Stan Cooke was born in Port Arthur, Ontario, in 1914. His career as an amateur athlete covers some 55 years, having played on numerous teams in both northwestern Ontario and abroad.

 

It is difficult to place Stan in any particular category when considering which sport he truly excelled in as he represented himself with distinction in a variety of sports including hockey, baseball, rowing, swimming, golf, curling, football and basketball.

 

Stan was involved in local hockey with the Fort William Hockey Club, starting with the Juniors and playing right up to the senior level. During the 1930s Stan played overseas with the St. Moritz Hockey Club in Switzerland.

 

As a rower, Stan was on 5 gold-medal-winning crews, having competed successfully in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, Winnipeg, Manitoba, as well as being a member of the 1935 Fort William Eight-man crew who competed at the Canadian Henley Regatta in St. Catharines, Ontario.

 

When Stan Cooke joined the team, it seemed that a championship title would not be that far off. He played on the 1931 Junior District championship baseball team as well as the 1945 and '46 senior championship team. In 1936 and '37 Stan quarterbacked the Dynamiter's football team to Senior District titles and in 1934, '35 and '45 did the same thing in basketball.

 

As an individual athlete, Stan also excelled. In 1931 he became the District Men's Freestyle Swimming champion and, in 1948, won the McGolrick Golf Trophy at Strathcona.

 

Stan's later involvement in amateur sport was in curling, where he successfully competed on 3 Fort William Curling Club rinks, the 1984 NWO 60-plus Bonspiel rink and the 1984 Elk's Canadian championship rink.

 

Having excelled in so many different sports, Stan Cooke's amateur athletic career truly demonstrates the attributes that make an outstanding all-round athlete.

 

Inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, September 26, 1987