— Submitted photo
By 2nd Liet. Kirk Sullivan
Special to the Star
A young boy in a small Canadian town gathers his hockey equipment and sets out for the local arena. He dreams about playing for the Montréal Canadiens. He dreams about playing hockey forever.
It’s a familiar scene for many Canadians, but for Warrant Officer Wade Sutton, the local arena was one of three small ponds in Burgeo.
Despite not playing an organized game or skating on an indoor rink until he was a private in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Sutton was recently inducted into the Canadian Armed Forces Sports Hall of Fame.
His hometown of Burgeo, a fishing village on the south coast of Newfoundland, didn’t have an indoor skating rink during his youth. Additionally, because the coastal climate wreaked havoc on the ponds’ skating surfaces, Sutton and his friends had limited time to play the game they loved.
“We turned a frozen piece of ice into some great memories. The game was my life,” said Sutton of those rare opportunities.
In an age when young athletes have access to modern facilities on a daily basis, stories like this one are rare.
In the late 1980s, looking for an education without burdening his parents with the cost, Sutton found an opportunity in the Forces. He enrolled in 1988 as an instrumental electrical technician and began his training. It also marked the first time the young man skated indoors and played an organized hockey game. He was 19 years old.
“There wasn't an opportunity to play minor hockey in my hometown,” said Sutton. “It was a small little fishing community with around 1,500 people and no indoor rink. I joined the military in 1988 and I have been playing ever since.”
Sutton molded those golden moments on a Newfoundland pond into a remarkable career that includes more than 30 national championships, an astonishing 31 most valuable player awards and 24 all-star team nominations. For his accomplishments, he was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2013 Canadian Air Force Sports Awards Ceremony in Ottawa.
It is a moment he will always remember.
“I have had an excellent 26-year career with lots of great events over the years and I wouldn't change a thing, but being inducted in the (Hall Of Fame) was the most amazing event I could ever experience. It will be a moment me and my family will cherish forever,” said Sutton.
In 1988 the Canadian Forces Sports Program, a responsibility of Director of Physical Education, Recreation and Ammenities, introduced a young Sutton to organized hockey and allowed his athletic ability to blossom.
Today the sports program, which is now a part of Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services, offers members intramural competition, between units at bases, wings and other establishments, and extramural competition, between bases and wings on a regional and national level.
Jessica Witoslawski, national sports co-ordinator, points to the value of such a program to military members like Sutton.
“Providing them with the opportunity to play, even when they are overseas, enhances their overall welfare and well-being,” she said. “It enhances the morale and welfare of the (military) community and contributes to the operational readiness and effectiveness of the Canadian Armed Forces.”
Sutton also acknowledges the potential of military sports to improve members, units and the Canadian Armed Forces in general.
“I believe that personnel who participate in sports are highly motivated and have greater social skills, an increased ability to deal with stress and a better overall well-being,” he said. “It’s good for the mind, body and soul.”
The Hall of Famer credits his role as a leader on base sports teams with complementing his military career.
“A sports team has leaders who try their best to motivate, influence and enable other members of the team to work effectively towards a common goal,” said the amicable Sutton.
“I feel that I could get the most out of my teammates with a motivational speech or by leading by example.”
He’s currently an engineering and project supervisor at Canadian Forces Base Shearwater in Nova Scotia responsible for providing prompt and accurate technical support to the CH124 Sea King fleet and ensuring aircraft are available in the optimum configuration to fulfill the mission.
“I have the same work ethic at work as on the ice,” Sutton said.
The 44-year-old is still an integral leader of the CFB Shearwater Flyers ice hockey team and lives by the George Bernard Shaw quote: “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
The ice of the Shearwater Flyers Forum has long since replaced the ponds of his hometown and there, while skating with his teammates and fellow Forces members, this man still dreams of playing hockey forever.
