Once a Mustang, always a Mustang.

That’s the motto of the St. Vital Mustangs football club, which was formed in 1948, and will celebrate its 65th anniversary in 2013.

To celebrate this milestone, organizers are set to hold a gala dinner event on Sat., March 9 at the team’s clubhouse, located at 100 Frobisher Rd. in Maple Grove Park.

Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., cocktails will be served until 7 p.m. and dinner will follow, said gala committee chair and St. Vital resident Karen Mundey. The master of ceremonies will be CTV Winnipeg’s sports director, Shawn Churchill, while guest speaker will be Bruce Covernton, a former Mustang who went on to play in the Canadian Football League for the Calgary Stampeders.

The gala — which Mundey hopes will attract alumni, as well community members currently involved with the club — will also see three builders and a team inducted into the Mustang’s newly-formed Hall of Fame. The builders are Al Penny, Bob Vandale and Gord Cooke, while the team is the 1987 junior Mustangs, who were (the former) Armadale Cup finalists that year.

For Mundey, the Mustangs have long been a family affair.

She went from parent, to team mom, ran the clubhouse canteen for three years, merchandise for two, was a five-year board member and is now managing the major team. Her husband, Simon, graduated from parent, to coach, to board member and is now club president.

And her son, Chris, now 20, who played cornerback from peewee to midget level and his brother, Scott, now 18, who played peewee, bantam and midget as a defensive tackle.

Mundey said the Mustangs have helped generations of young men develop as both sportsmen and individuals.

"A lot of kids would have done less constructive things if they hadn’t had an outlet like this. My son played with a boy whose parents split up and he didn’t take it very well. The Mustangs stopped him self-destructing," she said.

"I still see parents of former players now who are glad this is available, as it helped give them something healthy to do and keep them out of gangs, getting into drugs and knocking off convenience stores.

"If you’re in a team, you’ve got a responsibility to the team — or family, as we like to call it. You’ve got a responsibility to not let down your teammates," she added. 

 
For more information, or tickets, email hoople@mymts.net or visit www.mustangsfootball.com.

simon.fuller@canstarnews.com