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Warriors still going strong at 50 I t all started with one sport - bas- ketball. Fifty years later, the University of Waterloo athletics department features more than 30 men's and women's teams in sports ranging from badminton to volleyball. And it's celebrating its 50th anniversary this weekend. It's had Ontario champions in sports as varied as field hockey to football. It's also had national championships in sports like cross-country running, swimming and diving. But its beginnings were a lot more humble than that, said the school's fsrst athletic director, Carl Tome. And he's amazed at how far the program has come since it rtrst started in 1957. It began with the idea of an engineering school that later became one of the world's most renowned universities. Totzke had a hand in develop- ing that reputation, serving as the school's athletic director for more than 30 years. But while success came later, it was a little harder to find in the 1950s. University of Waterloo celebrates half-century of athletics this weekend Canadian university sport was waterl_09 mattress 31(80st w,“ ..- _ iMijiii) -s,lt,l, l _,,i,t" :,'i,i,':.,_ii,iili't,,',s, Chronicle Staff 282 MARSLAND DRIVE. 519103729 vvwwwaterloomattresrca LOCALU Members of the University of Waterloo men's football team's coaching staff. including the school's first athletic director Carl Totzke. moms (MWSVO‘ mammal dominated by the big four back said Totzke. "In trying to arrange phases of studying for the priest- then - the University of Toronto, any kind of athletic schedule you hood. That qualified them to play the University of Western Ontario, had to be very careful that you did- for the new school. Queen's University and McGill. nt get blown out." And some of those early players And the price of admission to join Football was the big draw back were brilliant, especially Willy that elite club was to field teams in then. It was the prestigious sport in = - -. most ofthe major sports, including Canadian university sport, but Li' ' i1 Ile., basketball, hockey and football. there was no waya successful foot- , " x" ‘ F 1; . Q.‘ grail "We were the élso-rans and not given very much consideration," Members of the 1965 cheerleading team get the crowd going, OWNED SPORTS Football was the big draw back then. It was the prestigious sport in Canadian university sport, but there was no way a successful foot- ball program was going to materi- alize out of thin air for Ontario's newest university. That changed when Gerry Hagey took over the reins of the fledgling school and brought up the academic standards and expectations for Waterloo. He wanted to make it a leader in tech- nical and engineering education, and helped found the world- renowned co-op education model of higher education. said Totzke. "In trying to arrange any kind of athletic schedule you had to be very careful that you did- n't get blown out." That higher standard was also applied to athletics. And that stan- dard of drawing the best student- athletes has always stuck with the University ofWatedoo. But that made it a challenge to recruit top athletes back then, said Totzke, It's a familiar refrain still heard at the school today. Fortunately, St. Ierome's College was taking international students back then. including a number of us, basketball players in the early A special guest joins the famous Waterioo Warriors band in this I966 photo WATERLOO CHRONICLE "Wednesday lune 20. 2007 . a -Gakvuwotertoo.eon, Jones. He would pour in 20 or 30 points a game, which was unheard of back then when most games' final scores ended up in the 30s. "In the early going, Waterloo gained its reputation in basketball prowess," said Totzke. "That was mainly due to the intensive Latin students at St. Jerome's College. "We had access to these Ameri. cans and we almost immediately established a basketball dynasty. "That earned us our entry into the various leagues that were around, and that's how we evolved our program." That dynasty would carry through to the 1970s, when the Warriors won a title under Don McCrae in 1975. And the sports spotlight has changed since then with the explo- sion in sports. The newest varsity sport is women's hockey, which was just getting started as a sport when Tomke retired in the 1980s. He's proud that he was able to broaden the scope of sports at Waterloo and help it field some of the teams the school fields today. “I'm absolutely amazed," Said Totzke. "When people locally think CLICK Hm W In t Uethtd M firs VolNWEWE'Q' i omtinuedoopaee33