Seven decades on the field

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This article was published 19/08/2018 (2897 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A lot of football has been played in St. Vital in the past 70 years, and a lot of that football has been played by the St. Vital Mustangs.

Art McOuat, with help from his brother Wally, established the football club that became the Mustangs in 1948.

“Although there was football being played in the area prior to the formation of the St. Vital Mustangs, it was mainly all geared towards adults playing with the St. Vital Bulldogs in the Intermediate Football League,” said Simon Mundey, chair of the club’s 70th anniversary dinner and hall of fame committees.

“That is not to say that there had not been some attempts to start programs for younger players with both pickup and six-man games taking place.

“Recognizing the void in the community, a young man by the name of Art McOuat had a vision, and through hard work and a lot of determination and help from family and friends, the St. Vital Mustangs entered the Manitoba Juvenile Football League in 1952. They would lose in the championship final that first year, but the foundation for the modern day Mustangs was established.”

“Celebrating 70 years of football excellence, it goes without saying that club has a long and storied history in the community of St. Vital,” he added.   

As part of that celebration, the club will hold its Homecoming Weekend Hall of Fame gala dinner on Thurs., Aug. 23 at the Mustangs’ Clubhouse at 100 Frobisher Rd., when many individuals associated with the club — including many former players, coaches, and officials — will have the chance to meet and mingle, and reminisce about past glories, and raise a glass to future achievements. Reception will be at 6 p.m., and dinner will be at 7 p.m.

The dinner will also celebrate a number of inductions into the Mustangs Hall of Fame in the team, builder, player, and coach categories. It was launched in 2009 with its first set of inductees.

Mundey said the hall was developed to recognize the outstanding achievements of the characters that helped to shape the program through the years.

“It’s important because it recognizes the outstanding contributions of individuals and the accomplishments of teams during our 70 years of history,” he said, noting the final decision regarding who gets inducted can be a challenging process because “there are so many people deserving of recognition.”

So, to aid the process this year, organizers opened up the process to the public and accepted nominations from the community, which proved to be a successful strategy and “hopefully a good template moving forward,” Mundey said.

“It’s nice to be able to induct people while they are still around and able to appreciate and enjoy it. It’s important that these guys get the recognition they deserve. For the Mustangs organization to have stood the test of time and been around for 70 years, bearing in mind it’s all volunteer-driven, is a remarkable achievement. And it’s about so much more than football. It’s also about life lessons that these kids carry on into their lives and their employment — skills that will stay with them forever.”

Going back to beginning of the legacy of the Mustangs, the 1952 juvenile team, and the 1955 juvenile team are among this year’s inductees in the team category.  

Ron Leibl, a quarterback who was a member of the 1952 juvenile team, said the camaraderie among team members is still something he remembers today.

“In those days, you knocked on doors and said you wanted to play a pickup game, and you had guys playing in pickup teams morning and night. The teams you play for and the people you meet stay with you forever. And the kids that didn’t make the team could still hang around and be a water boy, perhaps, and they would draw inspiration from the players,” he said.

Leibl, who lives in Norwood, said the selection of the Mustangs name originally came down to two choices.

“Art said we needed to look for a name, and it came down to two choices — Saints or Mustangs. Art said ‘You don’t want to be called the Saints — we’re a football team, after all,’” Leibl said, with a laugh. “We looked up the definition of a mustang and it said ‘ferocious, wild Mexican stallion,’ and that clinched it.”

Don Butt, who was a member of the 1955 juvenile team, said the role of the club in the community as it evolved to offer teams throughout the age groups was significant.

“Just the Mustangs’ name helped create the team’s reputation,” said Butt, who was a flanker and a defensive back.

“We all used to go and watch the Bulldogs, who used to play where Superstore now is, and we played all our games at Memorial Park. I remember playing in the final game in November, and it was incredibly cold and we couldn’t wear gloves, so we dipped our hands in a bucket of wintergreen oil. The surface was a sheet of ice, except for a gopher hole. I picked up a pass, and I had the guy from the Norquay Rams behind me, and wham — I hit the gopher hole,” he added, with a laugh.

Butt, who lives in Windsor Park, also remembers the camaraderie between the Mustangs’ players. 

 
“The camaraderie among those first teams was wonderful, and 90 per cent of the players hung out together,” he said.

“In terms of what it meant to the community, it was our team and it belonged to St. Vital. There was also lots of camaraderie between players and fans, and we played on Saturday or Sunday afternoons, as there were no lights. If you run into anyone who played for the Mustangs and you recognize each other, you always still connect.”

Bill Dunstone, coach of the 1972  midget championship-winning team, said success on the football field is heavily dependent on everyone working together.

“You have different units working together, and everyone has to do a job,” Dunstone said, adding it was exhilarating to win the championship with the team 46 years ago.

“It’s nice that the Mustangs program has lasted this long, and it was a top-notch program back in my day.”

Dunstone is thankful to be recognized by the club’s hall of fame committee and is looking forward to seeing some old faces again at the gala dinner.

“I’d like to thank everyone at the Mustangs for this. It sounds like the club is as strong today as it ever was. I’m really looking forward to seeing the players again,” he said.

“I haven’t seen some of them for 46 years, and eventually you lose track over time, but I know I was fortunate to coach that group of players.”

The full list of 2018 Mustangs Hall of Fame inductees — in the team category: 1952 juveniles, 1955 juveniles, and the 1972 midgets; in the builder category: Glen Huffman; in the player category: Stew Heaton; and in the coach category: Jim Ladd, and Bill Dunstone.

Go online at www.mustangsfootball.ca for more information.