Down Memory Lane - Fred Aspin
Need a helping hand? -- call for Freddie!
For over 50 years, Fred Apsin served the needs of lacrosse from player to minor association administration, from team and league management to provincial involvement.
No job was too onerous.
Born in Vancouver on August 17, 1932, Fred was raised in suburban Richmond where he played his minor lacrosse.
"Being an old Richmondite, one of my fantasies was to play one day for the old Farmers," Aspin once said, referring to Richmond's senior club of the 1930's and '40's. "Unfortunately, by the time I got old enough to play, there was no Farmers team around."
So Fred did the next best thing -- he returned to Vancouver and led Kerrisdale Kerries to the 1952 Minto Cup finals with an MVP performance.
He then joined the senior Vancouver club for a three-year stay, scoring 108 goals in 91 games. His accountancy business ended his playing career but didn't dampen his love of the game.
Fred was instrumental in reorganizing the Richmond Minor Lacrosse association, taking on league executive, coach, manager and referee chores where needed. He then added various executive duties with the Richmond Intermediate 'A' and 'B' and the Junior 'A' and 'B' to his ever-growing workload.
But that still wasn't enough. He became the treasurer of the Junior 'A' league, sat on the BCLA executive committee and, in 1986, was instrumental in the formation of the Richmond Outlaws Senior 'A' team. When the Richmond franchise was shifted to Burnaby in 1990, Fred joined the Vancouver Burrards' executive while continuing his work with the BCLA and Junior league.
His tireless work did not go unnoticed by his peers. In 1983 and, again, in 1985, Fred was awarded the BCLA's Tom Gordon Plaque as the province's "Mr. Lacrosse" and, in 1989, won the Art Daoust Award as the top administrator. In 1998, Fred was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Unhappily, Fred Aspin passed away February, but the memory of his devotion and enthusiasm for the game of lacrosse will remain forever.