The Western Mustangs Athletic Alumni aims to build pride, encourage and promote lifelong connections amongst Western’s athletes, coaches, and staff, as well as help provide a competitive advantage to our current athletes and programs. Read more on how the WMAA became the association they are today below.
The “W” Club
Legendary athletic director and coach at Western, JP Metras, had received W Club mail from Western Michigan where he attended for a semester, and earned an athletic letter. His secretary, June Burr, suggested that he start a W Club at Western. When JP said he was too busy, it was June who sent a letter to all the colour award winners informing them about the plans to form a W Club in 1951.
The “W” Club stands as the first recognized chapter of the University’s Alumni Association. The first official meeting was held at the old Hunt Club, the current place of Westminster College. Jim Farmer would be named the club’s first President.
The “W” Club held a mandate to enhance athletic tradition at Western and support athletics. The club often held events and fundraisers in order to serve these mandates. Notably, the first event was a social, held at the Knotty Pine Restaurant (at Fanshawe and Richmond). As well as, the first official “W” Club golf tournament was held at the Highland Golf & Country Club in 1952. The “W” Club would continue to hold these annual golf tournaments to help fundraise athletics for many decades to come.
Since it’s formation, the “W” Club has put together an impressive list of accomplishments. Some of these accomplishments include raising $250,000 for the refurbishment of JW Little Stadium, establishing the John Metras Bursary and June Burr Bursary, provided funds for the establishment and purchase of equipment for the Bill L’Heureux weight training facility in Thames Hall, as well as many others. The “W” Club also set out to digitize Western’s vintage football films, in order to ensure Western’s heritage was preserved. These films include games dated all the way back to the year 1993.
June Burr was an integral part of Western’s athletic scene for nearly 40 years, including 12 years as Business Manager of Athletics, and 13 years as Manager of the Thompson Recreation and Athletic centre. She was a long-time member of the W Club Advisory Board and was named to the W Club Hall of Fame in 1987.
Women’s Athletic Alumnae
Joan (Breakspear) Hamilton would partner with Helen Luckman in 1987 to form a group to support women’s athletics at Western. This group would be known as the Women’s Athletic Alumnae.
Joan brought the lack of visibility of former women athletes in the W Club Hall of Fame in Alumni Hall to the attention of Helen, former Vice-chair of Intercollegiate Athletics. Together, the women organized a meeting hosted by Joan Pedersen, wife of President George Pedersen, at Gibbons Lodge. More than 20 athletic alumnae attended. The Women’s Athletic Alumnae (WAA) was born. Joan Pederson became the honorary chair and Joan Hamilton the founding president.
To keep alumnae engaged, the Inbounds newsletter was launched in March 1989. It provided news about Women’s teams and athletes and called on all alumnae to submit updates.
Readers were also asked to provide nominations for the Women’s Hall of Fame, which was initially dubbed the WAA Award and later re-named the Elfrida Berzins Award. This award was presented to outstanding female athletic alumnae who paired their athletic success with career success and were positive role models for women in sport. The first recipient in 1989 was basketball player and coach, Pat Laing. Today more than 80 extraordinary women have been honoured.
The many past accomplishments of the WAA include providing financial support for female athletes selected to represent Canada at the FISU World Student Games, hosting special celebrations for women’s teams winning national championships, hosting the Jump Conference in 2007 and 2009 to encourage high school female athletes to stay involved in sport as they move into their post-secondary education, as well as many others.
Western Mustangs Athletic Alumni
After the celebration of 100 years of Mustangs Athletics in 2013-14, Western’s two official athletic alumni chapters, The “W” Club and the Women’s Athletic Alumnae (WAA), joined efforts in support of the next 100 years of Western Mustangs Athletics. This one organization is now known as the Western Mustangs Athletic Alumni.
The Western Mustangs Athletic Alumni aims to build pride and connections amongst Western’s athletes, coaches and staff. The WMAA always stands to uphold the purple and proud tradition and heritage of Mustangs Athletics, and also support and encourage the incredible athletes of today.
In 2017, the WMAA established a Grants Committee which serves to provide support for university-sanctioned Western athletic teams hosting alumni events. In 2018-2019 alone, they have supported track and field, rowing, soccer, basketball, football, wrestling, and more. Together with Sports and Recreation Services, and Western Alumni, Western Mustangs Athletic Alumni aims to support Western’s wide variety of teams and student athletes.
If you would like to read more about Western Mustangs Athletic Alumni, or would like to inquire about programming, click here.
If you would like to follow Western Athletics and sport-specific events, view the full calendar here.