2006 BELLEVILLE SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

  • Dick Fitzpatrick

    ATHLETE / MULTI-SPORT

  • Greg Gavin

    BUILDER, MULTI-SPORT

  • Rick Locke

    BUILDER, MULTI-SPORT

  • Ivan Nelson

    BUILDER, BOWLING

  • Andy Rossit

    ATHLETE, FOOTBALL

DICK FITZPATRICK

ATHLETE, MULTI-SPORT

After accepting a hockey scholarship to Clarkson College in upstate New York in 1947, Dick Fitzpatrick decided to try out for the varsity baseball team. Of course, he made it. Nobody who knew or grew up with Fitzpatrick in Belleville would have been surprised. Many of those who watched him dominate football games as captain of the St. Michael’s Academy team that won back-to-back COSSA crowns in 1942 and ’43, believe Fitzpatrick to be one of the finest all-round athletes Belleville has ever produced.

Versatility was the name of the game for Fitzpatrick who starred in hockey, football, baseball, softball, basketball, tennis, track and field, and golf. Fitzpatrick was not only quick to learn the fundamentals of any game, but soon he was the best player on any team. Championships followed Fitzpatrick wherever he went. After leading the 1944 Belleville Bears to the Eastern Ontario Jr. B hockey title, Fitzpatrick quickly switched uniforms to lead the Belleville Kiwanis Club to the same regional banner in baseball that summer. An All-Ontario title followed with the Belleville Jr. A softball team in 1945 and later, in 1954, a provincial senior banner for the Belleville Batas.

At Clarkson, Fitzpatrick was a two-sport letterman and the first Canadian to play for the Golden Knights varsity baseball team in the university’s long and storied athletic history. In his freshman season with the hockey Knights, “Fitz” averaged two points per game to finish as top scorer with 32 points in 16 games. Later, he chased pucks for bucks in California, playing professionally in the old West Coast minor pro hockey league with the Hollywood Wolves.

Born in Detroit on February 17, 1926, Fitzpatrick died in Belleville on December 27, 1999. Once, when his sporting adventures were chronicled in The Intelligencer, a reporter declared Fitzpatrick’s “list of athletic laurels too long to catalogue here.” Fitzpatrick’s deserved standing in the city’s Sports Hall of Fame will attest to that fact.

GREG GAVIN

BUILDER, MULTI-SPORT

Greg Gavin saw a small school with big potential. Thirty years ago, Gavin assumed the mantle of athletic director at one of Ontario’s tiniest community colleges – Loyalist. Before the college even had proper gym facilities, Gavin envisioned great things for Loyalist and a strong bond between academics and athletes.

With a methodical approach, Gavin chose volleyball as the sport Loyalist would first embrace and soon his dedication and commitment paid off. Between 1986-2003 Gavin either coached, managed or recruited players for Loyalist Lancers men’s volleyball teams that won seven Ontario championships and brought home three medals from Canadian national finals. Gavin’s teams won three straight provincial titles from 1996-99 and two in a row from 2001-2003. Under Gavin’s guidance, the Loyalist College varsity athletic program grew to boast seven teams, one of the highest numbers for a “small” community college in Canada.

Always stressing athletics in conjunction with strong academics, four Lancers earned academic all-Canadian status in 2005-2006 and 27 garnered academic all-Ontario accolades. Loyalist College assistant athletic director Jim Buck said: “Greg Gavin took a small college with limited resources and built an athletic program that is known and respected, not only in Ontario, but right across Canada.

Born in Toronto on November 2, 1946 and now living outside Foxboro, Gavin was honoured in 2006 as a recipient of a lifetime achievement award at Loyalist. Greg Gavin dared to dream big. And Loyalist College is thankful he did.

RICK LOCKE

BUILDER, MULTI-SPORT

“Mr. Quinte.” That was the title officially bestowed upon Rick Locke at the 50th anniversary celebrations at Quinte Secondary School in 2004. A more appropriate moniker would be difficult to find for the man who was an integral part of the Quinte Secondary School and Bay of Quinte sports scene for more than 40 years.

Born in Belleville on July 5, 1941, Locke was an all-around elementary school track and field champion in 1955. He won COSSA regional titles in 1958 and again in 1959 for the 100-yard dash, 220-yard dash, long jump and relay. Locke played baseball too and as a 19-year-old was a member of the 1960 provincial champion Belleville Senior Kenmors and the’ 61 all-Ontario silver medal squad.

