Men's Field Hockey History in N.S. - Recollections by Mike Fearon
The Beginning (1971)
Rick Hoos started men's hockey on the Halifax Commons in the Summer of '71 with a small group of about 10 recruits. Mike Andrews was certainly in the group, and I think Dominic Boyd and Joe Fougere were there as well. I was playing a lot of cricket at Windsor Park then and heard nothing about it. Terry O'Driscoll was also playing cricket, where I first met him, so I assume he wasn't in that first group either.
Rick blitzed the Dalhousie campus and called a meeting of interested players in the Spring of '72. I heard about it from Norm Lyttle and a number of us went to the meeting. As a result, there were about 25 players in the Summer of '72: enough for two regular pick-up teams. I don't think we had a formal league.
I think Rick must have taken a team to Oakville (the predecessor of the Maple Leaf tournament) and perhaps to the Nationals that year. And I'm certain we sent one to Washington in the Fall.
The Need for Umpires
Quite early on there was some discussion of the need for umpiring (Dominic's extraordinary tackles from behind come to mind), but no-one volunteered because we all preferred to play. However, I had my nose broken by one of the Dalhousie Phys. Ed. students, who played wrong-handed and lifted the ball into my face trying to stick-handle away from a tackle. Since I was forbidden to play for a while, I took to umpiring instead. Later on, when I was allowed to play again, I think I shared the duties with Norm Lyttle.
Rick's Departure & the First Executive
At the end of that year, Rick was due to return to Alberta (he was here on one of our periodical boom cycles for oil and gas). After a scrimmage one Saturday in October '72 (yes, we were still playing on the Commons that late) Rick called a meeting and proposed that we should form an Executive. The result was that Gordon Hawkins (our goalie at Washington and head of the Institute of Foreign Affairs at Dalhousie) was elected President. Denis Loiselle was Vice Pres., Dominic was Treasurer; Norm Lyttle and Terry O'Driscoll were also on the Executive. I was Umpiring Co-ordinator.
The First League
During the Winter we played indoor hockey (with a street hockey ball) in the Studley gym at Dalhousie (arranged by Norm, I think), and held Executive meetings at Gordon's apartment in Peter (something) Hall on Wellington St. At these meetings we planned to have a six-team league operating in '73:
* Windsor (run by Bruce Blacklock)
* Dalhousie Dags (run by Denis Loiselle)
* Another Dalhousie team (run by Gordon ?)
* Halifax (run by Mike Andrews?)
* Dartmouth (run by Terry?)
* St. Pat's HS (run by Norm Lyttle)
The St. Pat's team folded early in the Summer, but the other five all worked out. In Windsor we played on the King's-Edgehill grounds.
We had also expanded our umpiring resources. Early on, Vic Warren, Pres. of Outaouais, dropped by and mentioned the national system of ratings. As a result we sat the exam in my apartment some time during the Summer. Candidates were: myself, Norm, Terry, Dominic, Mike Andrews, and Denis. I was the only one who passed, but the exam was rather a strange one. Norm was particularly bitter over one question about the umpire's decision when a dog runs on the field, picks up the ball in the circle and carries it into the net.
Mario DeMello joined us in the Summer of '73 and joined teh Executive that Fall. I moved to Ottawa in August '73. In '79 Outaouais had an exchange of junior teams with NS, and at that time John Jenkins was President.
The 1980's
I came back in Jan. '83 and at that time Mario DeMello was President. Mike Haley had been the President the previous year and had tried to hold the Atlantic Cup tournament, but had had to cancel it. In '83 we had the junior nationals here, organised by Mario.
In '84, I became President and revived the Atlantic Cup the same year (as a replacement for the May six-a-side which was always rained out). I was also President when NSMFHA was incorporated as a Society, which I think was in '85.