In 2006, Dalhousie inducted three athletes, one builder, and one team as part of it's second Hall of Fame class.
Margaret (Muir) Langley, Richard Munro, and William Staanish were inducted as athletes. Alan Yarr was inducted as a builder and the 1982 Women's Volleyball team was inducted as a team.
Margaret (Muir) Langley, Athlete: Field Hockey & Basketball
Sometimes mother knows best. That is certainly the opinion of Dalhousie with regards to Margie (Muir) Langley. While all of her friends were looking at Acadia, there was no choice in the Muir household – Margie was headed for Dalhousie.
When this Truro native arrived on campus, she was already a talented multi-sport athlete, who had a love for sport. Margie was instilled with this ‘love of the game’ attitude by her first physical education teacher in grade school, Toni Proyer, and her father Dr. James Alexander Muir, a former Dalhousie runner and winner of the Malcolm Honor and 15-year one mile record holder. They can be credited for helping develop her desire to be as good as she could be. The sense of accomplishment felt when she was first able to win a ping-pong game versus her father is one that never left her; she would strive for and realize this sense of accomplishment many times in her athletic pursuits.
Margie arrived at Dalhousie in 1964 at a time when female athletes were not recruited, but rather teams were comprised of walk-ons responding to advertisements in The Gazette and notices around campus. If you were interested, you showed up. Well, young Muir had never played field hockey, but with her love of sport she decided to give it a try. It took Margie just three short seasons of field hockey, a sport which she had previously never played, to earn team most valuable player honours in 1967. She was also selected to the eastern Canadian team roster to attend the national championship in Toronto in that same season. A stalwart defender in the field, she led the Dalhousie squad to undefeated seasons in 1965 and 1967, winning the conference championship.
On the basketball court was where Margie truly excelled. At the beginning of her basketball career at Dalhousie, the game was much different than the one played today. There were six players per side, including three guards and three forwards and in handling the ball each player was afforded only three dribbles. The result was a low scoring battle on the busy court but the rules certainly didn’t impede Margie’s scoring touch. As a forward, she was often listed as the team’s top scorer, leading the team in the 1965-66 season. A gifted athlete and scorer when she arrived at Dalhousie, Margie beefed up her point totals with the help of fellow 2006 Hall of Fame inductee and stellar coach, Al Yarr, who spent countless hours working with her on shooting technique, in her quest to excel. In 1967, after the first Canada Games, of which Margie attended as a member of Team Nova Scotia, the rules of the game changed to resemble very much the game of today. The changes suited Margie quite nicely, as evidenced by her selection as Dalhousie’s women’s basketball MVP for the 1967-68 season.
Margie’s involvement in sport at Dalhousie extended away from the playing surface as well. For three years she was part of the executive of the Dalhousie Girl’s Athletic Club (DGAC), serving as ‘freshette’ representative, treasurer and in her final year, as president. The DGAC organized the intercollegiate teams and activities as well as the intramural activities for the young women of Dalhousie.
Margie Muir is a consummate Dalhousian. From her beginnings as a standout two-sport varsity athlete to her role as President of the Black and Gold Club from 1990-92, a ten-year stint as a member of the Board of Directors for Dalhousie’s Alumni Association and sitting on the university’s Board of Directors from 1994-97, Margie is a tremendous example for Dalhousie students of today. Her involvement with the university speaks volumes on what Dalhousie University continues to mean for her. The depth of Margie’s sporting accomplishments at Dalhousie is illustrated by her selection as Dalhousie’s top female athlete for three consecutive years, an achievement that stood unmatched for 36 years, only recently being equaled in 2006.
Induction as a member of the Dalhousie Sports Hall of Fame is a fitting recognition for this talented student-athlete who just wanted to play her best – and her best should stand as an example to us all.
Richard Munro, Athlete: Cross Country & Track and Field
Richard Munro is a quintessential winner as a runner and as a person. He never lost a race in high school and continued his unbeaten string in university competition from 1968-1973. In 1971 he won the national open cross country championship by an enormous 42 second margin of victory. He won every track race he entered and dominated cross country with an undefeated university career.
The rules of the day only allowed teams to participate at the CIAU cross country championship; one could not qualify as an individual. With this rule in place, Richard’s first attempt at the national university title didn’t come until the fall of 1972. He won. He won in smaller league races. He won whenever he faced the national champions of his day in invitational races. No matter who he faced or the what the competition, Richard Munro won in black and gold. He won the Dalhousie University Climo Award in 1972-73. Had he been able had to qualify for CIS nationals individually he may have been CIAU champion in each of his four years; a fact made so clear by Richard’s win in 1972 that the rules were changed the following year.
