It wasn’t that Stan Stewardson’s life revolved around sports, but more so that sports revolved around the New Westminster native.
A member of Lester Pearson High’s B.C. boys basketball champions, Stewardson scouted and received offers to play pro baseball, would embrace the role of high school teacher and coach, go on to a lengthy and successful record piloting Simon Fraser University’s men’s basketball team, and gave of his time and passion for the lessons that sports taught.
In an emergency, he also traded his ‘Dad’ hat for that of coach with the New West junior Salmonbellies, resulting in a remarkable championship.
Stewardson, who impacted so many lives positively, passed away Oct. 26, one day before his 79th birthday.
“I attribute much of the successes I’ve had in life to his teaching and inspiration,” remarked Burnaby RCMP Staff Sgt. Maj. John Buis. “Once you played for Stan, you were a friend for life.”
Although he confessed at one time that he got into teaching for the coaching opportunities, he continuously imparted new ideas and strategies with the passion of a sports version of Aristotle.
And when a serious health issue put a New West lacrosse team’s season in peril, Stewardson stepped forward and offered his ideas, time and experience. The end result was one of the greatest season turnarounds in junior A lacrosse history.
After head coach Ernie Truant suffered a cardiac arrest midway through the 1994 season, Stewardson – to that point just a father cheering on his son’s team -- joined up with offensive coordinator Steve Van Os and steered the squad towards a magical Minto Cup championship.
“We were struggling and really young,” recalled Rob Buchan, at then was a 19-year-old second-year player. “We had some really good veterans but for whatever reason we struggled, like 1-4 to start the year. The boys really liked Ernie and were shocked when (he got sick). Nobody was happy with how things were going.
“Stan stepped in and changed a lot of things around. He taught us a press-zone defence, like a basketball defence, that I don’t think anyone played back then (in lacrosse). It worked.”
After a regular season where they scrambled to get near .500, the New West players slowly got stronger and stronger playing the system. The ’Bellies, who were captained by Stewardson’s son Kevin, caught fire in the playoffs to upset regular season champion Coquitlam and defeated Brampton in seven games at Queen’s Park for its first national title in 34 years.
It made up for the one Minto that got away. As an 18-year-old and in his one season with the junior ‘Bellies, Stewardson starred on a team that ventured all the way to the national final, only to fall to Brampton in the ’59 final.
“I think the most important thing was (Stewardson) got the most out of everyone, put people in places they could succeed in. He worked with every single guy and got everybody to buy in,” said Buchan.
Stewardson coached the North Delta Huskies boys basketball squad for 10 years. From 1971 to 1973 they were a perennial power, making it to two consecutive finals (winning it all in ’71) and a third-place finish. Buis, a player during that three-year span, said when it came to preparation, Stewardson was an innovator. A follower of U.S. college coaching icon Bobby Knight, the Huskies bench boss used video tape as a coaching tool in 1969, and began positive imagery with his players around the same time.
“He loved to travel and took his teams to a lot of different places,” recalled Buis. “We’d travel by plane, which very few high school teams did, to places like England (in ’73), Santa Rosa, Cal., and Penticton.”
His players arrived to their games wearing dress slacks and team blazers, to invoke both a “ready to work” attitude and an aura for the opposition to see. The biggest element was a system that revolved around believing in themselves.
So many of those players took that fire Stewardson gave them and became coaches and volunteers themselves. Guys like Bill Edwards, Stu Graham, Tyler Kushnir, Mike McNeill and SFU’s Jay Triano, to name a few. McNeill, a star guard at both North Delta and SFU for Stewardson, would go on to coach both the men's and women's Clan teams, and continue that pursuit right up to the national program.
Triano was Stewardson's star recruit to Burnaby Mountain in '77 and went on to play 11 years with the national program. He was an assistant coach under Stewardson during the latter's second tour of duty at SFU, and went on to coach the Canadian national team, Toronto Raptors and currently the Phoenix Suns of the NBA.
Buis, who used the lessons learned from the straight-shooting skipper, served more than 40 years with the B.C. high school boys provincial committee, as well as a nine-year stint as president of Basketball B.C. He said the guidance from Stewardson started a lot of players on the right track.
“I’ve got a phrase for Stan – he was a coach, a mentor and a friend. He did a lot for me over the years, not just in basketball.”
Buis noted that while he was in hospital recovering from surgery just two weeks ago, Stewardson came to visit. After having survived a couple battles with cancer himself, the New West resident made sure to offer his encouragement and support when his friends needed it most. The annual birthday cards and phone calls at important moments were always memorable.
“He was always there for you, even when it wasn’t possible,” said Buis. “When I took on some big challenges, like the Cops for Cancer ride, no matter what, I could hear his voice in my mind, encouraging me.”
Basketball and lacrosse were just two of the many sports he played as a youth.
At 12, he picked up the bat and glove when some community leaders launched Little League Baseball in New West. It became one of his favourite sports, as he eventually rose to be an all-star in the Northwest semi-pro league. He would later decline pro offers, including one from the New York Mets, to focus on getting his teaching degree.
Teaching was a profession where his skills and passion intersected. In interviews he credited New West teacher/coach Bill Kushnir for sparking that inspiration. A summer job, which saw Stewardson pour cement for Kushnir’s driveway, gave him a chance to hear more insight from the legendary football coach, who has a high school challenge cup – in a game between New West and South Delta – named for him. Along with Ken Winslade and Al Thiessen, Stewardson oversaw a city rec hoop program for 10 to 13 year olds, whetting his appetite for coaching.
While he starred at UBC as a soccer player and baseball, his interests in coaching drew him to the hoop game, saying it was a bigger challenge than the other sports.
“Coaching was more important than the basketball,” Stewardson told Grant Granger of the Burnaby Newsleader in 2009.
He began his teaching career in Rossland, then returned to the Lower Mainland to teach and coach at North Delta for 10 years. An invitation to join the Simon Fraser University men’s hoop coaching staff led him up Burnaby Mountain, where he assumed the head coaching duties in 1975. During nine seasons over two separate terms, he produced some of the strongest teams in SFU history, coaching 11 players who went on to play for the national men’s program and 16 who played pro basketball. Among those were Canadian hero Terry Fox and NBA coach Triano.
The sum of those years with the Clan was a 149-131 winning record, but the total benefits will be reaped for years to come, SFU senior director of athletics and recreation Theresa Hanson said.
"The real worth of a coach isn't found on a scoresheet or in the win-loss column, rather it is measured by the impact they made on the game and most importantly, in their athletes' lives," Hanson said in a statement. "The positive difference Stan made in his athletes lives was simply immeasurable. Today is a sad day, and the end of an era in many ways. But we – all of us at SFU – are the lucky ones for the lessons and legacy he leaves behind."
Buchan said when it came to building a team, he’d asked Stewardson some questions about the best strategy.
“We’d talk and I’d ask him about the (Western Lacrosse Association) draft, who should we take,” recalled Buchan, who is part-owner of the Langley Thunder. “He always said if the choices are equal, always go with the stronger defender. You build with defence.”
In 1996, he penned an autobiography titled Lucky Me. In it he said while ‘nice’ wasn’t a word he’d use to describe himself or his coaching skills, the terms ‘controversial’ and ‘different’ painted a more accurate picture. “My goal for my athletes was to better equip them for the game of life,” he wrote.
Stewardson was inducted into the Basketball B.C. Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. He is survived by wife Heather, daughter Shannon and sons Kiki and Kevin.
A public Tribute to Stan Stewardson will occur on Nov. 18, at 2 to 5 p.m. in NWSS’ Pearson gym.
