Category: Team

Seven Prince Albert bowlers ‑ four men and three women ‑ along with their coach captured the Canadian Five‑Pin Mixed Bowling Championship in 1983.

Rosemary Bear, Shelley Plummer (Mathiason), Patricia Gaudet, Wayne Akers, Don Hlewka Jr., Bill Miller and Doug Primeau, coached by Lloyd Whitehead, took the national title in a competition at Thunder Bay, Ontario. The performance by the Prince Albert team helped Saskatchewan capture the overall tile at the Championship.

The Prince Albert Mixed Team took the gold by accumulating 87 points, five better than second place Manitoba. Bear sparked the Prince Albertans to victory with a 262 average, including a team high 340 single, while earning a spot on the Women’s All‑star Team. That team later competed at an international event in Toronto.

Hlewka topped the Prince Albert team with a 269 average including a 321 single while Miller rolled a 329 en route to a 263 average. Akers had a single of 321 and an average of 245.

Whitehead brought bowling experience from 1974 to the team, including a World Men’s Classic Singles Championship in 1975 at Calgary. He turned his attention to coaching in 1978, becoming registered with the Masters Bowling Association. He achieved Level 1 Coaching Certification in 1980 and became a certified lane agent for the Saskatchewan Five‑Pin Bowlers Association in 1982.

He coached at the youth level for more than 10 years and managed many local teams at provincial roll offs and Saskatchewan teams at national competitions.

A special recognition from his peers came with the Kay McKenzie‑Eileen Boulding Memorial Trophy in 1976.

Rosemary Bear’s bowling accomplishments include representing the Prince Albert Zone 12 times in further competitions.

Shelly Plummer’s bowling career began at the Youth Bowling Council level, as she represented Prince Albert in numerous provincial events. In 1975, she earned a bronze in National Single Competition for her age group and in 1979 was a National Youth Champion in the Pepsi‑Cola finals. In 1980, she finished fourth in National Singles Bowling Competition.

Patricia Gaudet represented Prince Albert at many Western Canadian Bowling Championships.

Wayne Akers represented the Prince Albert zone in provincial competition on 16 occasions ‑ 15 times with men’s teams and once with the mixed team. He was a Provincial Singles champion and went to the Canadian Championship in 1977, where he was chosen for the National All‑star Team. In 1978, Akers was part of the Prince Albert Men’s team which won the World Championship (that team was inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1990). Other appearances at National Championships included 1979 and 1981 with the provincial men’s team.

In 1990 while bowling at the Saskatchewan Open Championships he rolled a perfect 450 single, winning a $5,000 cash prize. He received the Kay McKenzie‑Eileen Boulding Memorial Trophy in 1982.

Don Hlewka Jr., began more than two decades of bowling at the YBC level. He competed at the provincial level every year though YBC, earning a silver medal in 1975 in Bantam Singles competition. In 1982, he went to the National Championship, as a member of the Senior Boys Team. Also in 1982, Hlewka was a Saskatchewan Winter Games Gold Medallist. In 1987, he qualified to be on the Saskatchewan Master’s Team to the Canadian Championships.

Another bowling accomplishment for Hlewka came in 1985 when he was a member of the Prince Albert Men’s Team which set a single game pinfall record of 1,616. Other members of that team were Akers, Doug Primeau, Brian Falconer and Daryl Primeau.

Since 1983, he has also coached and taken two teams to National Championships.

Bill Miller has been a strong bowling competitor since starting the sport in 1949. He has represented the Prince Albert zone 27 times in higher levels of competition. Miller was also part of the 1978 Prince Albert Men’s Team which captured the World Championship. He also was on men’s teams at the National Championships in 1979 and 1981.

Miller received the Kay McKenzie‑Eileen Boulding Memorial Trophy in 1986. He was made a Life Member of the Prince Albert Five‑Pin Bowlers Association in 1989.

Doug Primeau participated in five‑pin bowling for more than 30 years. Beginning in YBC where he was the Provincial Boy’s Champion in 1965 and 1966. He moved through the ranks to represent Prince Albert at 13 different Provincial Championships. A member of the 1978 World Champion Men’s Bowling Team, he competed at the 1979 National Championship as well.

Primeau received the Kay McKenzie‑Eileen Boulding Memorial Trophy in 1988.

Inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.

A team which was formed in 1966 when there was no women’s softball in Prince Albert culminated with a Western Canadian championship in 1978.

Originally known as the Key Realettes, the team tasted success immediately winning the provincial Commercial Division championship that year.

