HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-04-29, Page 5L.
South Nam mid will ise deep as
By
Ray Lewis
EXETER -
For the new
crop of r,tu-
donLs entering
South Huron
District High
School this
mall, they'll probably never under-
Lstand what they've missed. For
',those who spent a portion of their
lives growing up there --sometime
over the last three decades, they'll
probably never forget what the
school has lost.
After 33 years as a Panther,
South Huron's athletic director Ron
-.kBogart is preparing for his retire
eiment at the end of this school sea-
saon. While his exploits as a teach-
` at he-aohool have been -41.411
-::.documented, few at South Huron
'are aware of Bogart's impressive
background as player and coach.
Born on a dairy farm outside of
Shedden in 1934, Bogart was one
tor. four .children to -Lawrence and
DeScflU"ed by 'many
:coaches as a "nice, quiet kid," he
-went on to leave his mark in many
<an endeavor.
As a teenager, Bogart attended
St. Thomas Collegiate Institute
-which, ironically, has since been
tom down.and-turned into a retire-
'rstnent home. After graduating, he
:spent his first year of post-
-secondary education at the Univer-
sity of Western Ontario, but left af-
termissing his French credit,man-
datory at the time.
Bogart then enrolled at Guelph
• .where originally he leaned towards
`-'ming a veterinarian. He spent
:four years:.at ihe-.Ontario Agricul-
ture College (OAC), now the Uni-
versity of Guelph, ,and -graduated
with a bachelors degree in science
and agriculture.
Following _his -marriage to Elaine
Campbell. ininne of 1959, Bogart
enrolled at the University of Toron-
to's Ontario College of Education,
where he spent -two summers. He
followed .-than with a summet:.at
Western studying as a physicaledu-
cation specialist.
Green -Thum b
After his -first summer in Toron-
to.Bogartbegan his practical teach-
ingwwith.classes in.both agricalwre
:: science atutit-Huron Llistrictt
High School. In those days, the
school :had an agriculture program
complete•with gardensand a set of
hems which contained various live-
stock.
! aan-=rernember;.back in Ron's
first-yearAhey_.had a sow farrow-
•ing."a1led .Elaine with .amuse -
mate - ' life imd ionpiehtyp:George
f3ttdbolt, -who was: in grade nine,
:rmdtakehim over to watch the pigs
--•heing-born.
Students- in -the ;agriculture pro-
gram also:had togtow gardens and
it• was Bogart's job to go around
through the summer;: and inspect
:them.
"That part wasn't so bad," said
:Elaine. "I used to go with him and
it was great because you really got
to know the students,"
After Bogart became qualified in
physical education, it took him an-
other eight years before there was
finally an opening allowing him to
teach it. In 1966, he became the
head of the physical education de-
partment, a position he has main -
tained for thea.
Bogart wasted little time getting
involved in high school athletics.
Upon his arrival at South Huron, he
began by helping Glen Mickle with
the football program. At the time,
the Panthers had only a senior entry
in the then Perthex Conference
Foot balI League.
Under the leadership of Mickle
and Bogart, the school soon saw
-the-birth of a junior squad. When
Mickle left, Bogart took over the
helm of high school football, guid-
ing the senior Panthers to eight
championships front 1967-1989.
Bogart also served various stints a,
coach in basketball and badminton,
and pioneered a very successful
wrestling program. -
But it is for delle baltrhat Bogart
will probably be best remembered.
With the collapse of Huron -Perth
football in 1989-90 came the pro-
gram's ultimate demise after a sea-
son in the London Conference last
year. . After •32 years, the..last of
-South Hui— s tillipmetifleas-load -
ed
leasload-
ed up and -shipped out after being
sold.
"Without football this fall it felt
like I'd lost my right arm," said the
saddened coach.
• • • • •
tennis -Mark
Bun's. love for football began
with a bi;illiant high school :career,
but only -after. he:.had-proven him-
self -in -many otherfrelds. As a run-
ner,_ henet:school-records:in track
:.andfeldforbothhthe 100And220.