Clearly, a runner with this kind of success had a base of physical talent. However, what truly set Richard apart was his exceptional ability to compete. He was tough and relentless in his pursuit of ex
cellence but above all he kept a positive attitude. The inner calm that he displayed in this most grueling of sports has remained unequalled in more than forty years of cross country excellence at Dalhousie. Having completed a race, Richard would continue running, back along the route he had just run, until every teammate had crossed the line. After one such race where he had defeated the national champion of the previous year, he was confronted by his coach who was puzzled as to how he could finish, looking so free of strain, stress, and pain. Richard took coach Al Yarr aside and whispered in his ear, “to tell you the truth coach, it hurts like hell”. He had won that race, as he did all his races, with such ease that it belied the real struggle that all distance runners experience. He was never one to express doubt or fear.
Richard’s positive attitude and optimism transcended to his teammates and he thus became the team leader. During one pre-race course tour that revealed deep mud, terrible footing and a course that seemed to have been measured incorrectly, other competitors talked about the difficulties they would be facing traversing the course later that day. Richard clapped a hand on his teammate’s back and said simply, “This makes it tougher on everyone else. It’s going to be fun.” Richard, of course, won.
Dalhousie won its first ever conference championship in 1972 and Richard provided the spark and belief that led the team to victory, defeating a strong UNB squad on their home course.
Unfortunately, Richard suffered a career-ending plantar fascia strain in a non-running incident that never fully healed, despite Richard’s persistence. Although his Olympic dreams were thwarted by his continuing injury, he left Dalhousie with a university record that may never be equaled and with a legacy regarding the spirit of running and of winning that is still told every year to Dalhousie’s aspiring national cross country champions.
William Stanish, Athlete: Football & Hockey
Throughout his impressive 35-year sports medicine career, Dr. Bill Stanish has been awarded many honours. With his induction to the Dalhousie University Sports Hall of Fame, this time it is not the doctor we are looking to honour, but the student-athlete and young man who was the base for all that was to come. This fiery athlete who developed on the campus, the gridiron and the ice, as a Dalhousie Tiger, is just as impressive as the prominent orthopedic surgeon who stands before you today.
Arriving in Halifax in 1963, Bill earned a spot on the varsity football team as a halfback. He played an important role in that squads’ first game, a season opening win, scoring a second half touchdown that ended an 18-game losing that streak dated back to 1960. This earned him a mention in the Gazette following the game, a notable feat for a rookie.
Over the next four seasons on the field Bill offered many special performances for Tiger fans. A backfield player, Bill was always a leader, often involved in orchestrating the few bright spots the football team enjoyed during those times. With few regulations around athlete “support”, the Tigers of the day were not competing on a level field with many of their opponents. Despite the disparity, the team always worked hard and with Bill as a captain in his last three years, and team MVP in 1964, there were some truly memorable moments. Included in these are playing as quarterback in the “Mud Bowl’ of 1964 where they narrowly lost to powerhouse UNB, and three touchdowns versus St. Dunstans in 1964 as a running back. Perhaps most notable was the five touchdown performance against Acadia in 1965 that earned him CIAU Athlete of the Week honours.
Bill Stanish seemed to shine for first impressions and fresh starts. Under new football coaches in the season opener of his final year versus the Dartmouth Vikings, a 62-0 romp, it was truly the Bill Stanish show as he earned five touchdowns and tossed a two point conversion. The October 6, 1966 Gazette heralded the teams’ performance with special mention of Bill Stanish and his “dynamic leadership and exciting ability”. Bill’s football career had an unfortunate ending in 1966 when a shoulder separation in his final football game, a controversial tie with Acadia, kept him out most of the second half. But in classic Stanish fashion he refused to leave the field and like a true leader stayed with the team until the end.
