Steve Mitchell retires, picked for Speirs

Retiring Athletic Director Steve Mitchell will receive the 2011 Speirs Medal, it was announced June 22. Steve will receive the school’s highest honour at Founder’s Day on November 24.

Steve officially retires from Selwyn House on December 31, 2011. Mike Maurovich will take over the position of Athletic Director at Selwyn House as of July 1. Steve will remain at the school until the end of the calendar year to help Mr. Maurovich with the transition into his new position.

Ironically, when Steve Mitchell applied to teach phys-ed at Selwyn House in 1984, he was not sure he had made the right move. The entire school was crammed into the Lucas Building, the school administration was in a state of flux, the senior phys-ed program was average at best, and the talent pool of athletes was a fraction of what he had at his previous job.

Still, he saw a chance to make a difference at Selwyn House, and he certainly has. Steve retired as Athletic Director at the end of the 2010-2011 school year, but will stay on until December 31 to assist the new AD, Mike Maurovich, with the transition.

Born in Sherbrooke in 1953, Steve attended public schools in Lennoxville before moving to Stanstead College for Grade 8. He went to CEGEP at Champlain College on the Bishop’s University campus, which allowed him to play football and hockey at the university level for three years. “I got to play with Larry Smith, later president of the Alouettes, and some of the other guys who went on to play pro football,” Steve recalls.

“I was really uncertain when I was at Bishop’s what I wanted to do,” Steve admits. “My wife, Sheila, (also a phys-ed teacher) encouraged me to go into athletics. I had always had an urge to be a biologist or game warden or something of that nature, because I like the outdoors. But I guess it was easy for me to go into athletics.”

Steve studied phys-ed at McGill, graduating in 1977 and immediately landing a job at
Centennial Regional High School in Greenfield Park, where he coached until the spring of ’84. “I had a good thing going at Centennial,” Steve says, but eventually he decided to make a move. “Selwyn House seemed to have the resources,” he says. “Half my job at Centennial had been raising money for athletics.”

When Steve arrived at SHS, Juvenile Hockey had one hour per week at CSL arena. He told then-AD Pierre Beauchamp he needed three 90-minute blocks per week for Juvenile, Bantam and Peewee. And he got it, along with new ice rental at Verdun Arena.

At Selwyn House, the talent pool for Juvenile hockey was nowhere near the 60 to 70 kids Steve had had at CRHS. “Here, everyone who tried out for the team made it,” he says. “It was pretty thin.”

“So I went from a team that was 32 and 8 to a team that won four games out of 30.”

But Steve didn’t take long in turning things around that first season. “I think we only won three or four games that year. But in February we beat Lindsay Place, who were second or third in our division and had beaten the hell out of us earlier. That made our season.”

After seven years teaching phys-ed and coaching, Steve became Athletic Director when Pierre Beauchamp moved on to Dawson College.

The athletic program at Selwyn House today bears Steve’s stamp. He maintained the school’s hours of high-school phys-ed through a decade when most schools were cutting back, and increased the choices of phys-ed activities from 12 to 30. He oversaw the construction of the state-of-the-art gymnasium in the new Speirs Building, increased the school’s access to off-campus facilities to include 18 rented sites, and insisted on having two coaches on duty at all times for all contact sports.

Steve’s dedication to athletic excellence has been passed on to his sons. Josh 2000 now teaches phys-ed and coaches hockey at Heritage High School in St. Lambert. Torrey 2002 just completed his fourth season with the San Jose Sharks of the NHL, and was recently inducted into the Selwyn House Athletic Hall of Fame.

After coaching 1,200 hockey games and 200 football games, does Steve have a favourite team of all time? At the 2011 Athletic Banquet in May, Steve said, “Yes, I do have a best team, the best team I have been ever associated with.” And he proceeded to name his phys-ed teaching staff: Marty Boyle, Steve Colwell, Pete Govan, Mike Maurovich, Jean Pruneau and Alfie Paoletti. “Having the opportunity to work at this institution and with the members of the Athletic Department has enriched my life beyond measure.”

“Of course,” he added, “this is only second to my family: Torrey, Josh and Sheila.”

“I expect the Athletic Department will grow and build on the standards already in place.”