Gutheridge inducted into Sports Hall of Fame
There are few people in the history of Moose Jaw who dedicated more of their life to developing and improving the sporting community than Stanley ‘Hub’ Gutheridge. Gutheridge was one of six athletes and builders honoured by the Hall for 2018 and was enshrined on the Wall of Fame in Mosaic Place during this year’s induction ceremonies.
Jeff Lott represented his grandfather and family at the event and said the honour would have meant a lot to Gutheridge.
“I know he’d be humbled and honoured to be named to the Hall of Fame, and I have to thank the committee on behalf of our family,” Lott said. “It’s always nice to come home; I lived here until I left for school in 1968 and we’ve been a very close family and always kept in touch. Grandpa was always just such a great man and set such a high morale standard for the family.”
Born in London, England in 1905, Gutheridge moved to Moose Jaw in 1913 and eventually became heavily involved in high school sports and with the YMCA, holding a wide variety of positions with both organizations for over 60 years until 1978.
Gutheridge’s constant involvement in the local sports scene was something his family always noticed, with Lott doing so in a rather unique way.
“I’d go and stay with him and it didn’t matter what day of the week, he always had a shirt and tie on,” he explained. “And I always thought ‘this is very formal’, I was a young man and very impressionable and I thought that was maybe the standard, a British tradition. But no, it was because he always had meetings; it didn’t matter which day of the week, and then on Sunday he went to church. So he was a very busy man and he enjoyed every aspect he was involved in.”
As the Moose Jaw Public Schools physical education supervisor, Gutheridge organized the school sports and swimming programs and was the driving force behind the construction of a football field and track facility on a tract of land next to Riverview Collegiate.
That complex was officially named Gutheridge Field during the opening of the 1972 Summer Games. It continues to be a hub of activity all through the warm weather months, as school and recreational activities see the facilities being put to constant use. “Whenever I come back, sometimes by coincidence and sometimes by planning, I come back during football season,” Lott said. “I played football and when I played he was an official; he was a timer on the sidelines, and then after being away for awhile my parents told me they’d actually named the field after him. So, every time I come back, I have to drive by and see what’s going on. And friends have come here and heard the story and visited the field, too. So it’s a tremendous recognition for him and the work he did for sports in the community.” Gutheridge was also heavily involved in the Moose Jaw Basketball Association and spent many hours in the pool with the Canadian Red Cross Water Safety program and the Royal Life Saving Society, holding executive positions with the groups and instructing, coaching and officiating in various capacities over the years.
The number of awards Gutheridge has received over the years reflects his stature as a community builder: he received the City of Moose Jaw Medal of Merit in 1972 and the Government of Saskatchewan award that same year to go along with the Canada Fitness & Amateur Sport Award in 1977. He was named a YMCA Honorary Life Member in 1972 and Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Life Member in 1978.
Stanley ‘Hub’ Gutheridge was inducted into the Hall of Fame on Oct. 20 alongside former NHL standout Doug Smail, former national champion figure skater Susan Humphreys, baseball coach and builder Jim Baba, baseball and curling coach Roger Anholt and baseball and hockey standout George Hunchuk.