Local athlete, administrator honoured

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This article was published 22/03/2019 (2570 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two members of the 2019 Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association’s Hall of Fame class of inductees have ties to northeast Winnipeg.

Missy Penner (nee McNeil), a Miles Macdonell Collegiate graduate, will be inducted into the hall as an athlete.

“I was very surprised, but completely honoured,” said Penner, who is now a teacher at Garden City Collegiate. “You’re almost speechless.”

As a student at Miles Mac, Penner was part of the school’s 1976-77 Kildonan Crossing Athletic Conference freshman volleyball champions, varsity badminton champions in girl’s doubles, and a provincial finalist in girls doubles.

In 1977-78 she was part of Miles Mac’s KCAC varsity girls volleyball, basketball, field hockey and girls doubles badminton championship teams, as well as a provincial champ in girls doubles badminton and was named athlete of the year in 1979. 

“I was very fortunate to have great experiences all throughout, from Neil Campbell School to John Henderson Junior High and Miles Mac to U of M and beyond,” Penner said. “With those postive experiences, it’s not only good coaching and having great teammates around you that allows you to succeed.”

Later, as a teacher at Garden City Collegiate, Penner helped develop the school’s phys-ed department, coaching or supervising every sport at the school over the course of a 32-year career.

“When you grow up and when you’ve been involved, you definitely want to give back,” she said. “I was always kind of driven that way. I always loved it.”

Penner has also served as treasurer of the (KCAC/KPAC) Zone for over 20 years and has been a member of the MHSAA board of directors.

Along with Penner, current Elmwood High School principal Mike Babb is to be inducted as a builder.

“It really is an honour to have your name included with the people who are already there,” Babb said. “Because of the work they’ve done and the great people in sport I’ve ben involved with, it really does mean a lot to be included.”

Babb, who has been principal at Elmwood for the last decade, has coached almost every sport at nearly every amateur level, from mini-soccer to basketball at the University of Manitoba. 

“It’s my happy place,” Babb said of coaching.

As a high school student, he played basketball and football, and was a member of the 1975 Junior Football Manitoba champion Fort Garry Lions.

“There’s a lot of values in sports,” Babb said. “Learning about hard work and team work really translates to other areas of life.”

Babb taught and coached basketball at Churchill High School and Sisler High School before moving into his current role as an administrator. During his career as both a high school teacher and administrator, Babb has coached over 100 teams. He also sat on the MHSAA board from 2002 to 2004, among other volunteer duties that have helped promote sports at the high school level.

“I’m so glad I continued coaching as an administrator,” he said. “Watching so many young people achieve what they’ve set out to achieve is just great. You’re all doing your best to be the best you can be.”

Along with Penner and Babb, Megan Cyr of Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School will be inducted as a player, while Mark Diboll of Portage Collegiate and Phil Hudson from Dakota Collegiate will be inducted as builders. They will be presented with their awards at the MHSAA’s Hall of Fame reception on Sat., May 11 at the Holiday Inn Winnipeg South.

Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist

Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112

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