Head of the class

Bill McNulty has directed B.C. high school meet for three decades

Don Fennell, Sports Editor

That was in 1974, and he’s been on the job ever since. It’s from this post that he’ll again view the annual provincial championships tomorrow and Saturday at Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium.

“He’s a tireless worker,” says Laurier Primeau, second vice-president of the association. “Twice a year he has to really halt all other parts of his life to put together these provincial championships (including the cross-country finals in the fall).”

McNulty has also proven to be a man of principle. Primeau still regards his move in 1987, to stage a meet in the face of a teacher work-to-rule campaign, as courageous and the right thing to do.

A teacher at St. George’s Secondary, Primeau was a Grade 11 competitor that year and says being able to participate was a high point in his athletic career. He says being able to compete also helped a lot of graduating students looking for scholarships.

“That was important,” Primeau says. “Not too many teachers would have been willing to take that kind of stance and put themselves on the line like that. But there were hundreds of athletes who appreciated it.”

McNulty, now 59, says simply there was no choice.

“I do not believe any student should be used for political purposes by adults in any way, shape or form,” he explains.

“We (especially) owed it to the graduating seniors to be able to culminate five years of training. And how can you consciously say to a kid you teach, `You can’t go to the meet, but I want you to learn this (in class).’”

Although there was no official B.C. championships in 1987, a meet called the Richmond Kajaks Invitational was held at Minoru Park in its place. McNulty recalls it was a good meet, with many excellent performances.

Under McNulty’s guidance, the high school track and field championships have become a truly provincial meet with all corners of B.C. well represented.

“This is the pinnacle of the high school track and field calendar,” says Primeau. “And for many it’s the end of their careers as most don’t go on. There’s no question basketball is the crown jewel of high school sports and football has made some excellent strides of late, but in my opinion track and field is right up there. In sheer numbers, it’s at the top.”

Another attraction to track and field, says Primeau, is that it’s an individual sport wrapped into a team competition. That allows athletes from every part of the province to compete on equal footing.

“There’s 1,200 kids from all over the province given a chance to participate in this great sport,” McNulty says.

“Many have never been out of their own communities before and whether in people’s minds they win or not, everyone is a champion.”

The B.C. High School Track and Field Championships moved around a lot in the early days. But while that was good exposure for the sport, it didn’t always help the bottom line and there was always a question of whether it would be held, McNulty remembers. He blames it mostly on a lack of preparation. When he took over as commissioner the meet was $3,600 in the hole. Under his tutelage it became profitable, and was soon able to offer scholarships. It also got a permanent home at Swangard Stadium.

Ever the salesman, McNulty was also able to get television coverage of the meet which only helped to increase interest around the province. There hasn’t been any TV coverage of the last few meets because of network cutbacks, but the meet committee has authorized for a tape to be made of this year’s event which is expected to be shown on cable.

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Attendance at the meet also began to slip in the mid-90s, which McNulty says was a sign of the times and other sports emerging. But he says he and his colleagues continually try to address the situation in hopes of rekindling interest and taking the sport to even greater heights.

“Track and field has given me so much,” he says.

“And all you need is a pair of sneakers, a T-shirt and shorts. Every kid can run, jump or throw and so there’s an event for everyone.”

McNulty is a counsellor at Vancouver’s Magee Secondary and a city councillor in Richmond where he’s resided the better part of his adult life. And while he’s passionate about many topics, nothing excites him quite like track and field.

“It’s had a slight influence on my life,” laughs his daughter Christine, who followed her dad into teaching (she’s at New Westminster Secondary, after a brief career in business) and is now co-director of the annual B.C. high school meet.

“I grew up in the springtime at the track,” she says. “I remember holding the tape at the lie and then carrying the time-lapse pictures to the guys to read them.”

Christine competed in track and field during high school, but soon found herself drifting back to the administrative side of the sport. And she’s happy to have done so.

“I think dad gets the most joy out of working with the grassroots, as do I,” she says.

“Definitely working with young people you remember a lot of records and when they were set. Seeing those performances is very special.”

Christine describes her dad as “tenacious,” adding work ethic is huge in their family. But she enjoys being able to work alongside him.

“It’s one of my rewards.”

Bill McNulty was himself quite an accomplished athlete growing up. At the age of 16, in 1962, he ran in the first major meet hosted by Dr. Doug Clement who had only recently launched the Richmond Kajaks. A few years earlier, McNulty began his high school track career at Hope Secondary and was not only fleet afoot but also a pretty fair pole vaulter. He believes he may still hold the Fraser Valley record for the 120 yard hurdles of 10.9 seconds (although he acknowledges the event has not been held for at least 20 years). He also lettered in volleyball.

“But there wasn’t any one event I was best at because I didn’t have any coaching,” he says. “That’s why I got the vision to get people together so they could have that.”

McNulty caught the administrative bug quickly. When he enrolled at the University of B.C. in 1960, he planned on running with the track team but was swayed into a managerial role by coach Lionel Pugh who had just assumed the head coaching duties and become professor of physical education.

“It consumed me to no end,” McNulty says.

“I got more of a thrill helping others with their performances than I did in my own, although I continued to also run for a while.”

In 1964 he took the first of five administrative courses from Geoff Dyson, who was brought over from England to help improve the level of track and field and coaching in Canada. Until 1970, McNulty travelled to Guelph, Ont. each summer to learn from Dyson, and upon completion became a national-level coach.

In between, McNulty hoped to unite the Fraser Valley so athletes there could compete on a provincial level and started the Abbotsford Track Club. In 1967 he coached his sister Pat to a silver medal in javelin at the B.C. championships as coach of the Hope Secondary team.

Upon finishing his masters, McNulty hoped to teach sport medicine at UBC but also considered going to the U.S. for doctoral work. Having just gotten married though, he decided getting a job was more important and turned to teaching, first at Churchill and later Magee.

At the same time, he became a national throws and jumps coach, and for two terms was president of the Canadian Track and Field Federation: one of only two (Diane Clement is the other) westerners to hold the office in 132 years. In his capacity, he attended both the 1976 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Montreal and Los Angeles.

But his heart has always been at home. He’s always coached, in some capacity or another, and will again this weekend by leading the Magee Lions into this weekend’s meet.

One of his star pupils is Danielle Douglas, who’ll be running this Friday in the 100 metres. McNulty coached her dad David at Churchill.

Another former student is Cathy Volkering Carlile, current general manager of parks for the City of Richmond.

Carlisle was 13 and running for the Norwest Track Club when she first met coach McNulty.

“What I remember quite vividly was his energy and enthusiasm,” she says.

“He had a good relationship with the parents, but his desire was to make sure the best came out in the kids. He was always on his game.”