The Province

Lacrosse has lost a passionate voice

Community mourns death of Gill, a hall-of-famer with six decades devoted to the game

- STEVE EWEN sewen@postmedia.com twitter.com/SteveEwen

Sohen Gill was a speed talker.

You interviewe­d Gill, you needed a recorder. He spoke faster than anyone could write. And the words came out in rapid-fire succession, especially when lacrosse was the topic.

He was one of the game’s great salesmen, forever trying to steer more attention and participan­ts to the sport. Gill had a six-decade associatio­n with lacrosse, going from player to coach to team executive to Western Lacrosse Associatio­n commission­er and B.C. Lacrosse Associatio­n president along the way.

A member of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame and Canadian Lacrosse Hall of

Fame, Gill died Friday following an undisclose­d illness. He was 78.

“He was a man of many words and spoke them very quickly, so if you wanted to hear the whole story you had to listen up and pay attention,” Bob Salt, one of Gill’s longtime friends, explained via Facebook message from a vacation spot in Mexico. “It was well worth it.

“Sohen loved the game. His whole life revolved around the sport of lacrosse at all levels. He had a passion like no other for it and his dedication and years of service is proof of that.”

Gill and Salt are both former members of the Vancouver Fire Department. Salt was a standout player in the Western Lacrosse Associatio­n with the Vancouver Burrards and is a member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Salt retired after the 1976 season because of knee issues. Gill was the GM of the Coquitlam Adanacs, and Salt contends that Gill “sucked me into coaching,” with Coquitlam, starting with the 1977 season.

With Salt at the controls, the Adanacs won the inaugural world box lacrosse championsh­ip in 1980. Salt, now 72, would go on to become one of the most successful coaches ever in B.C. in the Senior A and Junior A ranks, running the bench for various teams.

“He got me into coaching and I owe him for that,” Salt said.

According to Salt, Gill also revelled in talking about the accomplish­ments of his three children and six grandchild­ren. Among them is son Chris Gill, the head coach of the National Lacrosse League’s Vancouver Warriors. He was a standout player in both the WLA and the NLL and was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2015.

Like his dad, Gill is a Vancouver firefighte­r.

In 2012, Sohen needed a kidney transplant. Chris was his donor.

Father was son’s coach in lacrosse growing up. Scott Wortley, who is now the Adanacs’ GM, was a player with those minor lacrosse teams.

“I’ll always remember Sohen loading up his station wagon with as many kids as he could and taking us to Kerrisdale to watch the Adanacs play the Burrards, or to Queen’s Park to watch the Adanacs play the New Westminste­r Salmonbell­ies,” said Wortley.

“He wanted to bring as many kids as he could and show them what the game was about.”

The Warriors return to action Saturday, playing host to the New York Riptide at Rogers Arena (7 p.m.). Forward Logan Schuss says that Gill’s death has touched the sport at all levels.

“You don’t think of B.C. lacrosse without thinking of Mr. Gill. He has had a pivotal role in the growth of lacrosse in B.C. for many years. He will be missed by many,” Schuss said.

There will be a celebratio­n of life on Dec. 18, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Burnaby Firefighte­r’s Club (6515 Bonsor Ave.).

 ?? RIC ERNST/PNG FILES ?? Sohen Gill, pictured with Carling Muir at Sports B.C.’s 42nd Annual Athlete of the Year awards in 2008, died on Friday of an undisclose­d illness. He was 78.
RIC ERNST/PNG FILES Sohen Gill, pictured with Carling Muir at Sports B.C.’s 42nd Annual Athlete of the Year awards in 2008, died on Friday of an undisclose­d illness. He was 78.
 ?? ASSOCIATIO­N FILES SOHEN GILL — BC LACROSSE ??
ASSOCIATIO­N FILES SOHEN GILL — BC LACROSSE

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