This column examines a winter phenomenon prevalent when I was younger, the non-traditional sporting endeavour than would take place outdoors in the dead of winter. I understand that this is still part of the Canadian winter experience, but our winters are far less extreme today.
Our younger people do not believe in a time when the snow was high, and the temperatures were really low, but I can assure you that it really did happen; I was there.
Today the medical industry extols the benefits of going outdoors to play during the winter. We are told that it boosts our immune system, promotes fitness, builds our gross motor skills, and offers us endless social, emotional and physical benefits. For my generation, it was all about the fun quotient.
A warning, I am going to talk about a time when we were young and yes, a little foolish perhaps. When you are young, you may do things that may seem a little bit extreme, things that when you get older, you may look back on with a certain sense of both amazement and awe.
They say that there is a season for everything, everything in its own time. While we are going to examine those instances when it wasn’t perhaps the season for the activity, some of the winter activities that we engaged in ‘out of season’.
I can remember getting together with friends and playing soccer and broomball in the snow and cold and loving it. We were all red-faced and perhaps suffering from the early stages of hyperthermia, but we were having a hoot none the less.
As I remember it, there were casualties, but we did not really worry about it. A sense of both adventure and camaraderie prevailed, a feeling of expressing our desire to buck the trend. What is more peculiar was the way it became a habit, a trend or event that we had invented, a tradition if you will.
If one looks back at the early issues of the local papers, one will see photos of people out on the ice at Fairy Lake or Roger’s Reservoir enjoying winter sport to the max. Many of these activities would not be considered winter sport today.
We enjoyed the Kinsman’s Winterfest, along with several other ‘winter festivals’ and we were a hearty group, braving the elements, our defiant shout out against the winter.
One of the more unusual or wackier annual events symptomatic of this approach to winter life in our area was the Snowbowl, which came to be known as the Saturday Afternoon Super Bowl (SASB). It was a group of high school friends taking to a football field, knee deep in snow and ice, to engage in a competitive game of football and displaying a high level of bravado.
Since nearly 50 years have passed, I suppose it is safe to name a few of these intrepid athletes who made this event so special. These individuals will evoke memories from the past for many of you. They include Dale Rawson, Terry Fish, Dan Maskel, Morris MacDonald, Bob Pommeroy, Gary Manners, Barclay Maskel, Tom Hilliard, Dave Thompson, Ernie Maskel, Dave Hardie, Jim Curl, Mike Lee, and Sparky Evans. When you think about it, each of these characters was a perfect fit for this event.
The initial event in 1975 covered by the local newspaper offered a rather tongue in cheek account: “The game was in aid of nothing in particular, organized by no one in particular and will probably sink into oblivion as one of the world’s most insignificant sporting events, yet each player performed as though the Grey Cup were at stake.” (The Era, Feb. 12, 1975, Section B, p.1, no author).
Despite this dour prognostication, this ‘unremarkable event’ would span 20 years and was to be covered faithfully in the newspaper by sportswriter John Cudmore. who declared the game the “Wackiest Event of the Year” in 1985.
This February marked the 49th anniversary of the initial game. It was never about the weather, be it rainy, sleet or snow. This intrepid group would persevere, whether it was a -25 windchill in Newmarket or -30 temperatures in Calgary for the SASB IV (yes, they took their game on the road).
In speaking to a few of the veterans of the event, it was admitted that there were a few causalities as one would expect. One of the players ‘wiped out on a sheet of ice’ in Calgary and received umpteen stitches to his forehead. During a Newmarket game, another participant suffered a massive nosebleed and fainted dead away on the field at the thought of needing stitches.
These events were taken very seriously, extending to a search for sponsorship. Having accumulated over 100 Labatt Blue Beer Bottle Smiley Caps, the boys decided to approach the beer company. Their efforts proved successful, and they received two 12 packs in Calgary and a case of 24 annually for several years in Newmarket.
One of the participants remembered that one year they forgot to bring the football but luckily a late arrival did bring a ball and the show was saved.
It was not always a popular draw for spectators and supporters, but it did eventually grow to 10-13 strong, consisting primarily of wives, children, siblings, and dogs, along with Mr. Lee and Mr. Fish.
There were a few lasting lessons learned along the way. While football can be played in heavy rain and snow, the winter conditions may affect the game. In heavy rain, the ball may be harder to control, and players may slip more often. In snow, visibility can be reduced, and the ball may not roll as smoothly. However, as they learned, football games can be played in various weather conditions, and the players and officials can take precautions to ensure safety and fair play.
I am indebted to the alumni and fans of the game for their contributions to this article. It was after conversations with Nancy Fish and her sharing of her memories that I began my focus on this topic.
Those involved in this endeavour reminded me of how life was back then, spontaneous, and perhaps a little less regimented. Was it better back then, likely not but as they say, we all survived to tell the tale.
Be sure to post your non-traditional winter escapades, in the comments.
Thanks go out to Nancy Fish, who not only suggested this topic but also participated in the telling of this tale.
Newmarket resident Richard MacLeod, the History Hound, has been a local historian for more than 40 years. He writes a weekly feature about our town's history in partnership with Newmarket Today, conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, and leads local oral history interviews.
