Gord McDonald

Gord McDonald a father, a mentor and a coach. For many years he has worked behind the scenes of the Parkwood Stars hockey league. He has all the qualities a good coach should possess; patience, dedication and a true love for the game whether you win or lose. Without fail each Saturday morning he is at the arena bright and early to mentor and teach the very young tykes, he remains at the arena most of the day until the last game is finished and is usually the last to leave. Prior to Christmas on a very cold day I arrived to drop my son off and I saw Gord shovelling ice into a big bucket, what was he doing? A crack in the ice needed repairing, so of course he would just fix himself, I was impressed. He was my son’s first coach, many years ago, when my son got his first goal, he gave him the puck. That stuck with my son, 2 years ago he encouraged a 13 year old friend from school to come and play house league, when his friend got his first goal my son said to the Ref, could he give the boy the puck., he never forgot the first goal experience and wanted to pass it on; that is the kind of influence Gord had on him (whatever age first goal you keep the puck) At the end of last years season the coaches for the Parkwood Stars Bantam boys left the league-No coach; Gord stepped up and said “don’t worry we will find a coach”. No such luck, no coach. Well this years coach is of course Gord, the Midgets have a calm, passionate mentor. The team has many skill levels, they all get equal time. Gord has a family of his own - 4 kids, 11-17, but he still finds the time to be available for all the hockey kids. We are very lucky to have him, he keeps the Parkwoods league running like a well oiled machine, before Gord took over, the league was in decline both in enrolment and financial, he encouraged people to volunteer their time for various areas in a short time the league blossomed again. All of these things are on Gords own time, strictly voluntary. I also would like to make an honourable mention to his wife; she also deserves an MVP award because she does not see her husband to much during hockey season.

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