Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Mustangs Select Team Captains for 2010-2011


Ryan Barbeau 

Garrett Olexiuk
















After a team meeting on Monday September 27th the Mustangs voted to selected Garrett Olexiuk (6'6 F Burlington, ON) and Ryan Barbeau (5'10 PG Belleville, ON) as team captains for 2010-2011. An athletic versatile forward, Garrett enters his 4th yr with the Mustangs and second as its captain. Garrett is coming of ACL surgery in March 2010 and plans to get back on the court in full practice in the next couple of weeks.  Garrett averaged 13ppg 6.4rpg and was selected as the Mustangs Bob Gage Purple Heart Award Winner in 2009-2010.

 A true point guard, Ryan also enters his 4th yr with the Mustangs and his first as captain.  Ryan had a break out season last year and was selected a 2nd Team OUA West All-Star. Ryan averaged 14.8ppg and 3.9rpg and led the OUA West in Assists last season. Both Garrett and Ryan will be called on to lead the Mustangs in what promises to be an exciting 2010-2011 season. 

Monday, September 27, 2010

Article On Doug Hayes From The London Free Press

Pod Armstrong, Doug Hayes, John Stiefelmeyer, Ross Hurd, Kevin Armstrong

For LFP website Click Here


Basketball coach let players pick starting five



By JIM CRESSMAN, THE LONDON FREE PRESS


Doug Hayes came to the University of Western Ontario as a lecturer in the department of physical education and to coach football.
But despite being part of the Mustangs’ first national championship in 1971 as defensive co-ordinator, Hayes will always be remembered for the 20 years he spent with the university’s basketball program — three years with the women, then the remainder with the men.
Hayes, 68, died Saturday in London after a long period of illness.
“Doug had such a passion for teaching and coaching and working with young people, his legacy will be developing them and influencing them to have good values and do the right things,” said long-time friend and former coaching and teaching colleague Darwin Semotiuk.
The two go back to their days as graduate students at the University of Alberta and playing on the Golden Bears football and basketball teams.
Hayes was a year ahead of Semotiuk and came to Western in 1969. Semotiuk followed two years later to join the football program and — although he never asked his friend — he was certain Hayes had something to do with him getting hired.
Hayes took over the women’s basketball team early in the 1971-72 season and guided them to three straight Ontario championships, during which time they went undefeated.
In his second season, Hayes was so into not being viewed by his players as a dictator, he allowed them to chose the starting five for every game.
Those three championships, incidentally, are the only three in the program’s history.
He took over the men’s team in 1974 and won back-to-back Ontario titles beginning in 1988. He took the Mustangs to four consecutive national finals beginning in 1886.
In April 1996, Hayes received the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Award, presented by the OUA West men’s referees’ panel. A plaque hangs in the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
He gave up coaching in 1990 to devote his time to administration. He was men’s athletic co-ordinator (1988-1997) and acting chairperson, intercollegiate athletics (1995-96).
He retired from the university in July 1997.
“I don’t know if I ever heard anyone say a bad word about Doug in all his years at Western,” Semotiuk said. “He was universally respected as being a great teacher and a great coach.”
Hayes is survived by his wife, Lauretta, and their three children.

Article On Doug Hayes From Western News

Click Here for link

Mustang family mourns loss of coach and "great friend"

By Heather Travis


Monday, September 27, 2010 Long-time Western Mustangs men's and women's basketball coach and football coach Doug Hayes died Saturday at the age of 68.

Hayes was hired in 1969 as a lecturer in the Department of Physical Education at Western and was professor emeritus in the School of Kinesiology.

He played an instrumental role in recruiting Kinesiology professor Bert Carron to the faculty. The pair was childhood friends, both growing up in Edmonton and later studying at the University of Alberta together.
“I’ve known him since 1960,” says Carron. “He never left a friend behind … I’m one of those (friends).
“I thought he was an outstanding teaching and coach. It didn’t matter whether he won or lost, his personality didn’t change. He was really good at keeping things in perspective.”
Hayes coached football and men's and women's basketball during his time at Western. He coached six Ontario Championship teams, eight League Champions and assisted in one CIAU Championship team. He was named OUAA Coach of the Year in 1976.
He was also coach of the men's provincial basketball team that won a silver medal at the Canada Games in 1993.