A two-sport athlete, at the conclusion of the football season each year, Bill would lace up the blades and patrol the ice for the Tigers during the winter months. Bill’s first game with the hockey team, similarly to his first with the football team, was also a win, a 4-3 decision over SMU in which he again displayed his talents, earning an assist and scoring a goal. Most hockey game reports of the day also had mention of Bill Stanish, scoring, assisting on goals, or being a bright spot for the Tigers. Always among the team leaders in scoring, Bill was as tenacious as they came. The fiery and competitive nature that drove Bill to score goals also led him to the top of the league’s leader board for penalty minutes. His ability to distract and compete with such hard-nosed intensity once earned him an escort from the ice to the dressing room in a match up against Acadia.
The venue was different, but Bill’s leadership abilities were still prominent. He was captain of the hockey team for three seasons, and was the first to captain both the football and hockey teams in the same season in 1965, duties he would again carry out in 1966.
As an inspiring team leader, it is no surprise that Bill received individual recognition. Twice he was selected as the top male athlete at Dalhousie, receiving the Climo Award in 1964-65 and again 1966-67, which was the first time there was a repeat award winner. In recognition of his achievements Bill was also recognized as Dalhousie’s Most Inspirational Athlete in 1967, a citation that merited a special page in the Pharos that year.
Having delved into the past, it is easy to see where the Bill Stanish of today developed out of Bill Stanish, the varsity athlete. His desire to be the best and to work hard to bounce back after adversity are attitudes and skills that were honed as a Dalhousie Tiger. When asked how much of his sporting experiences meant in laying the foundation for what was to come, he responded with a single word answer, “Everything!” A true Dalhousian, Bill can still be seen attending university competitions and is passionate about the student-athletes of today, who he sees as the leaders of tomorrow.
Alan Yarr, Builder: Basketball, Cross Country, Track and Field, Golf, Tennis & Football
Who has committed 44 years to coaching at Dalhousie, coached 91 conference championship teams including 28 athletes who have gone on to national team competitions, has had five teams win CIAU/CIS medals and has coached national teams in three different sports? There can be only one answer: Al Yarr.
The breadth of sports which Al has coached is as expansive as his list of successes. During his early years at Dalhousie, Al coached men's basketball, track and field, cross country, golf, tennis and was an assistant coach with the football team.
Al coached the men’s basketball team from 1963-1979, making it a point of pride to recruit exclusively in Canada, while the other top teams were predominantly American. The roster of Canadian athletes certainly didn’t slow Dalhousie’s success. From 1967-72, Dalhousie had one of the best teams in the league with league records of 10-2 twice and 9-3 twice. Two ties for league honours were among the highlight. During the same period, Al also coached the Nova Scotia basketball team at the first Canada Winter Games in Quebec City in 1967 where the team captured a bronze medal. In 1968-69 Al was
assistant coach of the Canadian men's national basketball team. Al also had what he has always referred to as ‘the privilege’ of coaching John Cassidy, who went on to spend ten years on Canada’s national team and played in the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
Although Al started at Dalhousie with a significant focus on basketball, his great passion in his later coaching years has been in the sports of cross country and track and field. In 1967 Dalhousie won its first AUAA track and field conference championship since the sport’s inception in the league in 1911. Al quickly followed his success on the track with success on the cross country trails with Dalhousie winning its first ever AUAA cross country conference championship in 1972. From these modest beginnings, Al has developed very successful track and field and cross country programs at Dalhousie. The majority of the 91 conference championships his teams have won were in these two sports.
An exceptional level of optimism is what Al Yarr brings to sport. He believes in people living their dreams, in the pursuing excellence at the highest levels and in enjoying the process through the laughter of one’s teammates and the experience of being a varsity athlete at Dalhousie. He inspires teams by believing in them and that they can accomplish what any statistician would claim impossible. It is a tribute to the strength of those beliefs that they do, in fact, often overpower statistical odds; Al propels his athletes and teams to accomplish the seemingly impossible.
The credit for his success, according to Al, is often left to his athletes. His mantra, "You don't become a great coach without having great athletes,” speaks both to his faith in the athletes with whom he works and to what he enjoys most about coaching. Despite the unprecedented number of conference wins he has recorded, Al’s undiminished enthusiasm for coaching is powered by his enjoyment of working with the people attracted to the sports he coaches. He still gets excited about new runners coming to Dalhousie, new training techniques and is elated when athletes achieve personal bests.
Al is a student of the game, whatever that game may be. Whether it is basketball, golf, running, or life, he is always searching for and integrating new ideas into training programs. After forty-four years Al is still learning, perhaps more voraciously than ever. He reads constantly, learning from sports greats in the process. Over his career he has sought out and learned from the world’s best coaches including such John Wooden and Jack Donahue in basketball and Peter Coe in track and field, among hundreds of others. After over fifty years of learning from the best, Al’s wealth of knowledge reaches into every aspect of coaching.
