Spence shows no sign of slowing down

BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI



On a Thursday afternoon at Lindsay Place High School in Pointe Claire, the man simply known as Coach instructs children and teenagers on the sport of running inside the gymnasium.

Sandy Spence, a Pointe Claire resident, is in his element. Just as he’s been for the better part of the last 40 years, volunteering his time, helping those who will mold the world of tomorrow, teaching them the value of sport. He’ll do it again on Saturday and Monday.

Standing next to his athletes at his McGill Olympic Track and Field Club, Spence appears grandfatherly. He does, after all, turn 80 on Nov. 22. Yet, at a time in life others might prefer to relax or tend to personal goals put aside during younger days, Spence shows no sign of changing his ways.

“What does one do when relaxing?� asked Spence. “Is that what retirement is about? You have to have something to hang on to. The minute the kids won’t listen to me anymore, or I sense it’s time to go, health-wise, I’ll fold my tent and away I’ll go. I work with kids, teaching them track and field because I enjoy it. It’s competitive, and that’s the part I still love the most. It brings out the athleticism in these kids. Stamina, endurance, movement, these are all part of track and field.�

Perhaps the about 50 McGill Olympic club members might not know it, but in his younger days, Spence was everything he is trying to mold them into. Born in Glasgow, he arrived in Canada as a toddler at the age of 18 months to live with his aunt. He lost his mother at a very young age and his father, a military man, was not able to care for him. He grew up in downtown Montreal, attending Montreal High School while participating in many sports. He eventually became a superb athlete, particularly on the track and gridiron. In 1952, he tried out for, and made, the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders as a kick return specialist. That same year, he placed fourth in the 100-metre final at the Canadian Olympic track and field trials in Hamilton.

“I’ll never forget my one year in the CFL,� said Spence. “In those days though, the Canadian players lacked the fundamentals the youngsters have today. As far as the Olympic time trials go, if I had been an American I would have made the team. Back then, Canada knew it had no chance in the relay, and only took its top three runners to the Olympics.�

After turning 30, Spence decided to enroll in teachers’ college. He would spend 32 years, primarily as a physical-education teacher, at Lindsay Place, and also coached its track teams. In the early 1960s, he also started the McGill Olympic club. Through the years, several of its athletes have gone on to the Olympics, including sprinter Anthony Wilson in the 1992 Barcelona Games. Others have earned full scholarships in NCAA division 1 universities in the United States.

“The children have been great, but you know, it’s also many of the parents who have allowed me to stay on so long,� said Spence, who received the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award two years ago in recognition of his outstanding community involvement over the past 40 years. “They have contributed so much through volunteering their time in different capacities.�

One of those parents was former Beaconsfield resident Greg Ogrodnick, whose daughters Avril and Lise learned everything about track at McGill Olympic. Both are presently in their second year at Georgetown University on full track-and-field scholarships. “He (Spence) believed that anything worth doing is worth doing well,� said Greg Ogrodnick, now living in Calgary. “To the best of your abilities and that one of the greatest compliments that you can receive is to be called an athlete.