Fred began his sports career coached by Ted Morgan on the Lower School soccer team. By his final season, the team was outstanding, going undefeated with only one tie. Fred tried his hand at a number of sports, including hockey, cricket, Under 16 football—one year he even made it to the boxing finals, recalling it was “only to have Ross Dunsmore kick the beejeebers out of me."
By the time he left Ridley to attend Bishop’s University, Fred had given up boxing in favour of soccer and hockey. He played four years of Varsity soccer, never winning a championship but enjoying great camaraderie. For three years, he was a top-scoring member of Bishop’s Junior Varsity hockey team.
In 1975, as a young professional in Edmonton, Fred was fondly recalling Tuesday night shinny at Ridley, so he organized ice time for his coworkers. Interest spread throughout the business community, so Fred decided to run a tournament, organizing it down to every last detail. “I even had to buy a used trophy, strip the engravings and re-plaque it for the tournament winner,” he laughs.
Fred's belief in the power of sport to build community is evident in his creation of the Western Canada Hockey Tournament. Though he has since moved on, the tournament continues to this day, rotating between cities in Western Canada.