EMILY HSUEH
SHAWVILLE March 10, 2021
After careful consideration, Pontiac High School (PHS) is inducting 13 notable people in the sporting industry, past and present, into its first ever Hall of Fame.
A few of the walls at the Shawville school will soon be adorned with photos, plaques and shadowboxes filled with memorabilia of those who attended the school and have had significant influences on the sporting world.
The new project is the brainchild of PHS physical education teacher Darcy Findlay, who is also an inductee in the Hall of Fame’s class of 2021. He had previously . . .
worked at Philemon Wright high school in Hull, where they had a similar initiative, and when he moved back to teach at his alma mater last year, he decided to establish his own version.
“[It’s] myself and Chad Davis — we work together in the phys. ed department at the school. It was my idea but him and I have both been working together to get it done,” he said. “When I moved up here last year … I decided that it’s a good idea for us to start making our favorite hallways, you know, more of an athletic hallway and honour great athletes that have been through our school system.
“The whole purpose was to inspire and build on the athletic culture and sport culture. It’s the first of many things that we’re going to do, we have a lot of ideas, and it’s really to provide opportunities to all students, whether they’re a beginner, or if they’re considered elite already.”
There are 13 inductees in the first class including Findlay. Over the course of about two and a half months, 48 names and short bios were submitted through a website as nominations. There were eight categories: athlete, master athlete, team, coach, official, builder, pioneer and special achievement.
A committee of eight people, each with 15 votes, then voted on who they would like to see inducted. Nominees needed five of eight possible votes to be recognized.
“We had four members on the voting committee that work at the school, and then we had four members of the committee that were just from the community,” he said. “So we had somebody represent the municipality of Shawville, we had someone represent the municipality of Clarendon, we had someone represent the municipality of Thorne. And we had Carson Ryan, who is a long time community member that’s well respected.”
Findlay noted that they hope to host the athletic hall of fame every five years, with a maximum of five inductees per class.
When the pandemic dies down, they would like to honour their inductees at the end-of-year athletic banquet.
“Not only would we be honoring our current students for what they did all year long, we’d also honor the induction class for that year.”
As an inductee himself, it comes as no surprise that Findlay has no shortage of athletic experience under his belt.
A native of Bristol and a grad of PHS since 2004, Findlay grew up playing all kinds of sports from volleyball to soccer, basketball and baseball. But his main passion was on the ice playing hockey, which took him on many endeavours after graduating. He played in numerous hockey tournaments, received a four-year NCAA athletic scholarship and won a myriad of awards.
“I moved away right after graduating, so I was gone from 2004 to 2012. Four years of junior hockey, four years of college hockey and then I came home and started coaching while teaching in the city; I juggled both full-time jobs for six years,” he recalled. He later took a leave of absence from teaching and moved to Michigan to coach for a winter. Though he loved the experience there, he couldn’t stay away from the Pontiac when an opportunity called.
“Once the job opportunity came up here, you know, where I went to school, I couldn’t pass it up,” he said. “It’s great. It’s very different for the first little bit, some of those teachers taught me. So it was funny and awkward all the same time. But they’re all great people, and now it’s a breeze, it’s a fun place to go every day.”
Findlay turned to mentoring kids after being inspired by the coaches that helped him in his athletic journey.
“My college coaches had such a big impact on me. They were just great, great people and I really learned the game when I went to college,” he explained. Inspired by them, he recognized his potential strength as a coach himself and jumped into it.
Now at PHS, Findlay is the coach for the Panthers’ hockey, basketball and baseball teams, and was to start up the school’s running club and first ever golf team in the fall, which has been put on hold due to COVID. Outside of school, he has been fundraising for minor hockey in town for the last nine years. While he has had offers to return to coaching hockey, Findlay is looking forward to new paths. He wants to focus on teaching and being at home, as he and his wife Bria are expecting their first child in the summer.
“It’s tough some days to not be doing it any longer at that level that I was at doing it, but you know, those are just life decisions and I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” he said. “I’m expecting a baby and built a home with my wife and you know, [am] focusing on things that are more important. But that love for the game and coaching is always going to be there.”
