Wayne was born in Mariapolis, Manitoba but has resided in Winnipeg since 1994. His involvement in hockey spans nearly 5 decades as a player, coach, manager and administrator.

Wayne began playing senior hockey at the age of 16 with the Somerset Flyers and eventually the Holland Rockets. At the age of 21 he moved to the town of Gladstone and was instrumental in the establishment of the Gladstone Senior Lakers as their player/manager and actively participated with the team until the age of 38. In addition to his role with the senior club as well as President of the Gladstone Arena, Wayne coached the local midget AA club to a Provincial Championship.

Since moving to Winnipeg, Wayne has been associated with the Charleswood Hawks of the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League (MMJHL) as their General Manager and now President. He has been able to assemble a core base of strong volunteers whose primary focus is for the overall development of the team which has resulted in an unprecedented level of championship success. He is a humble and reserved individual, however his meticulous organizational skills and commitment to structure has provided a strong foundational blueprint to build the Hawks program. The Hawks have captured the MJHL crown the past 4 straight years and an unheralded 9 championship’s over the past 11 seasons. Wayne’s leadership has certainly contributed to the team’s overall success and is considered by many as one of the premier executive’s in the MMJHL.

In addition to his involvement with the MMJHL Hawks, Wayne is the President of the Tiger Hills Senior Hockey League holding this post for the past 16 years. During his tenure the league has blossomed from 5 teams to the current membership of 16 and the league has thrived under his tutelage.

Wayne’s sporting background is not limited to hockey as he is the current Umpire in Chief for Softball Manitoba. He is also the President of the Smitty’s Softball Association and was inducted into the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame in 2010 in the All Around Category.

Wayne has been married to his wife Clemence for 34 years and they have 3 children, Marc, Lisa and Eric.

The Volunteer of the Year is reserved for special individuals that have made extraordinary contributions to the game or sport and Wayne’s accomplishments and unselfish commitment stretching over 5 decades is extremely impressive, notable and clearly worthy of consideration and Hockey Manitoba is very proud to acknowledge him as the: 2011-2012 VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR.