The Canadian Ukrainian Athletic Club (CUAC) was formed in 1925 to promote sports among Ukrainian youth in Winnipeg. Throughout the years, baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, basketball, football and hockey teams competed at various levels in Winnipeg.
The most successful was the Blues senior women’s softball team coached by Shaley that won 22 Manitoba championships and the Canadian title in 1965. Many players grew up in the city’s North End including Softball hall-of-famers Elva (Waslyk) Barkwell and Mary (Goshulak) Hayes. The CUAC home for 45 years was a clubhouse and grounds at Church Avenue and Arlington Street. On Sept. 15, nine individuals with a connection to our province are among the 32 who will be inducted into the Ukrainian Sports Hall of Fame at the Tryzub Ukrainian American Sports Center in Horsham, Pa.
The athletes include Mosienko and Brandon-born goalie and Toronto Maple Leafs star Turk Broda, Blue Bomber great Steve Patrick, former Minnesota Twin Corey Koskie, of Anola, Man.,and Meleschuk and Benito native Ed (The Wrench) Werenich, both world champion curlers.
Evelyn (Wawryshyn) Moroz, who was born in Tyndall, is the only woman among the Manitoba honourees. A softball star with CUAC in the 1940s, she went on to play several seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. An all-around athlete who also competed in track and field, basketball and hockey, Moroz was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. (Incidentally, she, Jim Slevin and Ron Toews are the only individuals inducted into both the provincial baseball and softball halls.)
Myron Zatwarnicki, who was born in Gilbert Plains, will be inducted as a builder. He was a provincial coach in both cross-country skiing and biathlon and coached biathlon in the Ukraine. The University of Manitoba graduate has been involved in basketball, hockey and volleyball and was honoured for his volunteer work in 1987 by the Parkland Sports Association. The educator has retired from the Seven Oaks School Division. Another builder inductee, Mike Burchuk, is best-known for his volleyball career, which included coaching in Selkirk, at the University of Winnipeg — where his women’s team won six consecutive CIAU championships — and in the Summer Olympics. He was also a fine softball player. In 1973, he couldn’t crack the talent-laden Winnipeg Colonels lineup, which won the first Western Major Fastball League championship. So he went to Regina Carlings as a walk-on and proved he had the ability to play at a high level.
The ceremony is the third for the organization. Hockey players Terry Sawchuk, Dale Hawerchuk and Flin Flon-born Eric Nesterenko were inducted in 2017.
The Blossom Boys, a group of fellows who played a variety of sports in a small park on Wellington Crescent, are holding a 65th reunion this week. As part of it, they are inviting friends and River Heights neighbours from the past to a free social at the Corydon Community Centre’s Sir John Franklin site on Sept. 12 (today) from 7-10 p.m. Many of the boys started in organized sports at SJF including Dan Allen, who is one of the organizers. Cliff Pennington, a former NHLer who was probably the group’s top all-around athlete, will be here from Florida.
Memories of Sport appears every second week in the Canstar Community News weeklies. Kent Morgan can be contacted at 204-489-6641 or email: sportsmemories@canstarnews.com T. Kent Morgan T. Kent Morgan Memories of Sport