Ninety one conference championships is a legacy in its own right, but what is not reflected in this number is the influence Al has had on Dalhousie’s student-athletes, as people. He has been a coach, a teacher, a mentor and a friend to hundreds of student-athletes, spanning five decades. Al's contribution to sport at Dalhousie has been immense. It would be difficult to find anyone in the history of coaching that has given so much of himself to Dalhousie athletics. He is, without question, a Dalhousie coaching icon.
1982 Women's Volleyball Team
As the years go by, the accomplishment of the 1981-82 Dalhousie Tigers women’s volleyball team becomes clear. To win a national championship is the ultimate accomplishment in university sport; to win at home is rare, and to win from outside the traditional geographic area of strength for that sport is exceptional. Not before or since has a team from the Atlantic University Sport conference captured a national championship in volleyball. In fact, it was not until the 2002-03 season that another team from outside of western Canada was able to win the championship.
The Tigers season was spent traveling across the country, competing against top teams in tournaments at York, Sherbrooke, UBC, Calgary, Laval and the Dalhousie Classic. This experience proved invaluable as every member of the team gained playing experience developing their own important role to play at the end of the season.
The season culminated with the national championship tournament, which was hosted by the Tigers at Dalplex.
The 1982 CIAU championship was unique as it was the last event where teams played a full round robin format, with the top two teams from the round robin advancing to the final. It was certainly a much more physically and mentally grueling format than that of today’s single elimination tournament; teams needed to be very fit and mentally tough in order to succeed. A one match upset was not enough, a complete, deep team was required for the challenge and only the best team would rise to the top. Ranked fifth out of the six teams in the tournament, the Tigers did a lot of rising!
The national championship tournament started well as the Tigers easily defeated York and Laval in straight sets on the opening day. On day two the Tigers played an intense match with Calgary, eventually losing in four close sets – three of which were decided by only two points. The Tigers were back on track in the second match of the day as they defeated Memorial again in straight sets. On the final day of the championship the Tigers took a straight set victory over Winnipeg to secure a place in the finals later that day.
In the final, the opponent was Calgary, the only team to defeat the Tigers in round robin play. The atmosphere in the Dalplex was electric with over 1200 fans packed into the stands and standing room crowds jammed into any space that remained. The Tigers responded using the energy in the building to take a commanding two set lead by scores of 15-7 and a close 16-14. But, this was the national final and Calgary was about to roll over! The Dinos responded and took advantage of Dalhousie blocking and serve reception trouble to take the next two sets 15-5 and 15-9. In the final set the Tigers got off to a great start and jumped out to an early 13-5 lead. Calgary closed the gap to 13-11, but the Tigers refused to let them get that twelfth point. Quoted afterward in the press, coach MacGregor commented, “That was a key point, holding them to 11 and not letting them get that twelfth point.” The Tigers then dug a bit deeper and finished off the set 15-11 to take the championship. Pandemonium! The celebration that followed included a trip to the Dalplex pool (in uniforms!), and plenty of chocolate and champagne.
Individually the team’s top performers were unquestionably co-captains Karin Maessen (CIAU Player of the Year, Championship All-Star and MVP) and Karen Fraser (CIAU All-Canadian, Championship All-Star), both of whom played with the national team for many years. The Tigers however were not a two- woman show. The starting line-up also included middle blockers Brenda Turner and Kathy Andrea and power hitters Veronika Schmidt and Bev Audet. Beth Yeomans, Janet Rhymes and Lorraine Cunningham were dubbed the super-subs, while rookies Kathy Cox, Diana Dowthwaite and Lyann Fougere rounded out the Tigers’ squad.
In reflecting back on the triumph when the team was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame, head coach Lois MacGregor noted the teams’ cohesiveness and dedication to each other as important elements in their success. “They all worked together. They cared for each other as a group. It was a really a very close family. Everybody respected each other’s contributions and we had fun. We did so many trips together. It’s hard for Atlantic teams because it’s so expensive, but I really felt we had the potential to go all the way if we did those trips to play that tough competition.”
Two years later the Tigers would again reach the final game, this time claiming the silver medal. Since that time no other team from the Atlantic conference has reached a medal game in the national championship tournament.