Over the last 20 years Dale Henwood has attended the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Museum induction ceremonies to honour many of the individuals he’s worked with over the years.
This year the others will be on hand to honour the Red Deer native as he’ll be the one being inducted.Henwood is one of 10 individuals who’ll be honoured at the induction ceremonies, May 25 at the Sheraton.
There will be a significant Central Alberta flavour with rodeo athlete Larry Robinson of Innisfail, swimmer Barb Clark Parolin of Stettler and Bell Memorial Award recipient Lorne Starko of Red Deer, joining Henwood.
Henwood grew up playing sport in Red Deer and eventually played for the Red Deer Rustlers and the University of Alberta Golden Bears. An Olympic and university coach Henwood switched to sport administration in the 1980s with the Alberta Hockey Association and the Alberta Sports Council.
He became president of the Canadian Sport Centre in Calgary in 1994 and through his dedicated leadership the CSCC created a world class team of experts — coaches, athletes, sport scientists, medical and administrative support — ensuring that Canada’s top athletes receive the training in Alberta needed to reach podiums at the international level.
Henwood indicated he was more than a little surprised when he received the call that he’d be inducted.
“Obviously I’m very honoured,” he said during a press conference at the Hall of Fame Thursday morning. “I was surprised as I’ve come to the dinner for 20 years and I know the calibre of people in here. I’m very blessed and very humble to be included.”
Henwood credited his days growing up in Red Deer and the support of his parents and coaches for building a sound foundation.
“There was a significant impact in terms of the foundation that I had in Red Deer, whether it was from my parents or coaches. My parents encouraged me to be involved in the community in a number of different sports. They were always encouraging and I had absolutely great coaches, who encouraged me and made it enjoyable.
“So that early beginning made it so I would stay involved.”
Henwood had a number of accomplishments over the years, but isn’t one to look at individual accomplishments.
“I would say my accomplishments have been team accomplishments. I’ve been fortunate to work with a number of talented people. I’m impressed with the number of people out there willing to help athletes and coaches. That’s what I see every day. I see the strength of the people in Canadian sport and how they’re trying to get more Canadian athletes on the podium. That’s what excited me on a day-to-day basis.”
Robinson has helped shape amateur and professional rodeo as a contestant, organizer and instructor. He became involved in tie-down roping as a youngster and turned professional in 1975 at the age of 17. He qualified for the Canadian Finals Rodeo his first year and for the next two decades was one of the premier ropers in the world.
He won the CFR six times and qualified for the National Finals seven times. He won the 1986 Calgary Stampede. He also ran rodeo schools for 30 years and trained horses, including three “Horse of the Year’ winners. Robinson’s father did a little roping, which influenced him.
“I started when I was a kid and got to liking it. I did it for fun and it went from there and I was lucky I got to do it for a living for 20 years,” he said, adding he was honoured to be selected to the Hall.
“I’m not sure I deserve to be here when you look at all the people here, but it’s nice to be recognized.”
He still lives on his farm, where his two sons train in their arena. “I don’t rope any more but my two sons do compete at college rodeos.”
Starko will be honoured posthumously. Over his more than 30 years of being involved with the media, Starko worked in radio, television and the newspaper business.
He moved to Red Deer in 1981 to work with CKRD before switching to Zed 99 and CKGY in 2000. He was always interested and involved in local sports and covered the Red Deer Rebels and helped with their statistics at home games.
“He would be beaming and very proud,” said his brother Tim Starko. “This is a great testament to what he gave to sport. If you give a lot you get a lot back.
“He always had a passion for sport, even as a little kid, he’d carry around a real-to-real recorder and do interviews and when we’re playing road hockey he’d be broadcasting.”
Clark Parolin started swimming with the Stettler Club when she was 11. She was the first Canadian female to break the one minute mark in the 100-metre freestyle. and won bronze at the Montreal Olympics with the 4x100m relay team.
She set a number of Canadian records and in 1976 set a Commonwealth Games record in the 100m butterfly. She also held the world record in the 50m freestyle in 1975 and ‘76.
Other inductees are diving athlete Blythe Hartley of Calgary, football builder Ed Molstad of Edmonton, multisport builder Bob Niven of Calgary, baseball builder Russ Parker of Calgary, skating athlete and builder Michael Slipchuk of Edmonton and the achievement award winner, Gary Deman, who coached football and basketball at St. Francis High School in Calgary for 32 years.
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com