2001 BELLEVILLE SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

  • Tom Boulter

    ATHLETE, BOAT RACING

  • Wayne “Weiner” Brown

    ATHLETE, HOCKEY

  • Mike Schad

    ATHLETE, FOOTBALL

  • Gordon Smith

    BUILDER, FOOTBALL

TOM BOULTER

ATHLETE, BOAT RACING

Tom Boulter made it three generations of Boulters involved in boat racing in 1962 when, at just 12, he took up the sport. Boulter was born in Belleville. He would prove to be the family’s most proficient racer over 32 years, as a member of the Canadian Boating Federation and the American Power Boat Association. At age 13, Boulter was the youngest driver to ever compete and finish the gruelling 100 mile marathon held on the St. Lawrence River. During his racing days, he competed in “A” Stock, Hydro “B”, “C” Hydro and “D” Hydro, winning races in all classes using Mercury engines from 10 to 40 HP. He set a five mile competition record in “B” Hydro at St. Timothy, Quebec in 1976, followed by a one kilometre speed record in Dain City, Ontario, in 1978 in the same class. Boulter won the Canadian High Point Championship four years, 1976 to 1978 and again in 1980. In 1977 and 1978, he was high point champion in New York State in “B” Hydro. In September 1983, at Peterborough, he won three of six Canadian championships available. Boulter was presented with the prestigious Jack Abel Memorial trophy in 1980 for his outstanding contribution to the Canadian Boating Federation. He moved to racing inboard hydroplanes in the mid 1980’s with his brother, Todd, in their boat “Smooth Move.” In 1988, the duo combined to gain the Canadian High Point Championship in the Six Litre Hydro Cuss. Taking turns driving the boat in September 1989, they won the Six Litre Races at the Gold Cup Races in Picton. One day they were presented with the John Porter Trophy and the next with the Parkhurst Transportation Trophy. Over 32 years Tom Boulter garnered more than 150 trophies and awards.

WAYNE “Weiner” BROWN

ATHLETE, HOCKEY

If all Wayne (Weiner) Brown had done in Belleville was contribute mightily to an Allan Cup win in 1958 and a World Championship in 1959 with the Belleville McFarlands he would be legendary in city sports history. But the diminutive one contributed much more than that. He excelled at any sport he put his hand to, but particularly at hockey and softball. Brown is also remembered as one of the top umpires to ever officiate softball games in the Quinte region. Born in Deloro, Ontario, he was lured to Belleville by General Manager, Drury Denyes to help form the powerhouse McFarlands team that won a National Senior “A” Championship and then travelled to Prague, Czech. to capture a World Championship. During the 1957-58 regular season with the Macs, Brown scored 26 goals and totalled 50 points. Brown made it to the National Hockey League in 1954, playing in the playoffs with the Boston Bruins. Only a serious leg injury prevented him from enjoying a longer NHL career. During the 1953-54 season with the Seattle Bombers of the Western Hockey League, Brown scored an amazing 49 goals in 70 games. He also played minor professional hockey in Tacoma, Victoria, Clinton and Syracuse. Brown wrapped up his playing days back in Belleville with the Mohawks and Quintes. He played Junior “A” hockey in St. Catharines Ontario final series. In his late 40s and early 50s he was a fine player in the newly minted Belleville Slo-Pitch League. He was also named Umpire of the Year by the Belleville and District Softball League and officiated softball games for more than two decades. In later years Brown has turned his hand to golf and he won a senior title at the Bay of Quinte Golf and Country Club. Married to Irene, their children include Wayne Jr., Rick, Brian, Lynne Ann and Jeff.

MIKE SCHAD

ATHLETE, FOOTBALL

Soccer’s loss was football’s gain. At 6 foot 5 and more than 300 pounds at the peak of his professional football playing career, it is difficult to believe Belleville native, Mike Schad ever played soccer. Yet, before picking up the gridiron game upon entering Moira Secondary School in 1977, soccer was indeed Schad’s game of choice. By the time Schad graduated from Moira in 1982, however, he was well on his way to football fame, and, fortune. After a stellar college career at Queen’s University in Kingston where he was named All-Canadian and Most Outstanding Lineman in the nation, Schad was selected 23rd overall in the first round of the 1986 National Football League draft by the Los Angeles (now St. Louis) Rams. To this day. Schad remains the only Canadian-born, Canadian-trained football player to ever be chosen in the first round of the NFL draft. After three years with the Rams, Schad signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as a free agent. In the City of Brotherly Love, Schad blossomed, playing six solid seasons at left guard for the Eagles. The apex of his career was reached in 1993 when Sports Illustrated magazine named Schad to their prestigious All-Pro Team. Unfortunately, injuries exacted a heavy price and after bouts with various aches and pains, Schad was released in 1994 and promptly signed with the Cleveland Browns. Pencilled in as a starter on Cleveland’s offensive line, Schad blew a biceps muscle in training camp and his NFL career was over. However, Schad bounced back yet again. He returned to Canada and mended his arm in time to play 10 games for the now defunct Ottawa Rough Riders, who had selected him in the first round of the Canadian Football League draft, also in 1986. In 1996, Schad hung up his prodigious pads and joined the Riders as an Assistant Coach. The following year he joined the Temple University Owls in Philadelphia as offensive line coach. Today, Schad coaches with the same competitive drive he displayed on the football field. “Things don’t happen by accident,” he says. “They happen by a person going out there and making them happen.”

GORDON SMITH

BUILDER, FOOTBALL

A rival high school football coach once joked that if Gord Smith happened upon a traffic jam in downtown Belleville, he would pull out his whistle and get things moving again. And why not? Gordon Aubrey Smith is one of the most highly regarded referees in Canadian university football history. For four decades – from the 1960s to the ’90s – Smith was a familiar face at Canadian university football games, whistle clenched between his teeth, eyes peeled for infractions. On five occasions Smith was selected to officiate the Canadian university finals – the Vanier Cup. And while travelling to university venues occupied most of his autumn weekends, Smith was equally successful as an educator, coach and referee in the Quinte area. A high school teaching career that began in Stirling in 1963, concluded 32 years later with Smith having coached various Bay of Quinte basketball and football teams to regional championships more than 20 times mostly at Moira and Centennial Secondary School. Smith refereed high school basketball for 41 years, including four OFSAA (Ontario Federation Secondary School Athletic Association) championship tournaments, and sat on the Canadian Amateur Football Association (CAFA) rules committee for 25 years. Smith’s excellence in the classroom and on the playing field was recognized by his peers in the provincial teaching fraternity in 1996 when he received the Pete Beach Award. When OFSAA officials presented Smith with the coveted Beach Award, the accompanying citation encapsulated the indelible impression Smith has left on the Quinte area: “It is a rare educator who has the capacity to utilize the medium of school sport in such a way as to positively and sufficiently influence students in the remainder of their lives. That educator is one who consistently provides an impression of stability and optimism; one who enjoys the company and the respect of young people; one who embodies and inoculates by example the highest traditions of the sportsperson; one who best typifies the true function of the teacher-coach – a source of discipline, a mentor and a friend.” Gord Smith was that rare educator.