HIGH ACHIEVERS: Jim Wagdin’s contributions to Bell Warriors football were immeasurable

By Martin Cleary

A few minutes before the start of last month’s CFL game between the Ottawa Redblacks and Calgary Stampeders at TD Place Stadium, the home team held a moment of silence for Jim Wagdin.

Although short, it was a truly meaningful touch to honour one of the great figures of Ottawa youth football, who made a significant impact as a coach and administrator with the Bell Warriors Football Club.

Wagdin, who was dedicated to his community as a member of the Richmond Lions Club, the Richmond United Church and the Richmond Fair Board, passed away Sept. 11 at The Ottawa Hospital, Civic Campus. He was 77.

For more than 24 years, Wagdin was one of the foundational pillars of the Warriors as he coached more than 3,000 boys and girls and won a number of National Capital Amateur Football Association championships.

The Warriors organization thought highly of Wagdin and created the Bell Warriors Jim Wagdin Scholarship Program, which has presented two $1,000 bursaries each year since 1999 to players who best combine academics, athletic achievement and community service.

In 2008, he was named the winner of the Brian Kilrea Award, which is presented each year by the City of Ottawa to recognize excellence in coaching.

When the Bell Warriors Hall of Fame was created in 2013, Wagdin was the first inductee for “his leadership, vision, dedication and role as a driving force that you played in our proud club’s history.”

Wagdin also showed his leadership off the field, serving as the Warriors’ president and past president as well as the NCAFA vice-president.

“Jim’s impact in our community with his commitment, his dedication, his resourcefulness and competence will be felt for years to come,” Warriors president Paul Stewart said at the time of Wagdin’s Hall of Fame induction.

“He just didn’t do the work, he made it work. He has touched so many young peoples’ lives and that of their families. He understood that setting an example with your actions can be contagious. He has been a true leader in our community. He deserves every ounce of credit that comes his way.”

A current tribute on the Warriors’ Facebook page pointed to Wagdin’s “quick wit, a wonderful sense of humour and a unique ability to bring a smile to those around him.”

“He was always engaged in the moment, genuinely interested in the people he was with and never far from a well-timed comment or story that could lighten the mood and spark a laugh. Whether on the sidelines, in a meeting or at a team gathering, Jim made every room a little better simply by being there.”

Football also was a family affair for the Wagdins. Jim watched his son Kevin play and coach football and then saw his grandson Sam hit the gridiron. Jim and Kevin also coached together.

Many have said his contributions to minor football were immeasurable.

“Jim’s influence extends far beyond the football field. His leadership, generosity, humour and unwavering commitment helped build opportunities for generations of young athletes,” the Warriors’ Facebook post continued.

“The lessons he taught, the programs he helped grow and the relationships he built will continue to have an impact for years to come.”

WILLEM FIRTH SCORES BIG FOR CANADA IN PAN AM SIXES

Canada finished second at the Pan American Sixes Lacrosse Championship in Oshawa to qualify for the 2027 World Championship and Ottawa’s Willem Firth was a driving force behind the team’s success.

A senior at Cornell University, Firth was Canada’s top goal scorer and finished the tournament third overall in points as Canada allowed two goals in the final minute to drop the gold-medal game 12-11 to the United States.

Firth was one of two Canadians selected to the Pan American Sixes all-tournament team as he scored a team-high 15 goals and added seven assists for 22 points in three wins and one loss.

As a junior at Cornell this spring, Firth was named the Ivy League attackman of the year and a member of the first all-star team. In three years with the Big Red, he has 106 goals and 58 assists for 164 points in 49 field lacrosse games.

ROW ONTARIO INDUCTS DOUBLE OLYMPIC MEDALLIST ALISON KORN INTO HALL

Ottawa’s Alison Korn and Winnipeg’s Emma Robinson were inducted into the Row Ontario Hall of Fame on Thursday.

Korn and Robinson entered the sport as novice rowers in the early 1990s at McGill University and the University of Toronto respectively. By the late 1990s, they won back-to-back gold medals in the women’s pair at the 1997 and 1998 world championships.

In 1996, Korn and Robinson were part of the Canadian women’s eight, which won the silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics.

Korn’s rowing resume is impressive with two Olympic medals (bronze in women’s eight at the 2000 Sydney Olympics is the other), five world championship medals and six World Cup rowing medals.

