Dale McFee – Athlete/Builder
When the legendary Terry Simpson recruited a then 16 year-old by the name of Dale McFee from St. Albert in the early 1980’s to play for the Prince Albert Raiders, little did he know the impact McFee would have not only on the sporting world of Prince Albert, but also the city and province of Saskatchewan in the decades to come. McFee’s family would follow to take up residence in the city and Dale’s impact would be significant.
He grew up in the small town of Grosse Isle, Manitoba until the age of 13 when the family moved to St. Albert, Alberta. He would be part of numerous championships in both Manitoba and Alberta in baseball, football and hockey.
With the Prince Albert Raiders, he played in the inaugural 1982 campaign through to 1986, including the 1985 Memorial Cup Championship. All totaled McFee played 269 games for the Raiders with 118 goals, 152 assists for 270 points and 517 minutes in penalties. He attended the Minnesota North Stars training camp in 1986.
After graduating from the Raiders, McFee would attend Police College and then returned to Prince Albert to join the Prince Albert Police Service and married a PA girl, Leanne Swystun.
McFee then started to give back to the community. He coached the Imperial 400’s Bantam AA team from 1987-89, including taking Team Sask to the Gold at the Vancouver Super Series in 1987. He coached the Midget AAA Raiders in 1988-89 then joined the Raiders as an Assistant Coach from 1990-92 and scouted for the team in 1993. He has been a Board Member of the Western Hockey League Raiders since 2004 and was the Teams President from 2007-2016, and Vice President in 2017.
As an adult athlete, Dale McFee played senior hockey for the PA Buckeyes Senior AA team, fastball in the Sportsman League and Slo-Pitch. He was a member of the PA Kings fastball team that won several medals at the World Police and Fire Games from 1987-95 and the team was inducted into the PA Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
Leanne & Dale have three daughters – Jayde, Kacey and Meghan who were strong soccer players in PA Soccer and the Celtics program. Dale would then devote much time to their careers in the sport of soccer, primarily as coach for 17 years from 1998-2015. During these years the Celtics won numerous provincial titles and were Saskatchewan representatives at Canadians in 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2016. He also coached and led his team to the prestigious USA Cup tournament in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2010. He assisted St. Mary High School’s soccer team from 2008-13. In 2008 he was named the Saskatchewan Youth Soccer Coach of the year. He also served on the PA Soccer Board from 2008-15. All three of the McFee girls would go on to play for the University of Regina Cougars in Canada West.
McFee has had a tremendous professional impact on Prince Albert. He started his career with the Prince Albert Police Service on patrol and then held various positions within the department such as Community Relations, Drug Unit with joint forces of the RCMP, Corporal, Inspector and then Chief in 2003. He was the President of the Saskatchewan Association Chiefs of Police and then President the of the Canadian Assoc of Chiefs of Police. In 2012 became the Deputy Minister of Justice, Policing and Corrections for the Province of Saskatchewan.
Dale McFee shares this motto with his daughters and teams’ he coached: “Be humble. It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. Work hard. Create your opportunities. Where you go is up to your and remember where you came from and give back to your community.”