At Uxbridge Secondary School there have been a large number of dedicated coaches and athletes who have brought recognition to the school.
It is quite true that many outstanding citizens of this community and others have received their training in self-discipline, co-operation, fair play and sportsmanship from their involvement in the Uxbridge Secondary School athletics program.
Many “oldtimers” will no doubt have fond memories about various teams that they played on. Some of these teams were championship teams but others were quite ordinary in their make-up and ability levels.
Before going too far a few abbreviations should be explained:
LOSSA - Lake Ontario Secondary School Association which now refers to Durham Region.
GBSSA refers to Georgian Bay Secondary School Association and includes York, Simcoe Counties as well as north through Parry Sound.
COSSA - refers to Central Ontario Secondary School Association and now is all schools east of Scarborough to Belleville and north through Bancroft, Madoc, Peterborough, Lindsay and Beaverton.
OFSSA - is the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations and is all of the province of Ontario.
As early as 1941, there is a high calibre of performance established when the girls’ junior and senior basketball teams were champions defeating both Port Perry and Whitby.
In the 1940’s as well, the name of Peter Bernhardt starts to emerge as coach with teams that finished second in both track and field and basketball. Of course, Mr. Bernhardt coached many teams and has a lot of fond memories of these days. He later served a very successful tenure as principal of U.S.S.
Into the 1950’s and again various teams start to emerge. In particular, basketball and track and field are in the centre of the championships. In 1957 Allan Hockley was a COSSA and OFSSA champion in the 880 yard run. As well Grant Feasby was second in COSSA in the junior pole vault and the 4 x 110 relay team finished second in COSSA.
The 1958 - 59 senior boys basketball team under the guidance of Ray Newton won the COSSA championship and set a benchmark for later teams to strive for.
In the 1960’s several GBSSA championships were won. Two outstanding teams were the Ontario “B” Senior Boys’ hockey team champions under the guidance of Ray Newton and the Ontario Curling Championship under the tutelage of Reg Kerford. An Ontario championship is a great credit to the players, coaches and the school. The hockey championship was won in 1964 and just three years later the curling team duplicated the feat.
The name of coach Joyce Bradbury is very evident in the 1960’s with GBSSA champions in basketball (1961-62), volleyball (1963-64), and track and field (1863-64) in co-operation with Ray Newton.
As well, the 1960’s saw the start of football fever and this goes on to the present at U.S.S. The first evidence of the football program bearing fruits was in 1963 when Ray Newton and John Mason coached the seniors to the GBSSA title. This was repeated in 1968 and then into the 1970’s. The Junior football team not to be outdone scored impressive GBSSA championships in 1967 and 1969. The dynamic duo of Phil Mazza and Al McConney were the coaches that laid down a great foundation for future football players.
The 1970’s and early 1980’s are full of championships. With the advent of Durham Region, U.S.S. went from GBSSA to COSSA and then to LOSSA; however, the change in competition did not cause any problems for the athletic program. The high level of coaching continued and the students displayed their usual level of sportsmanship and competence both on and off the field.
In 1975 the Boys Curling team won both the LOSSA and COSSA titles and then went on to finish a very respectable sixth in Ontario. Earlier in that year the golf team qualified for the Ontario championships and finished sixth. The golfers were led by Ian Morrison and Bill Scott.
Coach Jim Schwan has been the leading medal winner in this era. As examples, he has won four straight LOSSA basketball championships with his teams. His teams were victorious at both midget boys and girls level in 1981 - 82 and the following year saw the midget boys and junior girls duplicate the double.
The track and football teams continued their excellent play.
The football teams were victorious in 1970 at the GBSSA level and in 1974 (Junior, 1977 (Junior), and 1979 (Senior) at the LOSSA level.
Since track and field is an individual sport there have been many students who have excelled at a particular part of the track activities. In 1976 the following LOSSA champions emerged Terry Nielson (hurdles), Guy Hall (sprints), Lois Fawns (shot put), Bryan Pearce (3,000 m.), Brenda Arnold (javelin), Joyce Ferguson (discus) and the 4 x 100 relay team which finished 7th in OFSSA. The track and field program continued to be successful in 1978, 1981 and 1983.
Another sport which involves a lot of work and training is cross country. In 1970 the senior girls won the GBSSA title under the coaching of Bill Armstrong and Jim Schwan. In 1977 U.S.S. won the LOSSA Team championship under the coaching of Kay Trenka and Bert Corbett.
There are many teams that have emerged victorious at U.S.S. of course there are also teams that have not been quite as successful; however all of these teams were put together by devoted coaches working with many groups of fine young people. As a community we should be very proud of the athletics at U.S.S.