Hall-of-famer Adams left mark on many

When St. Catharines Collegiate held its 100th anniversary celebration, there was a long line of people waiting to talk to Bob Adams.

The 2024 St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame inductee as a builder and an athlete, who died in September, influenced the lives of thousands during his 30-year career as the head of physical education and a football and rowing coach at St. Catharines Collegiate.

“He was a larger-than-life type figure. He had that presence about him and he could motivate,” said Dan Pepe, who played for Adams in his Grade 9 and 10. “He was a real professional and a gentleman who cared about his players and a lot of guys I played with still think about him as one of the biggest role models in their lives. Some of my closest friends talk about the impact he had on them.”

Pepe, the offensive coordinator for the powerhouse A.N. Myer Marauders senior football team, remembers one season when Collegiate was 0-3 and Lakeport was 0-3 and Adams gave a speech before the two teams were set to square off. Collegiate ended up winning the game.

“I was young and only in Grade 10 but you could see the impact he had with motivation and all that kind of stuff,” he said.

Ron Matsushita coached with Adams for 15 years after coming over to Collegiate from Governor Simcoe. The two had previously known each other because they both had attended Grantham High School.

“He was one of those guys that you really had a lot of respect for both as an athlete — he played football and he also rowed and was an outstanding oarsmen — and he was a really, really nice guy. I always looked up to him and when I went over there he asked me to help him coach,” Matsushita said. “I thought it was fantastic that I was going to get to coach with Bob Adams, who had gone to Springfield College on a football scholarship, and was almost like my idol as an older classmate because he was an outstanding person and athlete.”

Adams mentored Matsushita through his actions and the way he conducted himself.

“He wouldn’t tell you what to do, he would give you responsibility but everybody who helped coached with him kept an eye on him. We would nod our heads with whatever he said or wanted to do,” he said. “He was a very intense, very passionate type of coach and the players knew that and could see that. They respected him because he also really cared for them as well.”

Adams taught Matsushita a passion for the game and to be passionate as a coach but at the same time making sure that the players knew you respected them as individuals and young men as well.

Adams was not an Xs and Os type of coach and was good at delegating to the excellent coaches he surrounded himself with such as Bill Goodwin.

“Bill would be the Xs and Os guy and Bob would provide that leadership and give the final stamp of approval,” he said. “I remember a few times where we would be in a situation in a game against teams like Sir Winston Churchill and DM and Bill as the offensive coordinator would be calling pass plays and the high-tempo type game. A few times it wasn’t working and I remember Bob saying ‘Just run it down their throat.’ It was like ‘Yes sir.’ We would go back to the fundamentals and just run that ball right at them.”

Matsushita has many memories of coaching with Adams.

“I can’t think of any one thing highlight but it was that intensely passionate type of individual when it was game time. Both players and fellow coaches would keep to the side and not avoid him but you kinda understood that he was ready for the game and you just waited for whatever instructions he wanted to give you.”

Adams also had an illustrious career as an athlete, particularly on the water. In 1959, he won Canadian Henley gold in the junior eight and coxed four and was named Oarsman of the Year. One year later, he was the youngest Canadian athlete at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, competing for Canada in the men’s straight four. He won Canadian Henley gold in the senior men’s eight in 1961 and 1962 and the open eight quarter-mile dash in 1961 before heading to Springfield in 1962.

Adams was a member of the Ridley Graduate Boat Club for more than 20 years and was responsible for fund-raising. He started the club’s successful bingo program that raised thousands of dollars for the club.

Also being inducted Wednesday at the ceremony at the Meridian Centre are Walt Oprzedek, Andy Van Ruyven, Carole Price, F.F. (Ted) Nelson and Bobby McLaren.

The ceremony starts at 5:30 p.m. followed by a reception and cash bar.