Brady, Jim
Builder ~ Lacrosse
Jim Brady has had a long and distinguished role in the development of lacrosse in Whitby and southern Ontario.
He first organized and ran the Lacrosse program for the Oshawa Recreation department from 1953 to 1955. In 1960 he organized the Oshawa Minor Lacrosse Association. He then organized Peewee and Bantam teams to play in the Brooklin Minor Lacrosse League in 1964 and organized the Garrard Road Minor Lacrosse Association in 1965. In 1966 he coached the Garrard Road team as they won the Peewee 'C' Provincial Championship which was followed up by the same team winning the Bantam 'C' Provincial Championship in 1967 with Jim again as coach.
In 1968 Jim joined the Whitby and Garrard Road Midgets together and finished as the finalists at the Championships. With others, Jim formed the Whitby Junior Lacrosse Association in 1969.
He was: 3rd Vice President of the Ontario Lacrosse Association in 1978 and 1st Vice President in 1979; named Junior 'A' Coach of the Year by the Ontario Lacrosse League in 1984, 1989, 1998; Sportsman of the Year in St. Catharines in both 1990 and 1991; and winner of the Tip Teather Trophy as Mr. Lacrosse in 1984.
As either a coach or general manager, he has been to six Minto Cups winning the National Championship with Whitby in 1980 and with St. Catharines in 1990 and 1991. In addition his Whitby Juniors won the Junior 'B' National Championship in 1970 and 1974.
Jim was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1998 and into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1998.
In addition to those achievements, Jim has served as Ontario Lacrosse Association Major League Commissioner and as the General Manager, Director and Coach of the National Lacrosse League's New Jersey Storm (now the Anaheim Storm). In 2012, Jim was recognized with the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for his involvement with lacrosse. Jim was previously inducted into the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame as part of a team induction with both the1970 B&R Transporter Jr. 'B' Lacrosse team and the 1980 CBC Builders Jr. 'A' Lacrosse team.
Cook, Chris
Athlete ~ Sailing
Chris Cook was born in Peterborough in 1974 and grew up in Whitby where he attended F.M.Heard and Leslie McFarlane Public Schools and Henry Street High School. He began to sail at the Whitby Yacht Club when he was 8 and started to race competitively when he was 15. The first race he won was the Ontario High School Championship in 1992.
He has been a member of the Canadian Sailing Team since 1997 and has numerous achievements in sailing including five top ten finishes in his Finn Class at the Open Finn Gold Cup (6th in 2001, 3rd in 2005, 9th in 2006, 7th in 2007, and 6th in 2008).
Chris also finished 1st at the 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2009 North American Championship, was the Canadian Yachting Association Male Athlete of the Year in 2001, 2nd at the Canadian Olympic trials for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and Canadian Rolex Sailor of the Year in 2005. In 2005 Chris achieved a world ranking of 2nd in the Finn Class.
In 2003 Chris qualified for the 2003 Pan Am Games in the Laser Class but relinquished his place to a fellow team member to focus his training in the Finn Class.
At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Chris represented Canada and sailed to a 5th overall position in the Finn class. In a special ceremony, the Town of Whitby presented Chris with a medal in recognition of his Olympic efforts.
In 2011 Chris returned to sailing after 3 years out of the sport. After winning won a bronze at a World Cup event in Spain Chris was on track for his second Olympics but was edged out by his upcoming protégée and fellow team member for the single position available at the games.
Chris is a graduate of the University of Toronto and remains active in the sailing community as a coach working with Sail Canada. Currently residing in Toronto with his wife and young family Chris is working toward developing sailing in Canada as a sport for everyone.
Fusco, John
Athlete ~ Lacrosse
Born in Oshawa, John grew up in Brooklin and attended Anderson Collegiate, Henry Street High School and then Durham College. John is married to Sandra and has three children Krista, Nick and Katy and 4 grandchildren Brooke, Brayden, Colton and Samantha. John grew up playing lacrosse in the Garrard Rd. minor lacrosse system before moving to the Junior A level in 1980. He played lacrosse from 1980 through 1984 for the Whitby Junior 'A' team (1980-1984), 18 seasons with the Brooklin Redmen of the Major Lacrosse series (1981, 1983, 1985-2002), and one season with the National Lacrosse League (1991).
He was on two Minto Cup championship teams (Junior A) 1980 and 1984 and five Mann Cup championship teams (Major lacrosse), 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, and 2000. John was Rookie-of-the-Year in 1980 and won the Bucko MacDonald Trophy as top scorer in the Major Series in 1986 as well as the Jim Murphy Trophy for the Major Series MVP in 1991.
His name appears on the list of top 50 box lacrosse players at the Major level with 832 assists. His career totals with the Redmen were 421 games, 382 goals, 832 assists for a total of 1214 points. He is also the 4th all-time career playmaker and the 11th all-time point getter at the Junior A level.
Previously inducted into the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 as part of the 1980 Minto Cup team, John was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in New Westminster B.C. in 2010.
He continues to be active in lacrosse in the area and enjoys playing with his children in a local coed league.
