Miller Time for St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame
Bob the Builder will be inducted Wednesday into the St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame.
Bob Miller will be recognized for his long-time involvement with the St. Catharines CYO Basketball Rebels, starting in 1992 when he was a founding member along with high school coach Brian Finora and his law partner Ron Brady. He was the Rebels president for more than 20 years and spent pretty much every Saturday for 25 years in a gym from October to March, serving as a convenor and volunteer referee. He also coached several boys and girls select squads, including head coach of the 1996 atom boys Ontario A champions and as assistant coach of the All-Ontario bronze-winning team the following year.
“You do this because you love it,” said the former winner of the Jack Gatecliff and Jimmy Rose awards. “For me, I loved kids, I loved sports and I was a litigation lawyer for 38 years. It was a grind and it was a therapeutic interlude doing this and running this program. The guys that I started with were great and the whole program was Brian Finora’s brainchild but in terms of carrying it on, I enjoyed it so much. Even when my own kids left, I really wanted to carry on with it and I did.”
The 1999 finalist for the St Catharines Citizen of the Year Award cut his organizational teeth running an adult hockey league in Thorold for many years with his brother-in-law (Ralph Carmichael).
“I had the experience of doing it and I look at these things (hall of fame induction) as kind of a bonus. You do something you really like to do and I have so many people who come up to me. They all know who I am but I don’t know who they are. That’s a great thank you as well.”
Getting into the St. Catharines sports hall of fame is about the biggest thank you of all.
“I have to say that I looked at the wall a couple of times and thought about it because I go to the IceDogs games. I’ve thought ‘Boy that is great for those people’ and it’s wonderful for me now that I will be one of them.”
He couldn’t have done it without the work and dedication of hundreds and hundreds of volunteer coaches, convenors, game officials, concession operators and others.
Miller’s wife, Cathy Carmichael, played a big role in the organization.
“She did the original accounting, buying things for concessions, phone calls, mailings, all that stuff you had to do. There was no computer and it was licking 600 envelopes and sending them out every year.”
He also thanked his kids, Geordie, Kate and Greg, for their patient support.
“It was time consuming to be in the law profession and then I was spending so much time on basketball. The support I got at home for all of this was incredible. I would be gone for a lot of the week and then I was gone on Saturdays, even coaching select teams my kid wasn’t on, and travelling.”
Serving his community has been a big part of Miller’s life.
“My father (Gordon) grew up in this community and he went off to fight in World War Two, became a lawyer and ended up with the Canadian Pacific Railway. I didn’t grow up here but it was always like my second home. My grandmother lived here, my dad grew up on Queen Street and went to Collegiate, and my uncle was a lawyer here. When I came back in 1977 to be a lawyer, I was really into the community.
“Giving back to this community was really quite special. I don’t think there is anything that gives you as much satisfaction as volunteer work that is appreciated and meaningful to people.”
That is especially true of CYO basketball.
“Over the years, we have had thousands of kids and thousands of parents who benefitted and hundreds of coaches. All those people I got to know was a fantastic reward.”
For more than 31 years, CYO basketball has operated house leagues for boys and girls ages 6-17 and also select travel teams. More recently, it has expanded to offer a wildly popular Junior NBA program, providing skill development for four- and five-year old children. CYO Rebels has mentored thousands of young players through a program focusing on skill development, teamwork, sportsmanship, self-discipline and fun.
Miller’s favourite part of CYO basketball was its house leagues.
“I saw what it meant to a kid. I loved to see a kid who would never have made a high school basketball team but for playing house league. High school basketball used to be the football season would end and all the jocks would come into the gym and play basketball. That’s what it was. We created a youth community program for basketball and now you had that kid who would never even think of going out for a high school team. Probably all the football players are the starters but that kid is the seventh or eighth kid on the bench, he’s the third guy in the game and he makes the team. It’s such a great motivator for kids and it is such great way to get through high school. Particularly for boys, I don’t think the education is their highest priority. Being on a sports team is a tremendous boost.”
Miller’s involvement in the community goes way beyond just basketball. He served as president of the Lincoln Law Association, president of St. Catharines and Thorold Big Brothers, Big Sisters, was one of the founders and the long-time chair of the Alzheimer Society’s Niagara Foundation and serves on the FACS Niagara board.
“All of that is very important. I don’t really understand why people don’t do that even if it is one thing. It is so easy to do and it is the most rewarding thing. Find something you are good at and you can make a contribution to. It’s a must.”
His volunteer spirit came from his parents. His father led the Cub Scouts organization in his Toronto neighbourhood and his mom, Margaret, was involved in volunteer activities her entire life.
“I had a good grounding in that from home.”
Also being inducted Wednesday are rower Clayton Brown, bowler Don Betts, hockey player Mike Iggulden and rower Jane Stamp. The ceremony at the Meridian Centre starts at 5:30 p.m.