-In-1952; te.auea d-tttePosiigious
leadership counciLas -his school's
representative,:dtdhelped his -team
win :back—back :alfdintario vol-
ley.ball:champ onships.-beginning in
1953.
. The fleet -footed tanner also dab-
bled in: rugby, and was :chosen top
male .athieteiat St. -Thomas Colle-
giate:duringthe 1953-54 season.
F 6o11 began for Bogart in
made 11, -when he dead S t Illtom as
to-lhe:.-Imdor_London-,and District
Football::drttta>pienship in 1950.
ihatyearwas a hemtbreaker for S t.
Thomas,.as:they lostihe WOSSA
championship 6-0 to Windsor As-
sumptiigp, -ebu_r4 ,.ligan to
cornettathe tattehe-gridi-
ron. The next two seasons he spar-
. kledand was voted to the 'Dream
Team', the London and District
All-Star Conference.sgttad.
After a year with;the-Western
Colts. Bogart moved on: to :.thrill
crowds for • four =years with :the
OAC .Redmen, include to the
Guelptt:Gryphonsamder the guid-
ance ::of -coach Tom Mooney.
Dubbed :as Guelph's 'speed mer-
chant', Bogart saw double duty
playing -on both sides of the ball as
running back and linebacker.
-"To.:understartd how good he
was, you have toanderstand where
I'm coining from," said Mooney
:who coached Bogart from 1956-
58. "i -was a rookie coach and I
was tough. I didn't accept any-
thing that wasn't almost perfect. It
took me a couple of years to get
sculed, and Ron Bogart was one
who stuck through and kept work-
ing hard and the results came out.
We didn't have the raw talent. We
had to do it with team spirit, tenac-
ity. Ron; of course was always
nice and friendly, but if you ever
needed the yardage, Ron got it for
you'
In 1958, his sindor •veer, *81
lead Guelph to the Ontario Inter-
collegiate Football Championship,
and romped to the league scoring
title. injured in a preseason game
against Western, Bogart scored a
whopping 84 points in the remain-
ing live games and 35 in his last
two to pace the Redmen.
He -was—vtfih a group of ids
that wanted to learn and worked
hard," recalled Mooney. They got
a lot of hell, but I hope it helped
them later on in life when the go-
ing got tough."
Sought By The Pros
In the field of Canadian football
talent, Bogart was -touted heavily
even after he began his tenure at
South Huron. Offers came from
the Toronto Argonauts and Ottawa
Rough Riders of the Big Four Un-
ion, and Harvey Johnston, head
scout for the Montreal-Aloueues
spent a _cQtple 9f _leef ur trying to
lure'dte'tonning ,ktoiae pros.
"But at that time therrf were no
guarantees," offered Mooney.
"There was little money in it. You
were on your own and you played
for the love of the game."
Bogan decided to put his school-
ing first, and instead continued in
Exeter.
In 1970, Bogart's eldest son Dave
began atom hockey. Short of
coaches, -Bogan helped Bob Pooley
guide -the -team to an all -Ontario
championship. As Dave pro-
gressed,..along with Pooley's sons
Perry and Paul, so to did the coach-
ing -:tandem. -`The team combined
for an all -Ontario inuisarouitle:in
1974.
"Then fie-reallyartarted to_get;in-
volved with -ooaitgltocloey,":re-
.called.Dave.
-After -progressing through the
-levels :of -the National Coaching
Certification -Program, Bogart con-
•tinned-by:getting a taste of hockey,
Soviet style, when he was part of a
month-long teacher exchange to the
Soviet Union sponsored by Concor-
dia University.
"As far as technical knowledge
was concerned, when he started
coaching me in hockey he didn't
claim to be a genius," said Iave.
"He stressed discipline, teamwork
and conditioning."
The combination seemed to pay
off, as Bogart lead the 1977 edition
of the Exeter Hawks to an all
Ontario Junior T)' tide.
As a student at South Huron,
rave said he was never treated any
differently by his father.
"I never had a problem with
him," laughed Dave. "But his was
one class I always had my home-
work done for."
Younger brother Scott echoed
Dave's sentiments.