After retiring as a competitor, Korn was a volunteer board of director member with the Ottawa Sport Council, a volunteer communications member with Commonwealth Sport Canada and a Toronto Sun amateur sports columnist.

She also is a member of the Nepean Sports Wall of Fame and the Canadian Rowing Hall of Fame and is a lifetime member of the Ottawa Rowing Club.

ANDREA JURENOVSKIS ELECTED SWIM ONTARIO PRESIDENT

Ottawa lawyer Andrea Jurenovskis has been elected the second female president of Swim Ontario and will serve a three-year term. She succeeds Andy Mitchell of Peterborough as president.

Anne Bell became the first woman president of the provincial swim association in 2019.

A former swimmer with the Timmins Marlins Club, Jurenovskis was a student-athlete at the University of Toronto, earning her bachelor degree and 17 OUA and six CIS national swimming championship medals before receiving her law degree at the University of Ottawa.

Jurenovskis, the OUA female swimmer of the year in 2011, joined the Swim Ontario board of directors in 2023.

Ahmed Abdelfattah of Ottawa has been re-elected for another three-year term as vice-president. Robert Giggey of Ottawa also is on the board of directors.

PARA ALPINE SKIER BRIAN ROWLAND ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

Para alpine skier Brian Rowland of Merrickville has announced his retirement as an international athlete.

Rowland represented Canada at two Paralympics, placing 10th in super-G and 12th in giant slalom at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games and 16th in giant slalom at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Games in the men’s sitting category.

He won the bronze medal in the men’s sitting downhill event at the World Cup in Sella Nevea, Italy, on March 12, 2023.

During his 2025-26 season, Rowland, 40, had six top-10 results in his first seven races, including a fifth-place result in downhill at the Santa Caterina, Italy, World Cup.

Rowland’s results were impressive as he dealt with back-to-back shoulder injuries the two previous seasons.

He also was 13th in the men’s downhill at the 2023 world para alpine championships.

After sustaining a spinal cord injury from a motorcycle accident in 2015, he was determined to stay active and has competed in surfing, mountain biking and jet skiing.

11 LOCAL ATHLETES IN RUNNING FOR RBC FUTURE OLYMPIAN STATUS

And now the waiting continues for 11 National Capital Region athletes, who are part of a group of 100 young athletes vying to be recognized as future Team Canada Olympians.

The RBC Training Ground National Final was held on Saturday in Toronto and the top 100 athletes from 3,100 who entered the process this year were tested a second time for their speed, strength, power and endurance.

Throughout this year, athletes between the ages of 14 and 25 were invited to attend free RBC Training Ground events across the country.

The top 100 were brought to Mississauga on the weekend for another round of testing and as many as 35 will be selected over the next few months. The best athletes from the National Final will receive the RBC Future Olympian designation as well as financial support and access to world-class coaching and mentorship.

The local athletes in the running to become an RBC Future Olympian are: Amanda MacCarthy, Ange-Mathis Kramo, Cecily Kirkwood, Charlotte Ross, George Nor, Maggie Grills and Maxim Froeschl, all of Ottawa, Abigael Morissette and Jean-Clement Vachon, both of Gatineau, Amy Moy of Russell and MacPherson Lowry of Almonte.

BYTOWN WALKERS CLUB STAGES ONTARIO HALF-MARATHON CHAMPIONSHIP

Ontario Racewalkers’ Brian O’Donnell overcame an energy-draining virus and properly paced himself to win the men’s title at the Athletics Ontario Half-Marathon Race Walking championship on a course outside Ottawa Stadium.

One of Canada’s top masters and senior race walkers, O’Donnell covered the 21.1 kilometres in one hour, 58 minutes, six seconds. Jianping Xu of Hamilton was second in 2:03:17, while Windsor’s Ricky Nepomuceno was third in his half-marathon debut in 2:18:51.

The women’s winner was Susan Brooke of the Alberta Race Walking Club, who finished in 2:29:51 and was fourth overall.

Ottawa race walkers swept the top four places in the women’s five-kilometre race, which was held during the fifth annual Fall Classic Race Walks staged by the Bytown Walkers Club.

Bytown’s Diane Guignard placed first in 23:55, while clubmates Vanessa Johnson, 30:09, and Anne-Marie Joanisse, 34:40, were second and fourth respectively. Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club teenager Penny Roy, who trains with Bytown, took third place in 33:37.