Football

One would be hard-pressed to find an athletic pursuit – Hockey, Softball, Basketball, Football, Track & Field – that Al Fenton did not excel in. A regular competitor at Kawartha, COSSA, OFSSA throughout his high-school career, Al’s athletic talents were on constant display. In 1967 he established six new records in six Junior events at C.D.C.I. West’s Field Day. He followed that up by winning 3 races at the Kawartha meet in Peterborough. Then in Oshawa he took home the COSSA championship in the 100- and 220-yard sprints. At the OFSSA championship in Hamilton Al ran a personal best in the 100-yard sprint. 

Al was also a valued member of the West’s Junior Harrier team, regularly competing in Kawartha Cross-Country events. He was one of three Cobourg runners chosen in 1967 to compete at the first Central Ontario-Maritimes track & field meet, held in St. John, New Brunswick. That same year – in team sports – Al was the top scorer on the Bantam ‘A’ Basketball team and was voted the Outstanding Junior Football Player by his teammates. Surprising no one and considering his many accomplishments, a just-turned 16-year-old Al was chosen as Cobourg’s ‘Athlete of the Year’ in 1967. 

Outside of school athletics, Al also played both All-Star Hockey and Softball. In 1968, along with many of his teammates, Al made the jump from Midget All-Star Hockey to the Junior B Cobourg Cougars, where he would be a prolific centreman for the next two seasons. In Softball, his talent at the plate and on the mound, helped his Dairy Queen team capture Provincial OASA championships in 1970 and 1971. Thanks to his athletic and educational prowess, Al received a four-year Division 1 Hockey scholarship at Colgate University, graduating with a BA in 1974. 

Upon invitation, he attended the Toronto Maple Leafs Rookie Camp that fall before returning to Cobourg to work at General Foods, play Fastball in the summer and Mercantile Hockey in the winter. At the same time he studied for his MBA from Western University. Upon receiving his MBA in 1978 Al, along with his young family moved to Wooster, Ohio where he settled into his life’s work, and was instrumental in introducing the sport of hockey to a generation of youngsters through the development and organization of Wooster’s Youth Hockey Club Program.  

When he was 8-years-old, Terry Lewis was gaining attention on all-star teams in both Hockey and Baseball earning commendations from no less than Layton Dodge, who proclaimed him “a star in the making”.

In 1966, Terry helped his Novice All-Star hockey team become the OMHA Zone Finalists during the winter and the Eastern Ontario Baseball Association Tyke A champions in the summer. Two years later in 1968, that same group of talented youngsters would claim the 1st ever “Little NHL” B Championship. Attending C.D.C.I. East, Terry would be a part of the Midget COSSA Championship Basketball team in 1970 and the Junior COSSA Championship Football team in 1971.

On the ice, Terry would join the Cobourg Cougars Junior C team for the 1971-72 season. That season, the Cougars were OHA finalists, with Terry finishing third in playoff scoring. The next year, 1972-73, saw the Cougars finish the year as Central and Eastern Ontario Junior C Champions with Terry sharing the laurels of being the top scorer.

The 1973-74 season brought Cobourg its first-ever OHA Championship with Terry as the team’s Captain. Terry was instrumental in the Cougars success, capturing the league’s scoring title and Most Valuable Player Award. In addition, his 162 penalty minutes set a new team record, his 88 points were a new single-season league record, and he would add 71 points in group and provincial playoffs. A versatile player, capable of playing both forward and defense, and often asked to, 1975-76 would be Terry’s final season with the Cougars, a season that saw the team reach the OHA semi-finals.

A couple of years later, Terry returned to the Cougars as the team’s Co-Coach, before taking over as Head Coach in 1979-80, guiding the team to a first-place finish and a spot in the OHA quarter-finals.

On the ball diamond, Terry joined the Cold Springs Cats fastball team in the late 1970’s, and played as a left-handed throwing shortstop when the Cats captured the Ontario Senior A Fastball Championship in 1980. Years later, with his main contribution coming from the pitching mound, Terry helped lead the Cats to three consecutive Canadian Masters Championships in 1997, 1998, and 1999, and was named the top pitcher in the 1997 championship.

Jeremiah Brown was at a crossroads in his life. As a teenager in Cobourg, Jeremiah participated in a variety of sports, most notably with the Midget A team that won an Ontario Hockey Federation championship in 2001-02. A Football walk-on at McMaster University, Jeremiah would make the varsity team and become a two-year starter at Offensive Tackle, along the way being recognized as the team's Most Improved Offensive Player.

After graduating Jeremiah was searching for a new athletic challenge – and he found it in rowing. Inspired by watching the Canadian Men's Eight Rowing Team win the Gold Medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Jeremiah made a vow to be a part of the same team and win the Gold at the 2012 London Olympics, a mere four years away.

A novice rower, Jeremiah and his family moved to Victoria, B.C, site of the National Rowing Team's training facilities. Upon arriving, he met Doug White, who agreed to coach him. Commencing a learn-to-row program, Jeremiah would quickly put in 1700 hours of training, and by the fall of 2009, he was representing British Columbia in the National Championships. In 2010, he captured a silver medal at the National Championships in the single sculls, and in January 2011 he was named to the national rowing team. Later that year he would claim a bronze medal at the World Championships as part of the Men's Eight. In 2012, Jeremiah would gain another bronze medal at the World Cup in Men's Eights, where in an earlier heat, his team would set a “World's Best Time” that would stand for the next eight years.

Just three weeks before the London Olympics were set to begin, Jeremiah would be named to the Canadian Men's Eights team, where he would fulfill his dream, standing on the podium after Canada won the 2012 Olympic Silver Medal. Jeremiah transitioned again shortly afterward, leaving rowing behind, throwing himself into another passion of his; music. He has also penned a best-selling memoir “The 4 Year Olympian”, and become an in-demand motivational speaker.

Many athletes can point to a great game, some to an exceptional season, and a precious few to a great career; but not many athletes can match the longevity of Don Ball Sr. … Football, Hockey, Fastball, Basketball … Don Ball Sr. played them all, at an extremely high level, and won countless championships along the way.

The Left End on the legendary Cobourg Galloping Ghosts Football Team that won the Canadian Intermediate “A” Championship in 1948, Don also was the guard on the Cobourg High School Basketball team that won the Queens University High School Invitational in 1946 and 1947. It was at the hockey rink and on the ball diamond that Don made his most lasting impact. A forward, Don enjoyed a 24-year career on the ice, mostly spent in the Cobourg Mercantile League. Don was renowned for his agelessness and his sportsmanship.

In recognition, the Cobourg Mercantile League annually presented the Don Ball Trophy to the least penalized team in the circuit and in 1971, Don was awarded the Percy Baker Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and ability. On the diamond, Don spent an incredible 37 years as a player, predominantly in the Hamilton Township and Cobourg Mercantile Fastball Leagues. Lovingly referred to as “The Grand Old Man” and “Softball's Gordie Howe”, Don was also the last of the conventional underhanded pitchers in the area, a style of delivery that often befuddled opposing batters.

Approaching 50-years-old, Don was still able to routinely throw perfect innings, while also pacing his team, the Baltimore Merchants, at the plate; an achievement not lost on Layton Dodge. “Just when it seems the sports world is peopled exclusively with cynics and complacent athletes for whom such words as “loyalty” and “the love of the game” are alien, along comes a remarkable individual like Don Ball to restore faith in humanity. That there are such gentlemen on our playing fields is comfort enough; that Don Ball should be still there at age 49 when he should be reaching for the pipe and slippers instead of a Louisville Slugger or a Cooper glove is an unexpected bonus.”