GERARD SMITH TO BE INDUCTED INTO P.E.I. SPORTS HALL OF FAME
In baseball, hockey, harness racing
Gerard Smith, a well-known face in baseball, hockey and harness racing circles for a number of years, will be inducted into the P.E.I. Sports Hall Of Fame on Nov. 9.
Smith, who was born in Charlottetown but has spent many years in Summerside, has the distinction of being part of three Hall of Fame teams – the 1972-73 Hardy Cup-winning Saint John Mooseheads; the 1980-81 Charlottetown Islanders, also Hardy Cup champions (where he was a 38-year old-veteran), and the 1977 P.E.I. Islanders, silver-medallists at the Canadian senior men’s baseball championships. A fine goaltender in minor hockey, Smith tended goal for the Saint Dunstan’s Saints from 1962 to 64, and later for the Sandy’s Royals’ intermediate A champs in 1964-65, as well as the Royals’ team that won the 1969-70 Maritime senior B title.
Baseball
In baseball, Smith was part of the two-time Maritime intermediate B championship-winning Morell Chevies in 1968 and 1969, and the A title winners in 1970 and 1971. He also won another Maritime intermediate B title with the Tignish Aces in 1980. A teacher by profession, Smith used his skills to also forge an excellent career in coaching. Highlights of which would include guiding the 1970-71 Summerside Crystals’ junior B team to a championship, as well as the Peakes Little Leaguers and mosquito teams to minor Maritime baseball championships in 1972.
Coaching
Throughout his sporting career Smith was in demand as a coach, either on the bench or in the dugout, and he helped shape the careers of many young athletes during his time, which included stints with the Summerside Crystals, O’Leary Maroons, Summerside Western Capitals and of course at Three Oaks High School.
Smith’s contribution to teaching and coaching was recognized in 2012, when he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Harness racing
In harness racing, Smith is one of the most recognized and respected faces in the region, having served as race secretary for Summerside Raceway since 1972 – a duty he’s also performed at the Charlottetown Driving Park since 2005.
He also has similar duties for harness racing tracks in Inverness, N.S., Exhibition Park in Saint John, and has also worked at the Fredericton and Woodstock tracks. He was named the Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission official of the year in 2016.
It is fitting that this fine athlete, coach and official becomes a very worthy member of the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame.