Basketball: Shields inducted into national hall of fame

Summing up Ken Shields' career in a few paragraphs sells him short, but the legendary former UVic coach is going into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

Seven national championships in a row? That will never happen again. Of course, no one will do it while simultaneously serving as his school's athletic coordinator, as he did at Victoria. Another part left out of his bio is that he coached the UBC women's team to a national championship in 1970, which gives him a career double that you're also unlikely to see.

Of course, Shields' influence goes way beyond winning, whether it extended to helping Victoria stage the 1994 Commonwealth Games, or helping coach national teams in Japan, Great Britain and the Republic of Georgia. He's had six or seven great careers, so far, imparting the finer points of one of the finest things in life, hoops. He's had plenty of honours, but it would be remiss not to mention this one.

(Now when does Kathy Shields get into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame?)

Related:
Ken Shields Makes Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (Canada Basketball release)
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4 comments:

  1. I remember Ken came to one of my high school practices in 1991 as a favour to our coach to instruct us in the finer points of zone defence. I was beyond geeked, but none of the other knuckleheads on my team unfortunately seemed to know who he was, much less care. What an intense guy! Just one look and you felt compelled to hang on his every word, just so he wouldn't drill through you with those eyes. Loved watching his teams at UVic with Pasquale et al. Congrats Ken!

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  2. Sean: You must have had a pretty good coach!

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  3. Yes I did - Rich Chambers, who has coached high school out here in BC for 30+ years, done junior national teams, coached UBC for a year, and the list goes on and on. Great guy and fantastic coach.

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  4. That's a pretty sad commentary on the state of basketball in this country that a BC high school team in 1991 not knowing who the hell Ken Shields was.
    Yikes!
    If Ken was an American college coach and had half of the success he enjoyed at Victoria, he would be worshiped like a god.
    Here in Canada, of course, its "who are you?".
    Very sad.

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