St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame to induct class of 2024

Walt Oprzedek (Athlete / Builder): Handball, Football

Big Walt Oprzedek was a dominating player on the 1959 and 1960 St. Catharines Collegiate tri-colour football teams. During his final high school football game, he scored four touchdowns, helping his team win the 1960 SOSSA (Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association) Championship.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Walt won numerous Open Singles and Doubles Handball titles at Niagara YMCAs and at the University of Western Ontario. In the 1980s and 1990s, Walt would expand on this success, winning countless Masters Singles Handball titles, competing in tournaments across Niagara Region and Western New York, and at Ontario and Canadian championships. During this time, he was also a member of teams representing Niagara, and winning several Ontario team championships.

Walt continued his passion for sport as a career, working for 32 years as a Physical Education teacher and coach at Grantham High School and Lakeport High School. He also coached and mentored student athletes, primarily on football, basketball, and gymnastics teams, who won countless city, zone, and SOSSA championships.

During that time, Walt was also active in the community, coaching an Ontario championship ladies fastball team at the Grantham Optimist Club, and coaching and promoting the game of handball at the YMCA. 

Andy’s rowing career began in 1966 at Dennis Morris High School. He has won more than a dozen Henley medals, four Canadian Rowing Championship gold medals, and three Canadian University Rowing Championship golds.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, Andy continued his winning record. He won three gold medals in the 1969 Canada Summer Games in Halifax, N.S. In 1971, he took first place at the Canadian High School Championships, and fourth place in the 1971 Pan Am Games in Cali, Columbia. In 1972, he took first place at the Henley Royal Regatta.

Andy enjoyed continued rowing success on the international stage as a member of Canada’s 1972 and 1976 Olympic teams. He also trained for Team Canada in the 1980 Olympic Games. In 1975, he won a gold medal at the 1975 Pan Am Games in Mexico City. He competed in the World Rowing Championships in 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1977.

Andy continued to compete in the Masters category, winning gold medals at the 2001 World Masters Championships, the 2003 Head of the Charles in Boston, Mass., and the 2010 World Rowing Masters Regatta.

Andy was a member of the Rowing Canada Technical Committee from 1981 to 1984, and a coach and board member of the Deep Cove Rowing Club in North Vancouver, B.C. from 1996 to 2012. 

Carole Price has a long list of sports accomplishments. One highlight: she was Secretary for the Canadian Henley Rowing Association for 41 years until 2018. She was Secretary for the Henley Commission for a decade and operated the grandstand admissions during all major rowing events at the Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course for 20 years. For 40 years, she ran the Canadian Henley Rowing Corporation’s bingo fundraisers. 

Carole served on the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club Curling Committee for more than two decades and was the club’s representative to the Ontario Curling Association. She coordinated officials in 2001 and 2007 at the Canadian Junior Curling Championships held in St. Catharines and coordinated the officials and chief timer at the Canadian National Ladies Curling Championships in 2017. 

On the greens, Carole served as a marshal at the 2003, 2006, and 2012 Canadian Open Golf Championships held at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club.

Bob Adams’ winning career in rowing began when he was part of the 1959 Junior Eight and Coxed Four Royal Canadian Henley Regatta winning crew. That same year, he won Oarsman of the Year for the St. Catharines Rowing Club. In 1960, he rowed in the Olympic Men’s Straight Four crew as Canada’s youngest athlete at those Summer Games in Rome, Italy. 

Some highlights of Bob’s sporting career include earning a U.S. football scholarship at Springfield College, becoming St. Catharines’ first Ned Hanlan Memorial Trophy recipient in the Men’s Eight in 1961, winning the Open Eight Quarter Mile Dash in 1961 and again winning the Ned Hanlan Memorial Trophy in 1962. 

Bob continued to make a significant contribution to sports in St. Catharines when his racing days ended. He was coach of the St. Catharines Rowing Club from 1966 to 1974, and St. Catharines Collegiate’s head of Physical Education and its football and rowing coach for more than 30 years. 

Bob was a member of the Ridley Graduate Boat Club for more than three decades, where he was responsible for its fundraising. He launched the club’s successful bingo program that raised thousands of dollars for the club over the years. 

Ted’s long history as an ambassador of rowing excellence in St. Catharines began when he joined the St. Catharines Rowing Club to honour his father, a founding club director, who died when Ted was 10. Winning Henley gold in 1934 was the pinnacle of Ted’s rowing career, and it inspired his determination to create a lasting impact on the sport of rowing in Canada. 

After the Second World War, Ted began working tirelessly to realize his dream – making St. Catharines the home of a world-class rowing facility; one that continues to welcome both amateur and world championship competitions and nurtures the development of Canadian rowers. 

Ted was president of these organizations: St. Catharines Rowing Club, Henley Aquatic Association, and the Canadian Association of Amateur Oarsmen. Further, Ted conceptualized and executed the acquisition of Henley Island for the St. Catharines Rowing Club. Thomas Keller, then-FISA (World Rowing Federation) president, called him the “Father of the 1967 North Americans”. He also acted as a course official at the 1966 Mexico City Olympics, and as a course chairman at the 1970 World Championships. 

Ted has been awarded the FISA Medal of Honour and has an honorary lifetime membership in the St. Catharines Rowing Club. 

Bobby McLaren’s history with sports in St. Catharines began with hockey; from being a Mite Division player through more than 50 years on the ice, as a player and later, a coach. He also played baseball, rugby, and lacrosse. 

Bobby influenced young players as both a coach and manager in all the sports he had played. For more than four decades, he served as assistant manager, general manager, and manager of the St. Catharines Junior B Falcons Hockey Club. 

In rowing, Bobby coached for Winston Churchill High School, and was assistant to the St. Catharines Rowing Club’s club captain. Later, he was boatman for Brock University Rowing and Team Ontario. 

Bobby coached several local softball and baseball clubs in St. Catharines between 1987 and 1991, leading to winning teams in the 1990 and 1991 Ontario PWSA (Provincial Women’s Softball Association) Mite Championships.