Who’s Ray Fennell and why is a field named after him?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/06/2016 (3732 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three recent happenings have had this writer thinking about the facilities, parks and streets in the city that have been named after members of the sports community.

On June 12, the Winnipeg Soccer Complex on Waverley Street was renamed the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex after a most-deserving builder of the sport.

On the previous Saturday, at a Riverview Community Centre sale, a couple of men were trying on old Riverview Rangers hockey jerseys. When asked if they were attempting to turn back the clock, one suggested that the rather snug jersey he was trying on might be the one he wore the day the arena at Fort Rouge Recreational Centre was named after Sam Southern.

That happened in 1978 and the remark led to the speculation about who today even knows why it carries the Southern name.

And a letter recently arrived from Ralph Condon, who lives in Woodhaven but grew up in the North End and played hockey at the former Tobans rink on Shaughnessy Street.

Condon mentioned that the community club was built out of old wooden boxcars by the fathers of hockey greats Fred Shero and Bill Mosienko. Mosienko has had the former Keewatin Arena named after him and Condon wants to see Shero recognized. His goal is to have a street near the old Tobans location carry the name of the two-time Stanley Cup winning coach.  

In 2010, after Jonathan Toews captained the Chicago Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup, then-mayor Sam Katz quickly announced that the Dakota Community Centre, where Toews had played minor hockey, would be renamed in his honour.

(In 2014, Dakota became Dakota again. with its expanded arena complex labelled the Jonathan Toews Sportsplex.)

In 2007, Katz brought a motion to city council to have Arena Road near Winnipeg Stadium renamed Milt Stegall Drive, after the Bombers receiver set a CFL touchdown record. When you drive south on Milt Stegall Drive today you end up in an empty parking lot and a vacant Target store.

In May 2014, council approved the naming of  a south Transcona retention pond that was used for water-skiing and wakeboarding at the 1999 Pan-Am Games after former councillor Shirley Timm-Rudolph, who had died earlier that month.

At the time, a request went to the city asking for a list of facilities that have been named after sporting figures and teams as well as sports facilities that have been named after individuals not normally connected to sport.

It seemed a simple request but the answer was that such a list doesn’t exist. A city official suggested the best bet would be to visit the city’s archives on Myrtle Street and start digging.
As for a city-wide policy for the naming of facilities — there isn’t one. But there should be.
Let’s give you a little quiz. You may have seen the following names and surnames at various locations around the city:

Charles Barbour, Max Bell, John  Blumberg, Keith Bodley, Cactus Jack, Eric Coy, Andrew Currie, Riccardo De Thomasis, Dutton, Ray Fennell, Elva Fletcher, Margaret Grant, Gary Hobson, Norm Konowalchuk, Charlie Krupp, Joe Malone, Art McOuat, Moffat, Ernie O’Dowda, Robert A. Steen, Frank Whyte.

Not all the facilities, parks or buildings are city-operated.

Now ask yourself what you know about these people and why they received the honour.

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