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Countless Hours Dedicated to
Minor Hockey and Minor Fastball
Evva (Ev) MacKay was an important cog in both the Wetaskiwin
Minor Hockey Association and the Wetaskiwin and District
Minor Fastball Association during the years that she was
involved in the administration of these organizations.
Ev and her husband Don moved to Wetaskiwin from
Camrose in 1967 and they and their children participated
in community and school sports and other
activities
within the city.
In 1968, Ev was contacted
by Ralph Pocock and asked if she would help out with
minor hockey. The association needed
someone
to serve
as secretary and Ev agreed. Shortly after Ralph
approached Ev with another request, a
secretary-treasurer was required for a new Midget Hockey
League and again, Ev agreed.
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The role expanded very
quickly and she soon found herself assisting Ralph and
Julius Fodor, the Recreation Director, with the drafting
of a constitution, rules and regulations; registering
the players, coaches and managers and drawing up the
schedule. Because no one else volunteered, she became
the League Statistician. All of this involved many
phone calls and much paperwork. Ev became the main
contact person for the League. Ev served as secretary
for minor hockey from 1968 to 1975, adding the role of
Treasurer in 1970. For her years of volunteering and
her major contributions, the Minor Hockey Association
presented Ev with an engraved silver tray during the
intermission of a Colonels Hockey game in 1974.
From 1970 to 1976, Ev
volunteered with the Wetaskiwin and District Minor
Fastball Association serving as Secretary-Treasurer.
However her roles within this program were multiple and
more demanding.
She and the President, Jerry Greene, were the driving
forces of the organization.
Enormous Commitment - Unselfish Service
Ev’s duties included the
following: registering over 330 boys each year;
procuring team sponsors thereby ensuring uniforms,
equipment and
financial
support; recruiting and
assigning coaches, managers, assistants, umpires and
scorekeepers; assigning players to the teams attempting
to guarantee a distribution of pitchers and catchers and
parity; drafting rules, regulations and procedures;
drawing up schedules; gathering and recording
statistics; arranging and supervising playoffs;
selecting players (with the help of the coaches) who
were to play on the Wetaskiwin teams in Provincial
playoffs and then registering these players according to
the strict regulations of the Alberta Softball
Association; travelling to other centers acting as
chaperon or team assistant at Provincial tournaments.
When Wetaskiwin hosted
Provincials, Ev’s duties increased. She arranged and
managed the Provincial playoffs and acted as Official
Scorekeeper. In addition, every year, Ev organized a
Wind-Up Party at the end of the season for all of the
league players and their parents (around 500 people in
total). For her exceptional
contributions
Ev was
presented with an Outstanding Service Award that was
signed by the Presidents of the Canadian Amateur
Softball Association and Alberta Amateur Softball
Association.
Many fastball teams from
Wetaskiwin competed and won Provincial championships.
The program produced some outstanding players, several
of whom went on to Nationals and the Worlds and even
went on to play on professional teams. Ev is very proud
of the role played by the Wetaskiwin Minor Fastball
Association in the development and the successes of the
young men. Ev should be proud of her role for without
her dedication and effort, this might
not have
happened. The same can be said about her position in
the Wetaskiwin Minor Hockey Association.
Evva, we applaud your
commitment and the countless hours that you dedicated to
minor
hockey and minor fastball in Wetaskiwin. The
community appreciates your hard work and unselfish
service and is proud to present you with this Special
Award ensuring your place in the Wetaskiwin and County
Sports Hall of Fame.
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