It was the start of a string through to 1982 where the team either won a provincial title or was runner‑up. The Realettes repeated as provincial Commercial champions in 1967 and was runner up the next year before moving up to the Senior B Division. That level of ball did not deter the Realettes, who won the Saskatchewan title in 1969. The club became the Browne Motor Dusters in 1970 and finished second in Senior B play that year. The 1971 season saw the Dusters finish as the runner‑up in the Commercial Division. That was followed by four straight championships from 1972 through 1975 ‑ Senior B in 1972 and Commercial 1973‑74‑75. After finishing as the runner‑up in Commercial play in 1976 and winning the Senior C championship in 1977, the Dusters again moved to the Senior B level in 1978.

After capturing the 1978 Saskatchewan Senior B championship, the Dusters journeyed to Medicine Hat, Alberta for the Western Canadian championship. There against competition from British Columbia, Manitoba, Alberta, Yukon and the Northwest Territories, the Browne Motors team triumphed. The Western Canadian championship was a particular highlight for seven team members who were with the team in its formative years and were still with the team in 1978.

The Dusters continued to be highly competitive following their Western Canadian championship, finishing as runner‑up in Senior B provincial from 1979 through 1982.

Inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

A world championship is the best there is at any level of sport and the 1978 men’s five-pin bowling team from Prince Albert achieved that.

The six‑man team of Wayne Akers, Brian Falconer, Bill Miller, Doug Primeau, Manny Primeau and coach Murray Kyle has individual and team accomplishments which make it read like a ”Who’s Who” of five‑ pin bowling. Besides winning the world championship at Thunder Bay, Ontario, in 1978, the highly experienced team won the Saskatchewan title three times ‑ 1978,1979 and 1981.

Five team members ‑ the Primeau brothers and Akers, Miller and Falconer – combined to set an all‑time Saskatchewan men’s single game record of 1,616 an average of 323 per bowler.

Such accomplishments are common to these bowlers who average more than 30 years of bowling activity. Akers rolled 448 scores twice (450 is a perfect game). Falconer bowled three-game totals of more than 1,000 seven times and Miller, during a span of 29 years reached the provincial championship 27 times.

Beyond competing, members of this team have contributed to the development of bowling by coaching Youth Bowling Council teams, including at the national championship level.

Inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

The Prince Albert 0pti-Mrs. dominated girls softball in the province from the mid 1960’s through to the early 1970’s. During that period the Opti-Mrs. won six Saskatchewan championships and finished second twice.

Formed in 1965 as a Pee Wee Division team, the Opti‑Mrs. immediately began a string of four straight provincial championships. The 1965clubwas managed and coached by Ev Ellison with the assistance of Pete Hayduk. The next season Al Olson became coach while Ellison managed, a combination which remained intact through 1972. The Opti‑Mrs. repeated as Saskatchewan Pee Wee Division champions in 1966 and then took the Bantam titles in both 1967 and 1968 before advancing to the Midget Division in 1969. That year saw the team’s provincial championship string end at four straight, losing the Saskatchewan title to a Saskatoon team.

The 1970 Opti‑Mrs. had a season which featured a great deal of travel. That travel was culminated by the provincial finals in Regina where the Opti‑Mrs. captured the Saskatchewan Midget Division championship. The club repeated as provincial champions in 1971 ‑ winning the Junior Division ‑ and then finished second at that level in 1972. During the period of 1965‑72, the Opti‑Mrs. won eight city and eight zone championships to go with their six Saskatchewan titles.

Inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

The Prince Albert City Football Club was formed in 1907. They were provincial champions, winning the Saskatchewan Shield, on seven occasions – 1910, ’13, ’14, ’20, ’25, ’29, ’33 – and were runners-up in 1922, ’23, 34. In 1933, the Prince Albert City Reds became western champions defeating Winnipeg Irish and then Calgary CPR. In the national final they played three games against the Toronto Scottish, losing 2-1 in the final game.

In 1934, the Reds again reached the national final by defeating New Westminster Royals and Winnipeg United Weston for the western championship. In the Canadian final their opponents were Montreal Verdun Park and in another very close three-game contest the Reds lost the national championship by just one goal, by a 2-1 score in the final game.

The Prince Albert City Football Club was installed in the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame on June 11, 1983.

Inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.

In May 1977 the Prince Albert Raiders won the Centennial Cup for the first time. To reach the national championship they had captured the Saskatchewan title and won the Abbott Cup, emblematic of the top Tier 2 junior hockey team in Western Canada.

The well‑disciplined Raider team took the Centennial Cup after a four‑game sweep against the Pembroke, Ontario Lumber Kings.

Two years later the Raiders captured the cup again. In a round‑robin format, instead of the traditional best‑of‑seven series between east and west, Prince Albert came up against teams from Guelph, Ontario and Prince Edward Island. In the final game the Raiders scored an overtime victory against the Sherwood Parkdale P.E.I. Metros.

The Prince Albert Raiders of 1977 and 1979 were installed in the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame on Sept. 13, 1980.

Inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.