“A measure of the kind of coach he was, he has had all his life former athletes coming to visit him and (wife) Lauretta at his house. They truly loved the guy,” Carron says.
As an administrator at Western, Hayes was men's athletic co-ordinator (1988-1997) and acting chairman, Intercollegiate Athletics (1995-96)
Brad Campbell, head coach of the Mustangs men’s basketball team, remembers Hayes regularly dropping by his office to talk about the game.

“He would never really impose his opinions or what we should be doing. He just wanted to talk about the game and see how I was doing personally,” Campbell says.

Hayes often put others before himself, notes Campbell, making him a great role model and mentor for coaching staff and players.

“Doug was just a caring individual,” Campbell says. “The biggest impact that Doug really had was his connection and relationship with his players, not only at the time he was coaching, but well after a lot of those players’ careers were done.

“He was such a magnetic person, had such a magnetic personality. It’s a very difficult time, not only for his family, but also his Mustang family as well.”

“He was an outstanding communicator and incredibly effective motivator in terms of dealing with his athletes and in relating to his colleagues involved with coaching,” says Former Mustang football head coach Darwin Semotiuk.

Semotiuk, who coached football with Hayes and is a professor in the School of Kinesiology, describes him as a soft-spoken and quiet, but also someone with a great sense of humour.

Though it’s not typical for a coach to successfully lead two teams in sports as diverse from each other as football and basketball, Hayes was able to relate to athletes in both areas and secure championships, he adds.

Overall, he was a great teacher and “incredibly highly respected by his colleagues and his athletes and fellow coaches,” Semotiuk says. “He was a great friend.”

He is survived by his loving wife Lauretta and their three children.

Funeral arrangements are being made and will be posted at www.westernmustangs.ca as soon as they are available.

Doug Hayes Funeral Arrangements

Doug Hayes with wife Lauretta and members of the Mustangs family 
Doug passed away at age 68 on the morning of Saturday, September 25, 2010. He is sadly missed by his wife, Lauretta, and three children, Derek, Kelly, Tim, and brother, Gary. The funeral is at Westview Funeral Chapel, 709 Wonderland North, on Friday October 1, at one o’clock. There is a reception to celebrate Doug’s life after the service at Aroma Restaurant, 717 Richmond Street, where all of the people Doug has touched—his family, ex-students, ex-players, former faculty members and his many friends—can reminisce about what Doug meant to them. About how Doug took an interest in people, cared for them, and made them laugh.
His family thank the staff at McCormick Day Program, McGarrell Place, the South Street Hospital and Regional Mental Health Care for their devotion to caring for Doug when he was sick. You can donate in Doug’s name to Alzheimer Outreach Services of McCormick Home (AOS), or a charity of your choice.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Mustangs Legend Doug Hayes Passes Away


By  Andy Watson - Mustangs Athletics 

LONDON, Ont. - Long-time Western Mustangs men's basketball coach Doug Hayes passed away on Saturday.

Funeral arrangements are being made and will be posted as soon as they are available.

Hayes was hired in 1969 as a lecturer in the Department of Physical Education at Western and was Professor Emeritus in the School of Kinesiology.

Hayes coached football and men's and women's basketball during his time at Western. He coached six Ontario Championship teams, eight League Champions and assisted in one CIAU Championship team
He was named OUAA Coach of the Year in 1976.

Hayes was also coach of the men's provincial basketball team that won a silver medal at the Canada Games in 1993.

"Doug was a tremendous leader of our program for over a decade," said Western Mustangs men's basketball head coach Brad Campbell. "His players loved him and had the ultimate respect for him. It is a sad time for our program."

As an administrator at Western, Hayes was Men's Athletic Coordinator (1988-1997) and Acting Chairman, Intercollegiate Athletics (1995-96).

He is survived by his loving wife Lauretta and their three children.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Mustangs 2010-2011 Roster is Set


09-10 CIS All-Canadian Andrew Wedemire
 The 2010-2011 Mustangs Basketball roster is now official. The Mustangs will be led by 2009-2010 CIS 2nd Team All Canadian and OUA West 1st Team All-Star Andrew Wedemire. Wedemire (6'6, F, 5th yr)  averaged 19.2 ppg and 7.8 rpg per game last season. OUA West 2nd Team All-Star Ryan Barbeau (5'10, G, 4th yr) also returns to run the point and quarterback the Mustangs transition attack. Garrett Olexiuk's  (6'7, F, 4th yr) ACL re-hab is on schedule and plans to make a return to the line-up by the end of October. Newcomer Adam Jespersen (6'8, F, 2nd yr) will be counted on to patrol the paint and add a physical presence to the Mustangs.  Other returnees Marcus Barnett (6'1 G, 4th yr), Brett Lawrence (6'0, G, 5th yr), Dillon Hamilton (5'10 G, 2nd yr) and Greg Edelsward (6'6, F, 2nd yr) all expect to make an impact. Talented 1st year players Peter Scholtes (6'5, F, 1st yr), Quinn Henderson (6'3, G, 1st yr), Nathan DiLoreto (6'2, F, 1st yr) and Andrew Vincent (6'0, G, 1st yr) head what is considered to be an outstanding imcoming class which will keep  the Mustangs solid for years to come.  The Mustangs play nine non-conference games in October begining including six of which are at home.  Mustangs also travel to Montreal on October 23-25 to participate in the McGill Red Bird Classic. To check the Mustangs' season schedule Click Here .

2010-2011 Mustnags Roster  

#   Name                          Height    Position  Year    Hometown

#4 Andrew Vincent          6'0             G         1st      Timmins, ON
#5 Brett Lawrence            6'0            G         5th     Welland, ON
#6 Ryan Barbeau             5'10           G         4th     Belleville, ON
#7 Marcus Barnett            6'1            G         4th      Hampton, VA
#8 Quinn Henderson        6'3             G/F      1st      Dundas, ON
#9 Nathan DiLoreto         6'2             F/G      1st      London, ON
#10 Peter Scholtes            6'5            F          1st      London, ON
#11 Andrew Wedemire    6'6             F          5th     Sarnia, ON
#12 Adam Jespersen        6'8             F          2nd    London, On
#13 Greg Edelsward        6'6             F           2nd    Burlington, ON
#14 Garrett Olexiuk         6'7             F           4th     Burlington, ON
#20 Dillon Hamilton        6'0              G          2nd    Vancouver, BC
RS RJ Stephens               6'1             G          --       Brampton, On
RS Drew Hebb                6'0             G          --        White Rock, BC

Sunday, September 19, 2010

The Matt Curtis Experience

Matt Curtis in action with TV Werne
This is former Mustang great Matt Curtis' first blog report on his experiences playing Pro basketball in Germany. More installments to come.

Hello All,


Gutten Morgan (Good Morning). That is the extent of my german that I have learned thus far, and to be honest I doubt if I will learn much beyond that. The language is a little tough to learn/understand, but most people here do speak English albeit a little broken. Im about a month in and am all settled. I am pretty familiar with my surroundings, which wasn’t difficult as I am situated in a fairly small town (Werne population is 30,000)

We had an alright pre-season with some decent showings against teams a league above us (ProB). We had our first regular season game last night, it was an away game and we got smacked by 20. We weren’t ready to play and defensively as a team we were terrible. I didn’t play especially great either which didn’t help, but we will get prepared this week and get ready for our home opener on Saturday.

The team has 3 imports, myself, a 6’9 power forward from St.Louis and a 6’4 guard from Serbia. The league has a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ stating that 3 Germans must be on the court at all times, so we all don’t get to play together which is a little frustrating, but coach says that this agreement won’t last long. As soon as one team plays with less, then the agreement is over. So hopefully that happened this previous weekend.

Well it is nearly mid-afternoon here (6 hrs ahead of London) and Im guessing the team is fast asleep after a lovely Saturday evening at the Ceeps (One of many things that I miss) To the team, get ready and be prepared to hit the ground running. I know September/October is a bit of a grind, with limited games and a lot of practices, but the work you put in now will pay off in March. Good luck and I will be keeping tabs on your successes.

From Germany with love.... and Bratwurst

Matt


Here is some video if you want to see Matt Curtis in his Mustangs Days

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Mustangs 2010-2011 TV Schedule Announced

London Rogers Cable TV Channel 13 will broadcast the follwing Mustangs games this season:


Nov. 13 8 p.m. vs. Toronto

Jan. 6  8 p.m. vs. Windsor

Jan. 8  8 p.m. vs. McMaster

Jan. 22  8 p.m. vs. Laurier 

Feb. 5 3 p.m. vs. Guelph

Feb. 18 8 p.m. vs. Lakehead

Feb. 19  8 p.m. vs. Lakehead

(playoffs to be announced depending on dates and locations, schedule dates and broadcast times subject to change)

Monday, September 13, 2010

Bob Gage Leaves 1 Million Dollars To Athletics At Western

** New Globe & Mail Article

Article by Andy Watson- Mustangs Athletics





LONDON, Ont. - The University of Western Ontario announced today a major bequest of $1 million from the late Bob "Scoop" Gage that will bring his total giving to the university to almost $1.2 million. The bequest from the long-time London Free Press sports reporter will support current Mustangs and future generations of Western student-athletes.
Known as the “dean of amateur sports reporters in Canada,” Gage covered the Western Mustangs during his 33-year career with the London Free Press. He died July 12, 2009 at the age of 89.
Western President Amit Chakma, speaking at Alumni Hall, a place Gage frequented both as a fan and a journalist, praised Gage for his commitment to the City of London, the university, and the Western Mustangs.
“Bob’s deep love of sport and Mustang athletics is legendary here on campus and in the broader community,” said Chakma. “Through his prolific storytelling, through his passionate advocacy of amateur sport, and through his generous philanthropy, I am certain Bob would be very pleased to know that his legacy will continue to touch the lives of student-athletes for generations to come.”
The bequest announced today, valued at $1 million, will be endowed at Foundation Western to generate annual support for the J.P. Metras Sports Museum, and the Bob Gage Athletic Leadership Awards. Valued from $1,000 to $3,500, these awards will be available annually to first-year students participating in basketball, track and field, men’s squash and football.
A member of Western football’s Wall of Champions, men’s basketball’s Hall of Honour, the Track and Field Hall of Fame and the ‘W’ Club Hall of Fame, Gage previously donated $57,000 to Western to support the construction of the Michael Kirkley Training Centre at the J.W. Little Building at TD Waterhouse Stadium. The Bob Gage Weight Room in the centre was named in his honour. Gage also established several endowed funds during his lifetime in support of athletic awards and contributed regularly to the Adopt-A-Mustang program.
Legend has it that Gage never missed a Mustangs men's home basketball game. He also authored Mustang Tales, a 157-page chronicle of the history of Mustangs men's athletics at Western in 2001.
“Few people can equal the great professional and personal contributions to athletics and to student-athletes made by Bob Gage,” said Thérèse Quigley, Director of Sports and Recreation Services at Western and a former volleyball standout, who was interviewed by Gage during her playing days. “His work as a journalist serves as an historical archive in Canadian sport, with volumes of stories about Western athletics and student-athletes. And now the Bob Gage Athletic Leadership Awards will build on Bob’s legacy and help us attract and support top student-athletes, foster their leadership abilities, and build strong, competitive teams.”

Internationally recognized for his body of work, Gage championed amateur sport in the region as a reporter and advocate of student-athletes and their accomplishments. It became a lifelong mission to act in their interest, he said in 2008, and he continued to give back in his retired life.

“I feel very honoured,” Gage said in an interview in 2008. “I can sit back and see other people being honoured and recognized. It's very rewarding for me to be able to give back. Western, that's where my heart is.”

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Former Mustang Matt Curtis Scores 16pts in Loss


Curtis Attacks The Basket


Former Mustang Matt Curtis scores 16pts but his team TV Werne loses to ProB team Hertener Loewen by 4 (German Pro league teams).


For those who speak German 

Mustangs Open Try-outs

Annual open try-outs begin Monday Sept 13th with a meeting at 5pm.

For more information regarding 2010-2011 Mustangs player open try-outs click the link below

http://www.westernmustangs.ca/sports/2005/8/1/865178764.aspx?id=58

Monday, September 6, 2010