Turning to the gridiron, Locke was a standout football player at McMaster University in Hamilton where he helped the team win three straight Ontario championships from 1962-64. With the Marauders, Locke played in the inaugural Atlantic Bowl championship contest and was a member of the first-ever Canadian university football team to play games on both coasts, plus challenge for the Yates Cup.

Returning to Belleville, Locke embarked on an illustrious coaching career that included an all-Ontario baseball title with the junior Tigers in 1978 and numerous Bay of Quinte and COSSA crowns in three sports – football, basketball and track – from 1965-97 at Quinte Secondary School. If that wasn’t already enough, Locke was also a full-time football referee at the Bay of Quinte and COSSA levels. Later, Locke helped out with the formation of the Belleville Minor Football league where he also officiated games.

Locke continues to call Belleville home where he still champions the cause of collegiate athletics through the McDonald’s Belleville High School Athletes of the Year program which recognizes excellence on the playing field and in the classroom. Locke truly is, “Mr. Quinte.”

IVAN NELSON

BUILDER, BOWLING

When Ivan Nelson said “it’s all about the kids,” he meant it. Born in Picton on June 6, 1943, the former athlete of the year at Prince Edward Collegiate made coaching children a priority in his life. A high school star in football, basketball, track and field, gymnastics, badminton and volleyball, Nelson later turned his attention to bowling. For more than 30 years, he taught children the finer points of the game, encouraged them and served as an administrator for their programs. From 1981 to 1997, Nelson coached several Ontario 10-pin youth teams at international and national championship tournaments, including the prestigious World Zone finals in Florida in 1992 and 1997. For a dozen years, from 1985-1997, Nelson was a fixture as head coach of the Southern Ontario team at the annual 10-pin youth championships held at various locations across Canada.

For 10 years, he served as president of the Ontario Junior 10-pin Bowling Alliance, responsible for more than 7,000 youth bowlers in the province. Nelson was instrumental in the formation of the popular Southern Ontario and provincial “family twosome” tournaments. During his busy coaching and administrative bowling career, the gregarious Nelson still found time to roll a few frames himself. When he did, the results were often spectacular.

Nelson bowled for more than 30 years, winning the city high average four times and scoring a perfect 300 game in 1996. He was the first Belleville bowler to post a 200 average (201) and still holds the city record for high series (783) in three games. Beginning in 1961 and continuing through 1986, Nelson refereed basketball and football at both the university and high school levels and helped form the Bay of Quinte referees association in 1965. Ivan Delbert Nelson died in 2002 at the age of 59. The popularity of bowling in Belleville and then continued success of Ontario youth programs at tournaments in Canada and the U.S. are tributes to Nelson’s dedication to a sport he loved and the children for whom he cared so much.

ANDY ROSSIT

ATHLETE, FOOTBALL

Perhaps it was fitting for a fastball star. In 1982, while quarterbacking the University of Western Ontario Mustangs varsity football team, Belleville native Andy Rossit threw a gridiron version of the perfect game. Except in this case, it lasted an entire season. In 126 passing attempts, Rossit threw zero interceptions. More than 20 years later, the record still stands at UWO where Rossit finished fourth on the list of all-time Mustang passing leaders with 489 attempts and 238 completions for 4,505 yards and 23 touchdowns. Rossit guided the Mustangs to three consecutive Yates Cup titles as Ontario university champions in 1980-81-82. Rossit was the first quarterback in UWO football history to start in all five years of his eligibility. He spearheaded the team’s drive to a berth in the Vanier Cup national championship game in 1982 and was MVP of the Churchill Bowl semi-final match.

Rossit almost didn’t go to Western. He was first heavily recruited by Syracuse University and then head coach Tom Coughlin, who later rose to the ranks of the NFL. But football was far from Rossit’s only love when it came to sports. The Quinte Secondary School grad was equally adept on the fastball diamond where he represented Canada on three occasions, including at the Winfield Cup challenge series in New Zealand in 1993. In all, Rossit played in nine senior world championship tournaments, one North American senior championship and two Canadian finals. At the 1981 Ontario junior championships, Rossit was voted MVP after playing for the silver medal St. Catharines squad. Prior to that, he was an Eastern Ontario all-star in 1978. At Quinte, Rossit also excelled in basketball. He was chosen to play for the Eastern Ontario team at the 1978 Provincial Summer Games.

Born in Belleville on August 7, 1961, Rossit returned to town on the occasion of Quinte’s 50th anniversary in 2004 where he was declared the school’s Male Athlete of the Quarter Century. Rossit now resides in Stoney Creek.