Big night for Lakers athletics at Hall of Fame dinner

Despite the OUA season being over for some time now, members of the Nipissing Lakers athletic department are still being recognized for their efforts.
The Lakers men’s volleyball team, women’s hockey head coach Darren Turcotte and former Laker and current men’s soccer assistant coach Cam Culbert were all honoured recently at the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame dinner at the Best Western.

The men’s volleyball team received – along with the North Bay Ice Boltz AA midget girl’s hockey team – the James Kelly Memorial Award for team of the year, thanks to a national CCAA championship.

The Ice Boltz, coached by Turcotte, earned a silver medal on the national stage at the Esso Cup in 2012-13.

Men’s volleyball head coach Eric Yung said celebrating a great night with fellow Lakers was something special and something he won’t forget.

“Even though both Darren and Cam well exceeded their allotted speech time of two minutes, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for both of them,” Yung said with a laugh about Saturday night. “Darren has been an incredible addition to the Lakers family who brings a wealth of knowledge, credibility, and experience to the table. I often knock on his door to brain storm idea to raise the levels and profiles of our programs. I have been fortunate enough to be able to call Cam a friend over the last 12 years. I have also had the opportunity to compete with Cam on the soccer field for four years at the OUA level and 12 plus years at the Men's league level. Cam was and still one of the best leaders to ever suit up for the Lakers.”

Turcotte was awarded the Judge Harry J. Reynolds Memorial Award winner for dedication to hockey.  Culbert, who had an impressive run in multiple sports, was inducted into the Hall of Fame as well.

Turcotte, who is the current coach of the Lakers women’s hockey program, joins his father Butch Turcotte as recipients of the award.

Culbert, a former national team member with the Canadian Alpine and freestyle skiing/ski cross programs, dropped out of Grade 11 to chase his dreams, one that would eventually lead to plenty of national medal success and international events. But one that would also lead to pain, including a knee injury that derailed his World Cup hopes in Alpine skiing.

However, those moments shaped Culbert's identity. He eventually finished his high school diploma at the encouragement of his sister. That led to five years at Nipissing University, where he attained his bachelor of education and played varsity soccer, including four years as a team captain.

He even got back onto the slopes as a Europa Cup medal-winning member of the Canadian ski cross team and now finds time to give back to sport as a high school/university soccer coach and ski cross course advisor.

Yung said being recognized, along with the rest of the night’s winners, is something that he isn’t taking for granted and something he’s proud to have won.

“It is a great honour for the program to be recognized as team of the year for 2013. North Bay has such a rich history and passion for sports and as a city; we produced many competitive teams in the gym, on the field, on the water, on the hills, and on the court. The team was humbled to be able to be in the presence of so many great athletic ambassadors and athletes,” Yung said.

Yung explained that the championship season wasn’t perfect – actually far from it – as they had to battle, especially in the second half, but once they got on a roll, it was a dominant run.

It was without question the most memorable moment in Yung’s coaching career.

"This was a special team and special year. We certainly did not have a smooth sailing type journey to the championship, this group fought through many adversities through the course of the year with injuries, discipline issues, poor consistency and of course growing pains from the coaching staff. This group of athletes grew tremendously over the two to three years leading up to the 2013-13 season, but it was their growth mentally that stood out for me, they might not see it, but I did,” he said. “They were able to battle back from a disappointing second semester record of 4-5 to win seven straight matches to capture the National title, losing only three sets in that span. The ability to fight through the tough times and grow both as individuals and as a team made this journey a special one, I do not think I would've had it any other way. It was a tough season, it would've been great to go undefeated all year, but I truly believe the bumps and sometimes mountains on the road made as that much stronger and resilient. The journey defined this team, not the results. ‘If it is easy, it is not worth it.’”

Yung noted that these honours bode well for the future of athletics with the Lakers and at Nipissing University and prove that some of the best athletes and best coaches are at the helm of an up and coming department.

“I think it speaks volumes for Lakers Athletics to have Lakers recognized and inducted into the NBSHOF. When you think of any type of HOF, greatness, perseverance, excellence, honour, history, recognition, comes to mind, and to have Lakers be a part of that, it just means we are on the right path to building something really special here in North Bay through Nipissing University,” Yung explained.