Jim Hamilton is well into his 26th year as a coach and builder of high school athletics. Although his involvement in rugby in particular extends well beyond the walls of his school, Hamilton is best known for his accomplishments with the Eastview Secondary School rugby program. Hamilton has been involved in high school rugby since the first year it was sanctioned as a sport, 1969. He was also instrumental in helping rugby get recognition from the high school sports governing body, the Ontario Federation of Schools Athletic Association. In 1979, the first year OFSAA sponsored a provincial championship in rugby, Hamilton’s school hosted the competition. The rugby program at Eastview is known throughout the province and Hamilton oversees a program with three teams and about 100 athletes each year. His teams have won more than 30 Georgian Bay titles, and one OFSAA senior championship. In addition to the OFSAA gold medal, Hamilton’s sides have earned three silver medals and several bronzes. He also served as chairman of the OFSAA rugby board for 14 years. His teams have toured Wales and England, and hosted sides from Scotland, England, Wales and other provinces many times. Hamilton also played rugby until the late 1980s. As a member and co-coach of the Barrie Rugby Club, Hamilton helped the team win a Toronto and District elite division championship in 1985, and the club reached the finals two other seasons. He spent 15 years as a player in Barrie and was team captain twice. He coached on a rotating basis for four years and has served in several capacities on the club executive, and also on the Recreation Advisory Committee of the Barrie Parks and Recreation Department. His involvement with sport includes more than just rugby. He spent about 15 years coaching high school basketball, working mainly with the younger age groups where his knack for teaching fundamental skills was best utilized. During that time, he also organized an annual high school tournament. Teams Hamilton coached went to numerous Georgian Bay championships and won two titles. For the past couple of seasons, Hamilton has also assisted as a strength coach with the school’s junior football program.
The 2009 John Crawley Lifetime Acheivement Award was posthumously awarded to Jim Hamilton.
Other nominees for the 1993 Coach/Team Official of the Year were:
Jack Phillips has, in recent years, had a high profile in track and field in Barrie and Simcoe County. But his contributions to sports and athletics go back many years and include athletes at many different levels. A Barrie resident, he has been coaching elementary school athletes for more than 30 years. He has been involved in volleyball and cross country running as well as track and field. Most recently, Phillips has spent the last seven years as a volunteer with the South Simcoe/Dufferin Track and Field Club. The last four years, he has been the club president, presiding over training sites in Barrie, Bradford, Tottenham, Collingwood, Midland and most recently, Kitchener-Waterloo. He’s responsible for a club that has 13 coaches and upwards of 130 athletes, many of them training year- round and at the elite level for their age groups. In fact, one of the club’s athletes, and a second athlete who is a former club member, are nominated for the Barrie Amateur Athlete of the Year award for 1993. He got involved with SSD through his coaching of elementary school track and cross-country runners. On the volleyball court, Phillips has coached elementary and secondary school teams, Ontario Volleyball Association club teams and spent eight years as the coach of the Georgian College women’s team. He started at Georgian in 1976-77 and helped build a program that earned an Ontario bronze medal in his final season. The next year, with many of the athletes he’d trained, the team won the Ontario championship and went on to place fourth at the Canadian college championships.He did all this while raising a family in Barrie, where he has resided since 1952. Today, Phillips has backed off a bit on his involvement in volleyball, though he still helps out with his school’s teams. He continues to serve as the president of the SSD track club.
