Multi-sport athlete Willard Gallic Sr. has been inducted into the Nuu-chah-nulth Sports Hall of Fame.
Gallic, a member of Tseshaht First Nation, was honoured during the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Tlu-Piich Games. His athletic resume began in 1950, at age 10, when he played soccer and softball at Gill Elementary, and grew to include a dizzying variety of organized sports.
Unlike many First Nations children of his generation, Gallic did not attend residential school, and for that, he credits the courage of his parents, Jimmy (Jeff) and Jessie Gallic.
“The Indian Agent came to get me in 1946, and my Dad said, ‘You’re not taking him.’ My Mom backed him up,” he said.
The refusal could have caused serious problems for the family, but Gallic’s parents resolved to face whatever consequences arose rather than back down. It was a lesson that shaped Willard’s life, he now says.
“That September, they opened a day school on the reserve, Grade 1 to 4. Then I went to Gill School for Grade 5.”
Three years later, when Gallic was just 13, the Senior Men's Fastball League Somass Eagles needed a player for an out-of-town tournament.
“They were short a player, so they called me and said, ‘Can you play?’ So I went and played in the outfield for them. I never quit.”
He would spend 40 years on the roster of the First Nations fastball squad.
“My Dad played then, and so did our late chief, Adam Shewish.”
In 1954, Gallic added boxing and track and field to his sports menu.
“My first fights were in the Bronze Gloves in Cumberland. I won that. Then I went to the Silver Gloves in Nanaimo. I won that. I knocked out my opponent in the first round and won the title for ‘Best Right Hand in the Tournament’.”
The next year, he moved up to Alberni District High School, where he took up basketball. When the Community Arena was built in the early 1960s, he added ice hockey, and played 13 seasons.
In his working life, Gallic was an active member of Local 503 of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union, becoming the first aboriginal person to be elected president of an ILWU local. He further served as second vice-president for the area. His tenure included a groundbreaking goodwill visit to the Soviet Union in the 1960s.
Gallic said working on the docks gave him and other athletes the flexibility to take part in sports tournaments year round. He was able to work, play and coach until his retirement at age 55.
Of all the sports, fastball proved to be his most compelling pursuit.
“I played on the First Nations team and I coached a Senior Men’s and a Senior Women's team at [Recreation] Park.”
It also meant plenty of road trips.
“Especially the First Nations teams—we were gone every weekend, sometimes into the U.S.”
At one stage, during the fastball off-season, Gallic said he would play two hours of hockey on Sunday morning, grab a shower and head over to the soccer field, play another two hours, then grab dinner before playing evening basketball.
Barry Coulson, who spoke at the induction ceremony, said Gallic's contributions as a coach and mentor have left a lasting legacy for many.
“When I was 17, Willard took me under his wing,” Coulson said.
The Senior Men’s Dolan’s Royals needed a player for a tournament in Lake Cowichan and dipped into the junior ranks, he explained.
“Willard and I roomed together. It was quite a crew of wild men on that team. He told me to stick close to him and I’d be all right, and I’ve stuck by him ever since. That was 50 years ago.”
It was the beginning of a long association as teammates, through the early 1990s, when they played with the Coulson Aircrane Masters.
In 1967, the two friends won a B.C. championship with the King Edward Old Stylers. But looking back, Coulson said he is proudest of a night game at Rec Park in which their Echo Toyota Senior Men’s team took a drubbing.
The team had travelled to Duncan for a tournament on a long weekend.
“We lost our first game on Friday, so we had to come in through the back door,” Gallic recalled. “We had to win every game after that, all the way to the final on Monday.”
That Monday in Duncan, Echo Toyota won five games in a row to win the tournament. Coulson said most were tempted to postpone the night game in Port Alberni and join the after-tournament party.
“We were scheduled to play an 8 o’clock game against Hayes Roofing. They were the Number One team, and we knew we would get our butts kicked. We had no pitching left, but Willard said ‘Let’s go. I’ll throw. We’re not quitters. Now, we don’t remember the fact that we lost; we’re proud of the fact that we showed up.”
Looking back, Gallic said that determination to “show up” for every challenge goes back to his earliest days at Gill School, when he resolved to take on any sport that was available.
“No matter what it was, I took part in it. I’ve always believed sports can be a great personality-builder and a great character-builder.”
That determination to play hard and serve as a positive role model for young athletes has earned him the gratitude of his community and a place in the Nuu-chah-nulth Sports Hall of Fame.
But asked to name his all-time sports highlight, the answer came right out of the blue.
“The night I beat former World Champion Cliff Thorburn at snooker.”
A few years back, Thorburn was on tour, taking on local challengers, including one fateful night at the local billiards club in Port Alberni.
“He ran up five straight games against my Dad,” Jeff Gallic said. “Then Dad took over, making one shot after another. After a while, [Thorburn] got quiet. After every shot, he re-chalked his cue. He was not happy.”
“I was in that zone,” Willard said. “After a lifetime playing all those sports, the competitive edge never goes away.”