"He expects an effort," offered
Scott. "And if it's not there, you're
probably not in his good books."
Bogart's service to the communi-
ty continued in '77, when the call
went out for a new arena. Bogart
became chairman of the fund rais-
igcommittee which saw the new
building's construction. For his ef-
forts, Bogart was bestowed the hon-
our of being selected as Exeter's
Citizen -of -the -year.
New Chapter
Two years later, Bogart was
building again, fulfilling a life-long
dream. Following a teacher's strike
that year, Bogart laid the founda-
tion for a sporting goods store,
RSD Sport Den. The store, was
named fondly for the children in his
family, daughter Ronalee and sons
Scotland Dave.
"It's something he had wanted for
a long time," said Elaine. "It was
nice when the opportunity finally
:arose."
The retirement of Bogart from
South Huron marks a new changing
of the guard. Students and teachers
alike will not soon forget the times
when he almost single-handedly in-
jected school spirit.
. Football has passed, there is no
longer a panther at centre court,
and Ron Bogart has retired. For
South Huron, it is the end of a gold-
en era.
Tittles -Advocate, April 29, 1992
Page b
Running back Ron Bogart lead the 1958 OAC Redmen (Uni-
versity of Guelph), to an intercollegiate championship, with a
league leading 84 -point season on the strength of 14 touch-
downs in just five games.
The 2-.67 Panthers became the first of eight South Huron
squads coached by Bogart to win the coveted Huron -Perth
senior title. Front row: Barry Baynham, Statistician; Scott
Burton, Bevan Bonthron, Ross Huff, John Pryde, Jim Hayter,
Bud Desjardine, John Godbolt, Bill Fairbaim, Gary Gingerich,
Manager. Second row: Batty Clark, Ron Grasdahl, Ron Du -
4
rand, Martin Manley, Bill Huxtable, Duncan Etherington, Ron
Bogart, Coach; Uilke Nagle, Laurence Brown, Peter Kok, Bill
Farquhar, Danny Shoebottom, Jim Hoffman, Manager. Third
row: Chuck Snider, Al Levier, Kevin McKinnon, Kevin Lam-
port, Bill Bourne, Mike Hoy, Brad Hamilton, Louie Mitchell,
David Frayne, Leo Desjardine, Gord Greenwood, Len Rimmer.
:�vitlli
hut in
Sell jut -
football
liliiupi t,
•
Pn,
opsv
�N 2a.
•, •• yon
'
1�
9,
ccoAeCe
Pot, vo � ull*rel ��`rts fie
yo, •Lorlo OrtAr�" 1„ , 22.
vie.
ouelptt �ey�• : T4 ee rills+
U••• fir • toe ° M1' � e ee X01 0 �etla�a4
osl° a 1 t'jsee °•& 61%t ,e •WO° .1^1Mno neo
•
r °e �erow
eiltIFel• l
p1uo•�
ce• te •nttt4
"1VIic.syn# Vol" �
"
fi
t'
*0 nor,°t•,ee•°o eM
`•m•oF°r a nooef"'e1 wee'
V er
efjOAD.e 1
1 yo A tie•i11eM�• �
Shown turning the sod in 1976 for the new South Huron Recreation Centre we: John Stevens
(left), Bruce Shaw, Bogart, King McDonald and Rob Grant.
A djn ore d dance will be held Jn: it's
honour ay, . June .12 at the,Apigth,Huton
RecreatiorrCentre• Tickets >willgR1j f Je;;until
May 30. Fof MOM informat ij tin
T avelf. t +fon D.N. ADA0mt.
1967
1980
1988
1989
A
o
deo°• SyNs v° l,+111s
%trA
•• • e eG• 11
p
M
• 16v 1„40 r�e
r•° La11 ,togrW�diln
111 •• ?6•9 0•A foe e
1 e`orv• ►at,*Me'o�e1'!
o•elt. 1 7ov
”
, g.
eo91••
ea
00e ow— A1O 13.05
,(%
•Y 3 t.
.yet
Ho d••
se
bn°t c+ti�'
er
sec