Sports Hall welcomes coach, linesman into Class of 2018

November 9, 2018 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte

For the first time in two years, the Aurora Sports Hall of Fame is welcoming new members for their contributions on the other side of the whiteboards and whistles.
And rightly so, given the long and storied careers of basketball coach Robert Bain and NHL linesman Loring Doolittle.
Mr. Bain enters the Hall as the longest-serving head coach in the history of the York Univesity Yeomen, leading the varsity basketball squad through 38 seasons. During his tenure at York, Bain led the Yeomen to 11 first-place finishes in the OUA East Division and six conference championships (1978, 1980-82, 1984-85), and he also took his team to the CIAU national championships eight times, winning bronze medals in 1978 and 1979.
He was twice named the national coach of the year and was a nine-time conference coach of the year award winner.
Outside of his work on the sidelines, Bain has made plenty of contribution to helping others work the whiteboard: an Ontario representative in the development of the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP), he was largely involved in the writing of Levels 1, 2 and 3 of the program.
The induction is the second such honour for Mr. Bain in just over two years, inducted into the York University Sport Hall of Fame in September of 2016.
While Mr. Bain’s contributions came from the sidelines, the late Mr. Doolittle’s came from right in the centre of the action, as a lineseman in the NHL in the 1960s.
As the main stopping force of the regular fisticuffs of the old order of hockey, perhaps Mr. Doolittle’s most famous moment came after a heated game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens in 1960, when after 21 penalties were called in a brawler, noted Toronto manager Punch Imlach claimed that Doolittle along with referee Frank Udvari and fellow linesmen George Hayes “should have been picked as the three stars of the game.”
Despite the remarks from the always-heated Imlach, Mr. Doolittle’s career in the NHL was long-lasting, while his stellar officiating also took him to the baseball world in the form of an umpire for Baseball USA. He passed away in 1997, a lifelong Aurora resident.
Joining Mr. Bain and Mr. Doolittle in this year’s induction class is a pair headed into the “athletes” category, in celebrated Ironman competitor Paolina Allan as well as former professional golfer David Morland IV.
These inductees join 25 Honoured Members in the Aurora Sports Hall of Fame, comprised of 14 athletes, three coaches, seven builders and one member of the media.
Held annually at St. Andrew’s College, the ASHoF Induction dinner is one of the most spectacular nights of the year in the Aurora sports community. This year’s dinner will be held this Thursday, and more information can be found at www.aurorashof.ca.