitoba.  As a youngster he was a sports enthusiast and participated in football, baseball, hockey, curling and golf.  His most outstanding athletic achievements were in football.  At the University of Manitoba Danny played on the Bison football team and was a valuable receiver.  His team won the Canada West Championship in 1965 and 1966.  In the 1966 final Danny caught seven passes and scored two touchdowns in a 31-0 win. Also, in 1967-68 Danny was the MVP for the Southwest Manitoba Senior League as a member of the Killarney Shamrocks Hockey Team.  After graduating from the U of M Danny accepted a job in the town of Killarney, Manitoba.  There he was head coach of the Killarney Raiders football team for eleven seasons (1967-1977) and won nine league championships.  In recognition of his coaching abilities and achievements Danny received the Winnipeg Blue Bomber Award for coaching high school football.  

Influential in Shaping Alberta High Schools Football Campionships

In 1978 Danny and his family moved to Wetaskiwin when he accepted a position at WCHS.  In his first year he joined Ross MacEachern coaching the football team and when Ross retired from the position, Danny became the head coach.  In the eleven years that Danny coached the Sabres he built the program to an elite skill level and in the last few years of coaching had rosters of over forty students playing on the team.  Danny’s teams won the Central Alberta High School Championships in 1979, 1986 and 1987. 

Danny was one of the Alberta high school football coaches that encouraged the Alberta Schools Athletic Association to establish Provincial High School Football Championships.  The first championships were held in 1985.  Because of the improvement in the play of the Sabres teams, early in the 1985 season the coaches and team decided they were going to challenge for the Tier 1 provincials in spite of being a Tier 2 school and much smaller than Tier 1 schools.  To be the best you have to challenge the best!  The Sabres lost to Harry Ainlay High School in the first ASAA High School Provincial Championship game ever played.  In 1986 the Sabres won the Central Alberta League Championship and again decided to compete at the Tier 1 level in the Provincial playoffs.  On the last play of the game the team lost in the semi-final to Salisbury Comp of Sherwood Park, the team that eventually won the Tier 1 Championship that year.  His 1986 football team was considered to be the best team that WCHS had ever fielded and was inducted into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.  In 1993 Danny coached his WCHS golf team to a Provincial Championship and in the two ensuing years the golf team placed 4th and 2nd in the Province, a commendable record.  

Instrumental in Formation of Wetaskiwin Football Fundraising Society 

After a few years as head coach Danny and his assistant coach Jay Hetherinton established the WCHS Football Fundraising Society in order to raise money for the football program.  They started working bingos and in the following years the Sabres worked a lot of extra bingos helping to sustain the Bingo Hall and create a great deal of revenue for the football program.  The funds were used to construct the Press Box, install the lights as well as buying home and away jerseys and better equipment for players - especially newer and safer helmets.

 Danny Sees W etaskiwin Youth Clamoring for Football

Until a student reached high school there wasn’t a program in Wetaskiwin for youngsters to play football.  Danny helped to establish the Wetaskiwin and District Amateur Football Association that provides programs for young boys and girls to learn football skills and play the game at modified levels.  The program has grown and now children as young as 5 years old are able to become involved in the sport of football.

Danny also established a Spring Camp for the WCHS football program in order to strive for extra levels of excellence.  He invited guest coaches from the University of Alberta including John Belmont, Jim Donlevy and the Kennard brothers.  These camps helped to teach basic skills and encourage the students to try the sport of football.  

Positive Role Model and Mentor

During his tenure as head coach of the Sabres Football Team, Danny mentored other coaches including Jay Hetherington, Kevin Gibson and Don Loov.  Jay Hetherington went on to coach and administer at high levels in Football Alberta and Football Canada.  Kevin Gibson and Don Loov are still involved in the WCHS football program.  It was not just Danny as a mentor but the whole Gusdal family was part of the strength of relationships and support for young coaches and their families.  A highlight in Danny’s coaching career occurred in 1986 when he was given the honour of accompanying the Edmonton Eskimo Coaches to the American Football Coaches Annual Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana.  He particularly enjoyed being associated with Eskimo Head Coach Jackie Parker and Defensive Co-Ordinator, Don Southern.  

“Treat every person as if he is what he ought to be and you help him become what he is capable of being.”

Danny’s final year of coaching the Sabres Football team was 1987.  That year the Sabres won the League Championship and lost to the powerhouse Lethbridge Collegiate in Provincial Tier 1 play-offs.  Danny’s leadership set the table for a run of the Sabres getting to the Central League Championship nine years in a row from 1986 to 1994 and winning seven of those championships.  

Danny also coached hockey and was an advocate of young athletes playing more than one sport so the top athletes could enjoy well rounded opportunities.  Danny’s motto when coaching was “Treat every person as if he is what he ought to be and you help him become what he is capable of being.” 

Besides his coaching, Danny was very active in the Wetaskiwin Curling Club and the Wetaskiwin Golf Club and served on the Board and as President of the golf club for a number of years. 

In his coaching career in both Manitoba and Wetaskiwin, Danny coached football for twenty years, hockey for ten years, baseball for ten years and golf for eleven years; an incredible contribution. Besides improving the WCHS football program with his coaching and leadership abilities he instigated a WCHS Football Fundraising Society and helped establish a Minor Football Program in Wetaskiwin.  His commitment to young people was exemplary and we applaud his efforts and his selfless dedication and are honoured to induct him into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame.