Lacrosse loses one savvy individual
Longtime executive could talk all day about the sport he helped grow and nurture in B.C.
Les Wingrove never met a conversation he couldn’t extend.
The longtime lacrosse executive loved to debate, deliberate, detail and define. He had a talent for talk, and you would routinely find him holding court in the corridors at various arenas around the Lower Mainland.
Wingrove died Friday. He was 74. He knew the game backwards and forwards from various levels, and reached arguably the pinnacle of the sport in 2001, when he was general manager of the Coquitlam Adanacs team that captured the Mann Cup Senior A national championship.
He’ll be remembered for that. And for being a guy who considered a quick chat a discussion lasting at least 20 minutes.
“I was coming out of the arena after my first practice with Coquitlam with a bunch of guys and Les was there in the parking lot and he and I got to talking,” recalled Russ Heard, the longtime Burnaby Lakers stalwart who was with the Adanacs in 1999 as part of another championship push by Wingrove.
“By the time we were done talking, the parking lot was empty. Everybody else had left. By the time I got home, my wife was worried that something had happened.”
Wingrove’s willingness to put the time in and get to know people and create relationships played a role in the Adanacs attracting Ontario stars such as Troy Cordingley, Pat Coyle, Jim Veltman, Colin Doyle, Tracey Kelusky and John Grant Jr., for stints.
It ruffled some feathers in the Western Lacrosse Association along the way. But it also undoubtedly made the league better.
“I don’t know of anybody who has put in more time and more effort in lacrosse. He was relentless and tenacious,” said Kevin Brunsch, a longtime Adanac who was part of that 2001 team. “I’m obviously biased, but nobody deserved a Mann Cup more than him. I’m proud to have been a part of the group that was able to help him with that.”
Wingrove was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2003. He started coaching his sons Trevor and Craig going through the minor ranks before becoming the Coquitlam Minor Lacrosse Association president. He jumped to the Jr. Adanacs and handled various positions for a decade with that team before moving onto the Sr. Adanacs.
He parted ways with the Sr. Adanacs in 2011 after more than 20 years with the club, but quickly joined the front office of the rival Langley Thunder.
He continued to be a part of the brain trust with the Jr. Adanacs,
holding the title of director of operations going into this season.
“You could talk to him about your tyke team and you could talk to him about your pro team and the advice he gave you about whatever team you were working with was always spot on,” said Curt Malawsky, coach of the National Lacrosse League’s Calgary Roughnecks, who was also
a player on that 2001 Adanacs side. “He was a great friend and a mentor, and he taught me a lot.”
As much as Wingrove excelled at adviser-type duties, he was also a worker. Jr. Adanacs GM Scott Wortley said Wingrove offered to handle driving chores with one of the rental cars when the team advanced to the Minto Cup Junior A national championship
last year in Brampton, Ont.
“He could write the book of lacrosse,” said Wortley, who came through the Coquitlam minor and Junior A ranks as a player. “From scheduling to the intricacies of the rule book to recruiting players … he gave us so much guidance.
“I think I met him when I was five. He’s been a mentor to me for years.
I’m at a loss. This is very sad.”
The B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League season opens Saturday, including with the Adanacs visiting the Victoria Shamrocks, and the league is pledging to hold a moment of silence before all of its season openers.
Trevor Wingrove died in 2010 after a battle with cancer. He was 42.