Notes and notables from the world of sport

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/04/2014 (4464 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Lifetime achievement awards are usually given to volunteers when they’ve stepped away from their sport and left the work to others.

Not so for Charleswood’s Joe Di Curzio, who received the Mike Spack Lifetime Achievement Award at Basketball Manitoba’s annual awards banquet on April 19.

Di Curzio’s impact on the sport began more than 35 years ago and it continues today. As a coach, he won championships from club level through college and university and earned the Basketball Manitoba coach-of-the-year award three times.

Thousands of high school students played in the Winnipeg Invitational Tournament that Di Curzio coordinated during his 30 years at Tec Voc. He served as president of Basketball Manitoba from 2000 to 2012. These days he’s the vice-chair of the Basketball Canada board and coach of the Canadian Mennonite University women’s team.

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On April 12 in Regina, Team Manitoba won the Canadian U19 Ringette Championship with a 5-4 overtime victory over Edmonton Elite.

First-team all-star Shannon Sarahs scored three times including the winner. Nicole Desrosiers, a second-team all-star on defence, and Katie Smith had the other goals. Goalie Cassandra Groen and forward Kinley Graves also made the second team.

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Alf Ramsay and Warren Johnson from the St. Vital Club won the bronze medals at the Canadian Stick Curling Championship in St. Albert, Alta., March 30 to April 2. Johnson took the Canadian title in 2012 with his partner, Earl Stephenson.

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Former Softball Manitoba president Ron Witkowski will be in the city from Alberta for his induction into the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame on May 3 at the Canad Inns Polo Park. The retired banker played fast pitch for the senior A Kiewel Seals and Ste. Anne Saints and slo-pitch for the TD Green Machine in the Winnipeg Men’s Slo-Pitch League.

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Fans of the Winnipeg Jr. Jets will remember Jim Pritchard, who died in Vancouver on April 1. A product of the Weston Community Club, Pritchard was drafted in the first round by the Montreal Canadiens in 1968 but the offensive defenceman never made the NHL. After his pro career, he settled on the West Coast, where he suffered a stroke last fall and complications led to the amputation of his right leg below the knee. The Manitoba Sports HOF lost honoured member Cay Kerr on March 21. It’s safe to say the 92-year-old had the longest and most impressive resume of swimming achievements both in and out of the pool in our province. Judy (Borland) Peake, who died April 5, was a national champion in both badminton and tennis. She was named the province’s top female athlete in 1969 and was inducted into the Manitoba Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008.

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Shawn Coates, who worked for the Blue Bombers and was a familiar face on cable TV for years, has been appointed executive director of Football Manitoba. Coates’ fine photography has been a highlight of the Manitoba Hockey News magazine. Retired official Don Kuryk has taken over from Gary Cribbs as president of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame. Morris Mott is the latest president of the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame, which will hold its next induction on June 7.

Memories of Sport appears every second week in the Canstar Community News weeklies. Kent Morgan can be contacted at 204-489-6641 or email: sportsmemories@canstarnews.com